Felicity Huffman

Jane joins Huffman and Lohan in Garry Marshall’s tri-generational disaster.  read more »

Though I have never felt the need to chop off my own willie, I take no issue with those who have.  read more »

Holly Hughes once remarked, “I’m a man-hater, [but] I don’t hate men as much as a  read more »

The turkey bones go into the trash, the Christmas lights come out of the attic, and on the day after  read more »

The turkey bones go into the trash, the Christmas lights come out of the attic, and on the day after  read more »

The Transom has seen a whole hell of a lot of movies this year and is a know-it-all and a total busy-body and sometimes pretends to be psychic at parties. So, why not jump in the Oscar pool? Best Actress Felicity Huffman beats out Judi Dench and Reese Witherspoon and Naomi, improbably, Watts. Maybe, maybe a nom for Renee Zellweger, who was awful good in that awful bad Ron Howard movie. Best Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman squeaks past Joaquin Phoenix, with much moaning about Heath Ledger robbery. (If we're going to rob Heath Ledger, incidentally, can we also strip him and tie him up? Just checking!) The real robbery though will be of Cillian Murphy. (Amazingly, there is a tiny tiny possibility that best actor and actress could both be parts played as transsexuals. That is crazy.) There's also the whole Eric Bana non-issue that people are talking about. And sadly, Ralph Fiennes will sit nobly in the audience, waiting, waiting, anger growing.... Supporting Actor Terrence Howard, for Crash. Sadly, not superfox Craig Bierko for Cinderella Man, who probably won't even get nominated. Nominated, but: not Jamie Foxx, not George Clooney. Also not Matthew Broderick. Supporting Actress Gong! Gong Li, that is. Tilda Swinton, the White Witch, gets hideously robbed, possibly even snubbed for a nomination. That is a crime, she was amazing. Shirley Maclaine nominated, doesn't win. Catherine Keener, probably should, doesn't win. Uma Thurman, doesn't win. Best Picture Not that barf-fest Cinderella Man, praise be. Munich detracts from Walk The Line, and the large dieting segment of the Academy goes in for now-skinny Peter Jackson's King Kong, which means Brokeback Mountain wins. Director Ang Lee beats nominees George Clooney (don't laugh!) and Woody Allen and James Mangold --and maybe even Noah Baumbach. Doc Oh, Murderball beats out Mad Hot Ballroom and March of the Penguins and Enron. Cinematographer Roger Deakins beats Cesar Charlone. Screenplay The Squid and the Whale. Adaptation Well, hey, Brokeback Mountain--unless in a crazy upset, Shopgirl beats out Jarhead, both of which were fairly lovely scripts MARRED HIDEOUSLY by TERRIBLE VOICE-OVER NARRATION, particularly in the final scenes. WHEN WILL YOU PEOPLE LEARN? STOP IT. Foreign Not Paradise Now, the Palestinian shoe-in, but The Promise, instead. Worst Potential Moment Of Oscar Night? The threat of music from Rent.  read more »

The New York Times' award-grabbing (and occasionally criticized) 'Class Matters' series continues with Alex Kuczynski's 'Critical Shopper' column in today's Thursday Style section (aka, The Metrosectional).

In Consumer Philosophy by Tar-zhay, Kuczynski visits the Mount Kisco Target superstore and looks deep into the heart and mind of the American discount shopper. What she sees there is nothing short of a Cliff's Notes version of Tom Frank's What's The Matter with Kansas:

Sure, Target's image is more sophisticated than Wal-Mart's. But two things seriously bug me about the chain.
First, the affiliation with designers like [Michael] Graves and [Isaac] Mizrahi strikes me as a bit of lip service. They certainly add a hip note to the store's advertising campaigns, but at the Mount Kisco store, one of 1,351 nationwide, there was not much Graves merchandise on display. I couldn't find a teapot, but I did find an ergonomic paper shredder in the Graves half-aisle beneath a picture of a woman who looked like the actress Felicity Huffman and the words "I like to coordinate my keyboard with my toaster."
These are dark days for the middle classes if such ambitious, obsessive coordinating is actually taking place.

Dark days, indeed. But halogen lamps are 20% off in aisle five.  read more »

Also, to the Times copy editor who had the restraint to read Ms. Kuczynski's lede paragraph about Buddha paraphernalia at Target and not write the headline The Buddha of Suburbia: We salute you!

—Matt Haber