Captain Marvel might not be imaginary after all!

While I remain skeptical about Marvel Studios commitment to their female heroes, they took a small step forward in making Captain Marvel a reality by signing directors to the project. That's right, directors, as in plural. The writer/director duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck won the gig. They're not doing the screenplay this time (which is new for them) but still co-directing. They debuted with the searing Half Nelson for which Ryan Gosling earned a well deserved Best Actor nomination. Their subsequent films (Sugar, It's Kind of a Funny Story, and Mississippi Grind) weren't quite as acclaimed but were respectable outings. They've recently been directing performance-centric shows like Looking, Billions and The Affair.   

What does this mean for the film? Well it bodes well for the acting (not that Brie Larson needs a lot of help there) since they always do right by the talent but we hope they have amazing first-timer intuitions in terms of helming action setpieces and doing a ton of greenscreen. What's the learning curve like on that?

Captain Marvel will supposedly open on March 8th, 2019. 

Best Supporting Actress - April Foolish Oscar Predix

With so many of our favorite working actresses in key potential Oscar roles this year this season is either going to be tremendously exciting or crushing disappointing. 

Can Woody Harrelson & Naomi Watts get his & hers nominations as the "deeply dysfunctional" parents of THE GLASS CASTLE?

THE SUPPORTING ACTRESS CHART IS UP

Answer me these questions three:

• Who you think we're underestimating?
• Which performance on the chart are you most anxious to see?
• Do you think any of the 4 time nominees (Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, and Michelle Williams) move to 5 nominee status this year? 5 is actually such a major threshold that's really hard for people to break into. Only 29 women, if I'm counting correctly, have done it with Julianne Moore and Amy Adams being the most recent inductees to that exclusive club). With maybe 2 exceptions (Geraldine Page and Thelma Ritter)  everyone who's ever managed 5 has been a rather huge movie star of their day, certainly bigger than Michelle Williams is now for example. Not that she couldn't do it with The Greatest Showman if the part is good enough. Some working giants that are, like Kidman and Roberts, currently at four (acting) nods include: Bening, Lawrence, McDormand, Mirren, and Emma Thompson.

Rosamund Pike to Play War Reporter Marie Colvin

by Robert Balkovich 

I'm generally a bit underwhelmed when high profile biopics are announced. Even if the subject is interesting, the pictures are often formulaic and neutered. That being said, news just dropped that insanely badass and heroic war reporter Marie Colvin's (RIP) life will be adapted for the silver screen staring none of than English rose/portrayer of one of the most terrifying movie characters this side of Leatherface, Rosamund Pike. Sounds quite exciting...

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Goodbye to "Girls"

by Chris Feil

This Sunday HBO ended the six season run of Girls, Lena Dunham’s caustic and compassionate take on millennial Brooklynites. The series ended much as it began: with a wide range of qualitative opinions, as frustrating as it was rife with conversation points, uneven but special.

The final season was its the choppiest since its earliest days, often one of its more unsatisfying. After seeming primed to get her shit together at the end of season five, that charged feeling of a new life chapter was delivered in the unexpected form of Hannah’s pregnancy. Marnie was running out of gas as her divorce finalized and her music career was on its most pathetic last legs. Elijah inched closer to Broadway. Jessa took a backseat as a villain without much of a story, and Shoshana was barely there at all, even less than usual. Despite its comic stride holding up from the previous season, this season’s form felt sloppy and scattered despite Hannah’s long-game story arc.

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OTD: Don Cheadle debuts, Mae West sentenced, Marie-Antoinette marries (sort of)

On this day (April 19th) in history as it relates to showbiz...

1770 Marie Antoinette married by proxy to Louis-Auguste. A month later she travels from Austria to the forest of Compiègne to meet her husband (essentially where Sofia Coppola's great 2006 film starring Kirsten Dunst begins) and the two soon have a ceremonial wedding.

1898 Silent screen star Constance Talmadge born (the year is disputed but around there!). One of many silent giants whose fame didn't transfer to "the talkies"...

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