Kathy Griffin to Minaj: I want a booty challenge
Transcription
Kathy Griffin to Minaj: I want a booty challenge
lifestyle SUNDAY, AUGUST 24, 2014 Emmys: Hollywood stars light up TV, reverse is lacking T elevision is increasingly opening its doors to Hollywood stars, as tomorrow’s Emmy Awards will attest, but TV royalty still struggle to make the transition to the silver screen. Seasoned actors Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Spacey, Jon Voight, Jeff Daniels and Woody Harrelson are all nominated this year for Emmys after having built much of their careers in film. McConaughey, a favorite to win a lead actor Emmy for his role in HBO crime drama “True Detective,” is riding high after winning an Academy Award for last year’s “Dallas Buyers Club.” “House of Cards” hero/villain Spacey from the show “ER” into the Hollywood megastar firmament, “was the last one who really did it,” said Glenn Williamson, a professor at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. In contrast, though Jennifer Aniston parlayed her “girl next door” appeal from hit show “Friends” into several big-screen roles, the 1990s comedy’s other stars have had stunted success in the transition. The same holds true for stars of more recent TV mega-hits like “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost.” Some stars have thrived on television without ever becoming bankable in Hollywood: Julianna Margulies, David Duchovny and Robin Wright Lasers and lighting tubes will provide a hi-tech experience at the 66th Emmy Awards Governors Ball during a Press Preview in Los Angeles, California. — AFP already has two Oscar statuettes. Voight, nominated for Showtime’s “Ray Donovan,” won a best actor Oscar a generation ago, while Harrelson (“True Detective”) is a two-time Oscar nominee. For them, having a go in a successful broadcast or cable series adds gritty prestige to their glittering careers. But cross-pollination in the other direction has proven more difficult. Heart-throb George Clooney, who shot are among those who earned numerous film roles but never won the accolades there that came with TV. Kerry Washington, praised as much for her role in Quentin Tarantino’s movie “Django Unchained” as for TV’s “Scandal,” is in that small clique of actors comfortably navigating between the two worlds. Another is Claire Danes, who hit it big as teen Angela Chase in 1990s series “My So-Called Life.” She followed up with a number of roles in Hollywood films like “Romeo + Juliet” and “Shopgirl” before returning to television with a bang as the troubled star of Showtime thriller “Homeland.” ‘Inextricably linked’ to TV With blockbuster series “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” coming to an end, it remains to be seen whether their respective stars Jon Hamm (nominated this year for best lead actor) and Bryan Cranston (also nominated, and who has already won three times) can successfully make the jump. “No matter how well known, a feature film role only lasts a little more than two hours,” said Ellen Seiter, a professor of television at University of Southern California. “By comparison, successful television series roles last for dozens of hours,” sometimes over years, meaning “actors become inextricably linked to those roles in the eyes of the audience,” she added. Tom Nunan, founder of Bull’s Eye Entertainment and a UCLA film professor, said comedians often make a better switch to film, like Tina Fey from “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock,” who is good value in Hollywood. Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Mila Kunis and Chris Pratt also came from comedy TV to see their movie careers take off. Nunan also observed that there are “women and men in their 30s, 40s and 50s who are able to find really great work on great TV shows,” which is not always the case in Hollywood, where youth is so often the lodestone. US studios typically revolve around movie franchises, which traditionally are action, comedy or superhero-focused. “Studios aren’t making dramas anymore,” he said. Those are mainly reserved for independent or foreign filmmakers. That leaves small-screen producers-for web series, cable, video on demand and broadcast TV-to pick up the slack. The result, many argue, is high-quality television. “It’s no surprise that you see movie stars of the caliber of Kevin Spacey or Matthew McConaughey,” he added. — AFP Ukrainian participant Olga Klymenko poses after winning the “World Next Top Model 2014” pageant on August 22, 2014 in the Lebanese capital Beirut. — AFP French artists Agathe de Bailliencourt (left) creates her installation entitled “Landscape by Lanscape” with glowing pebbles on the ground. A projected visual art installation entitled “Divine Trees” by French artist Clement Briend is displayed. An art installation of a floating structure entitled “Cyanea” by Cumulus Collectif of France is displayed during a media preview for the Singapore Night Festival. The seventh edition of the Singapore Night Festival, to be held over two weekends in August, will feature art installations from local and international artists and with a variety of performances. — AFP photos Kathy Griffin to Minaj: I want a booty challenge W hile most people are inviting friends to complete the ice bucket challenge, Kathy Griffin has another proposal for Nicki Minaj: a booty challenge. The 53-year-old comedian said after watching the eye-popping, rump-shaking music video for Minaj’s new hit single, “Anaconda,” she wants to go toeto-toe with the rap diva. “Of course, everyone’s talking about that ‘Anaconda’ video and it’s fantastic. It’s a lot of boo-tay and I would like to challenge Nicki to a boo-tay-off,” Griffin said in an interview this week. The “Anaconda” video has racked in 35 million views since its Tuesday release and has trended on Twitter throughout the week. “It’s like the ice bucket challenge, but it doesn’t even have any charity associated with it at all,” Griffin continued. “It’s completely gratuitous.” Griffin also has some stiff competition when it comes to the music world apart from Minaj: She released a comedy album last week, and she hopes to mirror her success at the Grammy Awards earlier this year, where she won best comedy album for “Calm Down Gurrl” after five consecutive losses in the category. “I’m going for another nomination, shamelessly,” said Griffin, who is only one of five women to win the honor. Her likely opponents: “Weird Al” Yankovic, who had a pop culture moment this year with the chart-topping “Mandatory Fun,” which featured a stream of highly viewed - and highly praised - music videos. There’s also Sarah Silverman, who will release “We Are Miracles” on Sept. 23. “We know each other’s game,” she said of Silverman. “Mine is two hours. I have a standing comedy disorder. Once I get onstage I can’t stop talking.” Griffin’s new album, “Look at My (Expletive),” is currently being sold at Amazon for just 99 cents. — AP This file photo shows host Kathy Griffin on stage at the 41st annual Daytime Emmy Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. — AP