Posts tagged Diablo Cody
Shameless Self-Promotion
Dec 3rd
Hi folks!
Just an update on my life. I graduated Ryerson University in June with my degree in journalism and have since been working as a freelance writer. I thought I would link to some of the recent blog posts I’ve written for Yahoo! Canada, so that you can take a looksy.
Cheers,
Leigh.
My blogging station during the Toronto International Film Festival
# This post is about how celebrities (like Kiefer Sutherland, Lisa Kudrow, Diablo Cody, and Joss Whedon, among others) are moving from film and television to the Internet. Check it out here: “Kiefer Sutherland stars in the online series ‘The Confession,’ but he’s not the first celeb to hit the web.”
# For a while, I’ve had this theory that Taylor Lautner’s mannerisms, voice, and facial expressions on chat shows are very similar to Matt Damon’s TV appearances. Visit: “Is Taylor Lautner taking interview cues from Matt Damon?”
# While watching an interview of Jann Arden on CBC’s “George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight,” I found it interesting that she talked about her brother’s poor treatment in prison. Apparently, readers did to, as it currently has 456 comments. Read “Jann Arden condemns poor treatment of her brother in prison” on “omg!”
# I was one of many who thought Ryan Gosling deserved People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” title for 2011. I air my grievances in “People’s Sexiest Man Alive: Was Ryan Gosling robbed?“
Up in the Air
Jun 20th
George Clooney at T.I.F.F.
Back in September, I waited at the barricades, shuffled between fans and paparazzi, to see the stars of Up in the Air. I got a glimpse of Jason Bateman, Anna Kendrick and George Clooney on the red carpet. I even wrote about the experience in a blog post. I hadn’t heard anything about the film back in September, I only knew that George Clooney would be at the premiere and that was enough for me.
When commercials starting popping up for the film, I realized that this was the film I had seen the stars of back in September. But it wasn’t George Clooney, Anna Kendrick or the Arrested Development star that brought me to the theatre, it was writer/director Jason Reitman.
In my first year of university, Juno had just came out and was a smash hit, catapulting director Jason Reitman into a new league of fame. It was during this rush that Reitman paid a visit to Ryerson University, speaking to students interested in the film industry. I was there, along with many other students, to listen to the charismatic director. He was funny, engaging and not one bit pretentious. As a fan of Thank You for Smoking, I was thrilled to hear Reitman speak, and his humbleness made his success even sweeter. Reitman told the room packed with students that he had just cast Mean Girls’ Amanda Seyfried in a new Diablo Cody film and over a year later that female vampire comedy was revealed to be Jennifer’s Body. Reitman produced the piece.
Today, Reitman’s Up in the Air is nominated for six Golden Globes. After watching the film, I say it deserves every nomination. I will be honest, however, and say that many people in the audience left the theatre asking, “What was that about?” Reitman films focus on dialogue over action, realistic change over dramatic character development and, rather than a climactic ending, typically end on a more subtle note. Up in the Air is closer to Thank You for Smoking than Juno, so if you are a fan of Smoking, you will surely enjoy Up in the Air.
Up in the Air follows Ryan Bingham (Clooney), a man who fires people across the United States on behalf of employers unwilling to do so themselves. Bingham leads a commitment-free life, even delivering motivational speeches on this lifestyle choice, and begins a casual relationship with a like-minded career woman named Alex (Vera Farmiga). Bingham’s only goal is to earn 10 million frequent flyer miles, which would make him the seventh person to ever do this, and thanks to his career of constant travelling for Integrated Strategic Management, Bingham may just accomplish this feat.
Then Natalie Keener (Kendrick) enters the picture. With a degree from Cornell to her name, the ambitious young woman is set to make her mark on Integrated Strategic Management by firing people via webcam as opposed to sending employees across the country to do the deed. Bingham objects to this idea and challenges Keener to actual fire people herself; thus sets off Integrated Strategic Management owner Craig Gregory (Bateman) to send the pair on a trip across the U.S. firing people together.
Up in the Air has its funny moments, tender moments and hopeful moments. It is not a romance nor a drama, rather an engaging dark comedy about life in general. There isn’t a huge life changing kerfuffle, but-as is the case in real life-change does occur, only in a more subtle way. Reitman’s writing is realistic and fun and will surely appease the appetites of Thank You for Smoking fans.
Personal Identity: Megan Fox, College Girl, and Marilyn Monroe
Jun 19th
Thanks to my latest readings, I’ve found myself pondering personal identity for the past few days. As people age it seems that their personal identity evolves and, eventually, the individual finds themselves. According the preachings of Queen O, most people don’t find themselves until they reach forty or fifty.
To get myself off of a non-fiction reading binge (Augusten Burroughs, Chanel and Her World, Miss O’Dell), I realized I would need a “beach read” to take a break from memoirs and biographies. On the second floor of Indigo, tucked away on a bookshelf below Jennifer Weiner’s chick-lit, I found Patricia Weitz’s novel College Girl. The descriptive nature etched with moral lessons is reminiscent to Judy Bloom’s Forever, but the teenage narrator is replaced 
with a twenty-year-old college student. The narrator is Natalie Bloom, a beautiful and shy student at the University of Connecticut who spends her free time in the library and avoids people because of her own insecurities. During Natalie’s final year in college, she decides to live on campus. Although living on campus forces Natalie out of her shell, it ultimately causes the Russian history enthusiast to spiral out of control. When Natalie meets who she believes to be her Prince Charming, she desperately vies for his approval instead of accepting that he doesn’t love her. No longer does Natalie Bloom spend Friday nights at the library, but the alternative isn’t much better. Screenwriter Diablo Cody writes, “College Girl is a sensitive yet laser-precise look at the joy (and indignity) of college life. Weitz’s prose is lovely, direct, and wincingly honest.” Just as Judy Bloom’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is a must read for girls, College Girl is a must read for high school seniors preparing for dorm life.
Patricia Weitz’s character had the opportunity to find her identity while studying at the University of Connecticut, but what about those with no such luxury; the young adults thrust into the spotlight, deciding who they want to be and securing their fate at a young age? For days now I have been haunted by The New York Times feature on Megan Fox, and personal identity is the reason.
Fox is a homebody with a long term relationship, and whose night on the town consists of a dinner at Red Lobster. She enjoys TLC reality television shows and has a self-deprecating sense of humour. The problem? The original image Fox created was an outgoing provocative alter-ego, and now she’s stuck with it. “I’ve learned that being a celebrity is like being a sacrificial lamb. At some point, no matter how high the pedestal that they put you on, they’re going to tear you down,” says Fox. “And I created a character as an offering for the sacrifice. I’m not willing to give my true self up. It’s a testament to my real personality that I would go so far as to make up another personality to give to the world. The reality is, I’m hidden amongst all the insanity. Nobody can find me.”
Fox created this alter-ego by studying celebrities. She has read biographies on Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner and Elizabeth Taylor in hopes of achieving their success. It is clear Fox has a particular fascination with the late Marilyn Monroe, the stunning beauty who fell into the depth of despair. “She lived her whole life as a character playing other characters,” Fox said. “And that was her defense mechanism. But Marilyn stumbled and lost her way. She became overwhelmed by the character she created. Hollywood is filled with women who have tried to cope. I like to study them.”
Like Marilyn, it seems as if Megan Fox created her personal identity prematurely. “I have to pull back a little bit now,” Fox said. “I do live in a glass box. And I am on display for men to pay to look at me. And that bothers me. I don’t want to live that character.” But is it too late for Fox to leave “that character” behind? Her doppelganger Angelina Jolie was able to part ways with her own wild child persona, but can Megan Fox do the same? Jolie had Girl, Interrupted to her credit, while Fox clings to Transformers as her claim to fame. Perhaps if Fox departs from her male-ogling type cast roles she could work on emulating her idols; but playing the winged-girl on display at a freak show in 2010′s Passion Play, and a prostitute role in Jonah Hex indicate that Fox isn’t ready to part ways with “that character.”
Like College Girl‘s Natalie Bloom, Megan Fox is finding her own personal identity. But unlike Natalie Bloom, Megan Fox is a real person that will suffer real consequences. Hopefully the actress follows the same fate as Patricia Weitz’s fictional character, and not that of her idols. Because even though there is only one Marilyn Monroe, the dime a dozen girls, like Natalie Bloom, are much happier.