Young girl with problems writes song about said problems; song becomes major international hit, thus putting girl in situations that feed those same problems; girl hits rock bottom one month before major awards show and a big, public deal is made of getting her help for the problems she said she didn’t need help with in the song; shy and contrite but somehow still aggressive, girl performs the now-mythic song on said awards show; almost immediately thereafter, she is told via television monitor that she’s won a major award for the same song; over the course of a few seconds on live television, she falls apart, asks for help and then miraculously and brilliantly regains her composure––thus essentially reenacting the above cycle in a compressed space; girl is welcomed, problems or not, back into the embrace of semi-polite mainstream culture.
I’ve expressed my doubts about the media event that is Amy Winehouse before. I don’t deny that the girl has been photographed in some bad situations, but the whole crack video to rehab to Grammy triumph trajectory just seems a little contrived, a little too perfect a story of celebrity redemption. But whether her much-documented problems have been exaggerated, or even underplayed, there’s no denying the power of the clip above as an exclamation point on the end of this narrative. Just those few moments where she appears to be taking in the news of her Record of the Year win via the satellite monitor, and her face cracks and her hands grip for something that isn’t there––this is Judy Garland stuff. You can’t make that shit up.
Above: John C. Reilly, in character as Dewey Cox, performs Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab.” I still think Walk Hard looks terrible, but I have to admit, he’s got the hip swivel down… [Via The Playlist]
OMG, it IS real! The A.V. Club taste tests Brawndo: “I can’t see slamming one of these, or even drinking more than one a year, but it beats the flavor of most energy drinks. And you’re doing your part to help the world of forgotten film with every can.”
Whitney at Pop Candy points out that Strange Culture, my favorite doc from Sundance 2007, is premiering on the Sundance Channel tonight at 9:35 ET. I’ve written about the film here and here.
***”McClane, who has handily defeated effete Eurotrash in the past, is destined to find himself overshadowed this weekend by a Parisian rat with a refined palette.” Gregg Kilday can’t hold back the snark in reporting that Ratatouille is looking likely to beat Live Free or Die Hard at the box office this weekend.
***Variety seems to think the odds are with McClane. Pamela McClintock notes that Live Free’s $9 million opening day is not only Bruce Willis’ best opening since the mega hit Armageddon, it’s the best first-day tally for a Die Hard film, ever.
***What kinds of unsavory things did Marc Forster have to do in order to get two jobs in two weeks? The newly anointed Bond director is partnering with Mandate Pictures to develop Land of Roses , about “a suburban mother who, with the support of her fellow outraged townspeople, attempts to exonerate a hardworking Middle Eastern father falsely imprisoned as a terrorist by Homeland Security.”
***Speaking of unsavory, Jim Carrey has been hired to star in and produce Sober, a Universal-based comedy poking fun at addiction. According to Variety, hilarity ensues when “a hard-partying software exec [is] assigned a court-appointed Sober Buddy to keep him under control during a critical business trip to Las Vegas. A perfect plan falls apart when the Sober Buddy (Carrey) falls off the wagon.” Delightful!
