The Linking Cure
Friday, March 9, 2012 at 8:05AM Incredible Suit is on the Goswatch to detail four upcoming chances for Ryan Gosling to continue his awesomeness into 2013.
Collider Great news for Viola Davis fans - a second lead role cometh. (Of course she had to make it happen herself.) She'll produce and star in a biopic about the first African American elected to the Texas senate. It's based on the Mary Beth Rogers book Barbara Jordan: An American Hero.
Vanity Fair has a gallery of backstage photos of film/theaters stars in their dressing rooms by Simon Annand including beautiful shots of Rachel Weisz, Tom Hardy, Daniel Craig and Cate Blanchett.
Flavorwire 40 of the best lines from Mad Men's Don Draper (Jon Hamm) or his writing team, rather. Someone make this into a super cut please. One my my all time favorites is:
You don’t cover for me. You manage people’s expectations."
In Contention on the ongoing success and controverseries surrounding Asghar Farhadi's amazing Oscar winner A Separation.
Kenneth in the (212) thinks Rosie's interview show on Oprah's new network is great. Apparently she and Sandra Bernhard talked King of Comedy quite a bit. Ugh, love that movie. (Damnit does this mean I have to DVR another show?)
Boston Review a former president of the American Psychiatric Association reviews A Dangerous Method. Interesting review and it takes time to detour into the theatrical production of "The Talking Cure" (the play that preceded the movie) wherein Ralph Fiennes starred in what became the Michael Fassbender role.
ioncinema oooh, the first photos I've seen from Laurence Anyways the new Xavier Dolan picture. This one stars the wonderful Melvil Poupaud as a man who decides he wants to be a woman.
Today's Must Read
Moviefone's Mike Ryan calls a "John Carter" in 50 states to see if they're seeing John Carter this weekend. Insane, funny, awesome.
Reader Comments (31)
Why isn't Xavier acting in the film? The camera loves his face!
Oy vey. Let's hope this isn't Viola Davis's "The Iron Lady."
Troy-at least it'd be a liberal icon with it being Jordan. I wonder how they'll handle the GLBT angle of Jordan's life-this wasn't confirmed in Rogers' book, but was a fairly open secret. Could also be a solid supporting actress contender if they handle it well (long-suffering wife/partner route).
Sienna Miller was in A Streetcar Named Desire?! Wow, what a train wreck. She must have been awful.
Apology Oscar for Viola's biopic also cometh?
YES @ Viola...even if she had to do it herself and it's a biopic...I knew she'd take it into her own hands which is why I love her so much.
@Justin: She's really not a terrible actress (Edge of Love, Factory Girl, Interview), but her tabloid notoriety makes her seem more famous for being famous, and less so for her talent. Her stage performances in the past have been up and down, critical reception wise, so I think it's unfair to say she was definitely horrible on principle, that is without seeing it yourself or reading a collection of reactions from trusted people who have.
Viola Davis as Barbara Jordan! Woot! That's amazing casting. They'll probably be instant bitching about this being "another Oscar-bait biopic," but whatever. Davis isn't in a position to be picky, and we all know the reasons why. Go and get your Oscar, gurl! (The one you should have won last month . . . oh no, I di'nt!)
I love the idea of Davis' lead (even if it is "biopic") But it's also about someone who isn't as well-known as she should be. That's the kind of biopic I can get behind. And I think she will KILL it.
I do hope she doesn't shy away from the lesbian angle.
Why is it Ok for Davis to do a biopic and not Streep?
Hope Viola does not do "biopic mimicry"..... That kind of acting might just get her an Oscar!
DrewB: It might not have been the most...respectable...role, but she wasn't bad in Layer Cake either.
I still don't understand the animosity against biopics. I even dislike the word "mimicry". Would you use the term to refer to Daniel Day Lewis' performance in My Left Foot?
I am very happy for Viola. Granted; she had to take matters into her own hands and it's a biopic. Hey! After her own Oscar win, even Mo'Nique announced she'd produce a film about Hattie McDaniel!
I love biopics. And I hope Viola's film is good and her performance is Oscar worthy.
I know it will have an edge.
As I mentioned in a previous comment, there's not a single year out of the last 14 when the Academy has not rewarded a player in a biopic!
In 7 of those years it's been two out of the four winners!
And in 13 out of the 14, either the Best Actress or the Best Supporting Actress played a real-life character.
To wit:
* Academy's infatuation with biopics:
1998: Judi Dench.
1999: Swank
2000: Roberts, Gay Harden
2001: Broadbent, Connelly
2002: Brody, Kidman
2003: Theron
2004: Foxx, Blanchett
2005: Seymour Hoffman, Witherspoon
2006: Whitaker, Mirren
2007: Cotillard
2008: Penn
2009: Bullock
2010: Firth, Bale AND Leo
2011: Streep.
Lovely pictures. Mostly British actors doing stage work. No wonder why they're so good.
PS I was expecting Viola in another Rosa Parks biopic so this is an improvement.
More mimicry. Let's hope Barbara Jordan isn't released the same year as August: Osage County. It could spell trouble.
brandz: I share your hopes. Please! Let Meryl and Viola not compete again!
What biopic was Judi Dench in 1998? Are you talking about "Mrs. Brown"? That was the year before. "Shakespeare in Love" isn't a biopic.
Can't wait to see how Viola Davis handles this role. Barbara Jordan not only blazed paths as a revolutionary political figure in a time that didn't easily accommodate her (civil rights era), but she battled MS and leukemia, and was a lesbian. Not to be glib, but that's bait on top of bait on top of bait. I love biopics, so I'm looking forward to this one. Viola had to put matters into her own hands and make her opportunities. That's some savvy long-term decision planning on her part. I wish her all hte best of luck with this project of hers and more.
Oh, come on... Drama...
Second leading role - "she had to make it happen for herself". I can tell you it's her THIRD leading role. She'll have another in Won't Back Down this year. :P And don't worry, sentiment will be on her side and she will get the Oscar for it out of guilt because pundits will make the Academy believe they are racist pigs for picking Meryl (NOT implying to Nathaniel, the only person probably from whom I only heard of how great Viola's PERFORMANCE was).
People on Viola now: Perfect casting! Excellent! Beautiful! Wonderful! Hope she wins the Oscar for it!
People on Meryl if she does another biopic: The bitch is again Oscar baiting with biopic mimicry.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS WORLD? (Slash: I LOVE Viola Davis, I'm just seriously confused by the events.)
What's there to be confused about? The Viola supporters want to see her win an Oscar at any cost. It'll be the funniest karma ever if this Barbara Jordan biopic ends up as shitty as "The Iron Lady" was. Be careful what you wish for, indeed.
Golden: I know I said "biopic". I was referring to real-lfe characters. :)
And the bitchfest continues...please, everybody, on all sides, can't we just be happy for both women, appreciate the contributions of both, and move on? Please?
Sure, but Streep earned that Oscar.
So, obviously, my dream of saving the states of mind of people who liked the Iron Lady and Meryl's win may not be possible through one mere comment in a thread that isn't even about her, but, Brandz and company: You need to chill out. FOR YOUR OWN MENTAL HEALTH.
I'm a big fan of two Best Actress wins (at least) that the blogosphere, for the most part, look down on: Gwyneth and Kate Winslet. If I felt like I needed to stick up for them every time I saw a negative comment, it could consume my life - the way that I sense that standing up for Meryl Streep consumes the lives of others. Oscar wins are almost never make everyone happy, and the Best Actress category is particularly tough that way.
What makes the Viola Davis/Meryl Streep situation tougher is that: Consensus is that Iron Lady is terrible (which is also true about The Reader, although I disagree with that consensus) AND Meryl was not the favorite (whereas everyone expected Gwyneth and Kate to win, everyone just wasn't happy about it) AND the favorite to win would have been a groundbreaking win.
Basically, Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady is Crash. If you love Crash, it's way easier to be quietly happy and ignore the haters because you could go crazy defending Crash to the blogosphere. If you just expect that most comments about Viola Davis for the next little while will be a little forlorn, and not take it personally, but just let people have their regret while you have your satisfaction in that win, it will go a long way.
I loved The Reader and Winslet. Not so much Gwyneth. I loved The Iron Lady and Meryl. Not so much Viola. I also liked both Crash and Brokeback.
It's funny that the Streep trolls will defend this Oscar win AT ALL COSTS! LOL. Whatever. That's the world of Streepdom and the internets, so it should be expected. But Mike's right on one thing. Bask in your glory of this win and quit rallying against all that liked someone else in that race. It'll tire you out, and this race will be dissected for years and years to come. It's not worth the trouble constantly trying to defend Streep. She certainly doesn't need your help at this point in her career.
Viola WILL be back and WILL win an Oscar in the near future. I just know it. Being in a biopic helps A LOT. Let's face it, it does.
Mike in Canada, she may have not been the frontrunner, but she didn't win out of the blue like Crash did. Brokeback Mountain won virtually everything that year, except for the Oscar. People who predicted BM to win thought there was no way in hell it would lose. But people knew Viola Davis seemed to have the edge but wasn't at all a lock or a no-brainer. Meryl Streep won two important precursor awards that she hadn't win since the early 80s (beating Viola, by the way), she was campaigning (like never before) and everyone thought it wouldn't matter. Too fast thinking.
Of course it was unexpected, and I myself predicted Viola to win. But after it happened, it didn't seem surprising when you consider the plus column for Streep.
When Streep won the Drama Globe, pundits' explanation was that GG were "Streepaholics" and that they wouldn't reward a less known actress over her. Right, except when your name's Sally Hawkins, you're a foreigner and not well known, and you're against Streep for a big box-office hit.
I'm not "defending" Streep's win (not one time I said she deserved it or not), but there were clearly some facts pointing to an upset. Those who didn't see it, didn't want to. The meritocracy of her 3rd win will be questioned many times, I admit, but it's certainly not "the biggest upset ever". You thought it was safe to rule her out because of her previous 12 losses, that's all. I thought so too. Which is the main reason why I predicted Viola Davis.
Gage: Yeah, I know the metaphor isn't perfect, but the Viola loss and the BBM loss are tough on people for the same reasons: You expect the favorite to win, it would have been a huge moment, and it lost to the THAT?
You're just never ready to be surprised by Oscar- there are so many years where Oscar follows the script exactly. I was actually far more concerned that Dujardin would lose than I was for Davis. It's hard now to remember why.
I am a huge Streep fan and I've been waiting for that third Oscar a long time now. I liked her performace very much, especially when she was playing the "old" Thatcher. Additionally, I believed there were strong arguments for her: NYFC, GG, Bafta; the Biopic factor; the overdue status. However, I also loved Viola. If Meryl was to lose to Viola I wouldn't have been THAT disappointed.
I'm also a huge Streep fan and I wholeheartedly respect those who don't agree with her win. Maybe in the future I might even second that, performance-wise. Especially because, in my book, she would already have more than 2 Oscars before this. But I can't be less happy for her anyway. I was also waiting for the 3rd win for a long long time. So it was a huge moment for me. Likewise, I cheered for Kate Winslet when she won in 2008, but even at that time I didn't think she actually deserved it for that particular work. I don't regret rooting for her though, 'cause I really wanted to see her winning. I know this may be an ignorant way of thinking, and I should root for whichever performance I feel was the best, but, frankly, who hasn't got their beloved actors? Those you really want to see winning? For instance, I didn't care at all for Glenn Close's work in Albert Nobbs, but I'd be more than happy for her if she had won, 'cause I'm also a huge fan of her. Other example: Forest Whitaker obviously deserved that Oscar over Peter O'Toole if you talk about performance, but I couldn't help feeling sorry for O'Toole at the time. Sometimes your heart surpasses your mind, you know?
Nathaniel didn't nominate Michelle Pfeiffer for Chéri (at the Film BiTCH), but I'm willing to bet he'd be overjoyed if she was nominated and won.
For the Oscar, that is.