Movie capsules Oct 25, 2009
With Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Alia Shawkat, Juliette Lewis, and the director as a stoner derbyist. Shauna Cross adapted the smart script from her novel. (Boston Globe)
‘Whip it' gives us a character we can love, connect with Oct 16, 2009
Page plays Bliss, a teenager living in small Texas town who reluctantly follows in the footsteps of her ex-beauty queen mother (Marcia Gay Harden), feeling the pressure to be perfect. But one day, on a visit to the big city of Austin with her best friend, she sees a flier for the local roller derby league and is immediately interested. (Cedar Park Hill Country News Weekender, TX)
Lace up your skates and go see 'Whip It' Oct 3, 2009
When her prim-and-proper mother (Marcia Gay Harden) takes her to Austin for a shopping trip, Bliss learns about a world that she knew nothing about previously: Roller derby ... Most provincial of all is her own mom (Marcia Gay Harden, just perfect) who pushes her and her younger sister into every pageant in town ... Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) is a teenager who has always been the good daughter, even when she no longer shares the passion of the Texas pageant circuit with her stage mother (Marcia... (Fresno Bee)
Barrymore Directs: Rolling with "Whip It" Oct 3, 2009
"Whip It" stars Ellen Page as Bliss Cavendar, whose sudden encounter with roller derby gives way to a rough-hewn, bruise-filled dream that will collide with her mother's (Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden) honest hopes for a more gilded future. Barrymore co-stars as Smashley Simpson, a member of a roller derby team. (CBS News -- Entertainment)
Girl power on wheels Oct 2, 2009
Showing her Best Actress Oscar nomination for "Juno" was no fluke, Ellen Page is tomboyish perfection as Bliss Cavendar, a suburban Texas high schooler who chafes at the beauty contests in which her mom (Marcia Gay Harden) keeps entering her ... Showing her Best Actress Oscar nomination for "Juno" was no fluke, Ellen Page is tomboyish perfection as Bliss Cavendar, a suburban Texas high schooler who chafes at the beauty contests in which her mom (Marcia Gay Harden) keeps entering her. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Whip It: Drew Barrymore, Director and Roller Derby Girl Oct 2, 2009
" Brooke says approvingly to a case full of bongs a trio of tattoo-ed and pierced women roll in on skates, mugging maniacally as they pass out flyers for the next weekend's derby. Most teenage girls would have taken refuge from these R. Crumb-style creatures behind the Doc Martens display but not Bliss. She is enraptured. The next thing you know she's riding the Bingo bus from Bodeen to Austin to practice with her new team, the Hurl Scouts. They all have names that sound like Blind Vices from... (Time.com)
Whip It crackles with fun Sep 30, 2009
Ellen Page stars as Bliss, a teen in small-town Texas (oddly, the film was shot in Michigan) who competes in beauty pageants at the behest of Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden), her steel magnolia of a mother ... Starring: Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Alia Shawkat, Kristen WiigDirector: Drew BarrymoreRun time: 1 hour, 51 minutesMPAA rating: PG-13. (MSNBC -- Movies)
HBO PARTY: Recession? What recession? Sep 22, 2009
Guest list: , , Jamie-Lynn Sigler, , , , , , Ken Howard, Bill Maher, Rex Lee, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny, Ginnifer Goodwin, , , Olivia Wilde, Michael J. Fox, , , Brendan Gleeson, Marcia Gay Harden, Kate Walsh, Patricia Arquette, , , Jon Hamm, Jennifer Westfeldt, Hayden Panettiere, , , , Niecy Nash, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rachel McCord, AnnaLynne McCord, Jason Schwartzman and Jeff Garlin. The scene: A live band performed on three makeshift stages elevated over the dance floor. (USA Today -- Life)
Toronto Film Festival: Oscar Buzz Begins Sep 20, 2009
"The bubbles and champagne all begin here," said Marcia Gay Harden. "Everywhere you look is an amazing actor, an amazing director, an amazing movie," said Rob Lowe, who's featured in the new comedy "The Invention of Lying.". (CBS News)
Don't forget the Emmys on Sunday (nominees here) Sep 19, 2009
Shohreh Aghdashloo for playing Sajida on House of Saddam (HBO) * Marcia Gay Harden for playing Janina on The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (CBS) * Janet McTeer for playing Clementine Churchill on Into the Storm (HBO) * Jeanne Tripplehorn for playing Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis on Grey Gardens (HBO) * Cicely Tyson for playing Pearl on Relative Stranger (Hallmark Channel). Outstanding Host for a Reality Show or Reality Competition. (Seacoast New Hampshire)
Barrymore wheels into directing with Whip It Sep 17, 2009
"Whip It" stars Page as Texas teen Bliss Cavendar, who follows the path of her mom (Marcia Gay Harden), a former beauty queen overseeing her daughter's rise on the pageant circuit. On a whim, Bliss tries out for a cellar-dweller roller-derby team, discovering she's a natural skater and soon leading her squad on an underdog quest for the local league championship. (MSNBC -- News)
Fall movies not to miss Sep 7, 2009
She knows it isn't becoming a beauty queen - the dream of her pageant-obsessed mother (Marcia Gay Harden). The teen finds her calling when she gets wind of a roller derby league in Austin, Texas, near where she lives. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Heigl, other actresses lost in the land of bromance Jul 31, 2009
They can chase down aliens ( Fringe ), converse with angels ( Saving Grace ), race through jungles and time continuums ( Lost ), catch serial killers while wearing hats and high heels ( The Closer ), and play both sides of the legal field with the likes of William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden ( Damages). They can even, as Heigl s Izzie Stevens has, be a model turned surgical resident with a child given up for adoption, who almost kills her lover to save him only to have him die anyway and show up... (Boston Globe)
Shrew vs. shrewd Jul 30, 2009
Women in movies are so uptight. Maybe they're just jealous of their TV sisters. (FOX59, IN)
Bundchen's 'baby bump' Jul 30, 2009
Members of his foundation s advisory board include Marcia Gay Harden, Robin Williams, and Harrison Ford. People say, My God, Joey, I didn t want to see a movie about mental disease, but it was so funny. (Boston Globe)
'Friday Night Lights,' 'True Blood' top Emmy snubs Jul 17, 2009
"I wish Anna Paquin had been nominated. Her performance is just stunning," said her co-star Marcia Gay Harden, who was nominated for supporting actress in a miniseries or movie. "True Blood" can at least expect its chances to be better next year, when its second season has run entirely. (The Star Online, Malaysia)
61st Primetime Emmy Nominations Announced Jul 17, 2009
"30 Rock" Receives Top Honors with 22 Nods. (CBS) This is an annotated listing of the 61st Primetime Emmy Award nominees. (CBS News)
'Til we tweet again at the next Hoku awards Jun 16, 2009
Another Hawai'i tie at the Tony Awards was Marcia Gay Harden, who is on the Honolulu Symphony's honorary board of directors. She won best lead actress for her role in the play "God of Carnage." She joined the board in March. (Honolulu Advertiser)
Billy Elliot dances away with 10 Tony Awards Jun 16, 2009
"God of Carnage," Yasmina Reza's savage comedy of manners about two liberal, middle-class couples whose children get into a fight, was named best play and picked up two other major awards, one for its director, Matthew Warchus, and the other for actress Marcia Gay Harden ... PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTRESS IN A PLAY: Marcia Gay Harden, God of Carnage. (MSNBC -- Lifestyle)
B'way's big question: How many Tonys for 'Billy'? Jun 2, 2009
Let's hope the producers don't forget to thank casting director Daniel Swee who found a perfect quartet of actors: James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels and Hope Davis ... The season's most competitive category, but one that Marcia Gay Harden will win and deservedly so for her hilarious depiction of a proper wife and mother giving in to her more primitive instincts in "God of Carnage." The actress knows how to get a laugh and create a real character at the same time. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Best supporting actress showdown May 21, 2009
Marcia Gay Harden wouldnt win, because shed won before, and shed phoned in a tic-y, annoying performance in Mystic River. Neither would Patricia Clarkson, because Pieces of April wasnt marketed serious-mindedly enough and few people saw it. (MSNBC -- Academy Awards)
Montreal's Billy Elliot snares Tony nomination May 6, 2009
She is up against two pairs of women from a couple of shows who may split their votes: God of Carnage's Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden, and Mary Stuart's duelling queens, Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter. While there were fears in January of a financial collapse on Broadway, the season turned out so artistically strong that a number of shows were shut out entirely, including the Kristin Scott Thomas-headlining production of The Seagull, which originated at the Royal Court Theatre. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
'Billy Elliot,' 'God of Carnage' score Tony noms May 6, 2009
So will their two co-stars in Yasmina Reza's scathing comedy of manners - Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis - in the actress-play category. Other actor-play nominees were Raul Esparza, "Speed-the-Plow"; Geoffrey Rush, "Exit the King"; and Thomas Sadoski, "reasons to be pretty.". (FOX 11, AZ)
Davis and Harden shine in Carnage Mar 27, 2009
Marcia Gay Harden, left, and Hope Davis pose backstage at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre where they will be starring in Broadway's "God of Carnage" on Wednesday, March 18 in New York ... NEW YORK - Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden would like to make something clear right away: Theyre not professional rivals in any way. (MSNBC -- Lifestyle)
Still a Box Office Star? Mar 24, 2009
Marcia Gay Harden is his wife, Ronnie, an art historian ... Spotted at the "God of Carnage" premiere: former Tom Cruise partner Paula Wagner with husband Rick Nicita, now running Morgan Creek Productions; and CAA s Chris Anderson, who missed the play he reps Marcia Gay Harden understandably because he d been at Natasha Richardson s funeral upstate. (Fox News)
Fantastic Fonda's Return Mar 11, 2009
Among those in the star studded audience: Geoffrey Rush, Dolly Parton, Rosie O Donnell and Kelli Carpenter, Marcia Gay Harden, Valerie Harper, David Hyde Pierce, Renee Zellweger, Rose MacGowan recovering from wrist and shoulder surgery, and Richard Kind, plus Maria Cooper Janis (the elegant daughter of legend Gary Cooper) and her famed musician husband Byron Janis, writer Patricia Bosworth, as well as Jane s family members: son Troy and daughter in law Simone, and step mother extraordinaire... (Fox News)
A spring of big-name actors set for Broadway Feb 13, 2009
Yasmina Reza's "God of Carnage" was a big hit for Ralph Fiennes and Janet McTeer in London last year, and the New York edition, opening March 22 at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre, has an equally starry cast: James Gandolfini, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden. They play two liberal, middle-class couples who come together after their children get into a fight. (MSNBC -- Lifestyle)
