Link-a-thon: 'Hours,' Parties, Von Trier, Gaga

We don't often do the whole link roundup thing here at YMB, so let's give it a whirl.

Over at TheFilmExperience, I offer a post on "The Hours" for Nathaniel's "May Flowers" series. I looove this movie, and I was pleased with this piece, so I'm glad for the positive reaction from all those lovely TFE readers.

New friends Jason Bellamy and Shelia O'Malley both write up deeply felt articles on a particularly inspiring movie convo had at the home of other new friends, Keith Uhlich and Dan Callahan. I'm very happy to say I was there for the chat, and I'm flattered to have gotten fond mentions in both pieces.

Vulture has a list of the Top 10 Most Controversial Things the never-boring Lars von Trier siad at the Cannes press conference for "Melancholia." And the Huffington Post reports how his statements got him banned from Cannes and lost him a distributor. If this affects my seeing his film I'm going to be plenty pissed.

Lady Gaga releases two new tracks from "Born This Way" -- "Marry the Night" and another sax-infused tune, "Hair." Apparently there are more to come via Farmville? I don't mess around with such things, but I can't stop thinking: Does "Born This Way" have the power to outsell "Thriller?" It seems totally conceivable.

Finally, in an apparent quest to out-garbage Brendan Fraser, the ever-loathsome Kevin James will be starring in this summer's "Zookeeper," a comedy that may well elicit suicidal thoughts. I was just griping about how, given the choice, I won't be wasting my time with clearly-awful dreck, but I may just make an exception here. After all, guy's gotta fill his 10-Worst List.

'Rabbit Hole' Review

I can't say my tastes align with all of the awards bodies this year (I simply do not get the whole Mila Kunis thing), but in a year packed with great female turns, I'd be very happy to see Nicole Kidman among the Best Actress nominees for Oscar. Though she's made some interesting choices through the better part of the last decade, I don't believe I've ever seen Kidman give less than a fine performance, and her work in "Rabbit Hole" is her best since "The Hours."

And on that note, I've never been with the consensus that the actress's "work" has gotten in the way of her work. I'm talking, of course, about Kidman's lips and whatever else she's altered, which critics have notoriously cited as a barrier against her plausibility as an actor. I disagree. Either that or I'm just missing something. I've always felt she's embodied her characters in whichever ways they require.

Read more on what I had to say about her and her new film in my review of "Rabbit Hole," now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

'Rabbit Hole' Poster and Trailer

I'm a big John Cameron Mitchell fan, and I'm really hoping this based-on-a-play grief drama marks the renaissance of Ms. Nicole Kidman. Behold, something to still be excited about as 2010 winds down: