Two (Links) of Every Kind
Directors
Empire Darren Aronofsky's Noah is having post-production / test screening trouble. Duh! Like evangelicals would love Black Swan or Requiem or or or
Huffington Post has a candid interview with Alan Taylor the director of Thor: The Dark World. Apparently there's a shit ton of exposition in the movie. I wish it wasn't locked yet because cut cut cut
Actor
Vulture I would have done so much better on this Brad Pitt Hair Quiz (I scored 11/15) if it was about which girlfriend he was imitating with which red carpet look
EW I was thinking Emile Hirsch was getting a little pudgy recently... now he's putting it to (potentially) good use: he's signed to star in a John Belushi biopic. Guess he'd like to get a little closer to Oscar than he got with Into the Wild
Actresses
Backstage remembers Penélope Cruz's brilliant career makeover in Volver
Cinema Blend Noomi Rapace taking on seven roles in sci fi flick What Ever Happened to Monday? This is totally messing with my plans to continue being uninterested in her.
Bests & Worsts
IndieWire stands up for 10 actresses that are running in longshot position for year-end honors
Salon calls The Counselor "The Worst Movie Ever Made"
LGBT
Guardian marketing gay films for straight people
Queerty has a two parter on the most realistic gay sex scenes on film
Friends
Nicks Flick Picks does his usual "anticipation" post set to diva beats. These are always amazing to return to for updates
My New Plaid Pants wraps up his amazing "13 Snakes of Halloween series. You need to watch them slithe
Today's Visuals
Anne Elizabeth Moore and Gabrielle Gambo investigate dozens of horror movies and discover disturbing gender/racial politics (in comic book form)
and Todrick Hall has fun with Disney Villianesses in this Chicago spoof "Spell Block Tango"
Reader Comments (16)
I think O'Hehir, who I do read can sometimes flagrantly just loses his marbles in some reviews (e.g. That Secretariat review) and this is one of those times. Just name-dropping turkeys/notorious flops really does not represent cinema at its lowest form which is what he wants to do. It does, however, represent one of the reasons I find pans much easier for critics to write than a glowing review.
Except for Wadjda (Waad Mohamed) all the women mentioned in indiewire's article are on every pundit's list. Yes not top tier / locks but not surprising either.
Where's Elizabeth Debicki who single handedly brought The Great Gatsby to life.
Any sighting of Volver is guaranteed to make my heart grow three sizes on the spot. I love that movie so much. Pedro is one of those Vincente Minnelli style directors who my favorite film of theirs is whatever film is directly in front of me. Each movie is too perfect to decide between them.
Also, forget the evangelical audience--I'm a Darren Aronofsky fan and even I'm not sure how this movie is going to appeal to me.
re: that Backstage article... I know you liked Cruz in VCB (I believe she got your gold medal, didn't she?), but I can't remember what you made of her performance in Volver . I so love that movie, what's your take on it, Nathaniel?
Laurence Anyways came out in 2013 in the states right? Wish that list could have added Suzanne Clements to the list. Understandable oversight since that movie slips through the cracks of having an ambiguous release date what with its 2012 festival run, 2012 Canadian release and 2013 US release. She's pretty fantastic, genuinely worthy of accolades and also a complete blip on the awards season radar.
In a perfect world, we would congratulate Bullock with a wink and a smile and then nominate Paulina García.
Peggy Sue - i so often want to live in your world!
Carlos -- VOLVER was my silver medalist for Best Picture (though I think it'd probably be gold at this point because it actually improves on multiple viewings despite being so awesome on the first. Penelope was one of my best actress nominees but I cna't remember if she medalled. will have to research! :)
@Nathaniel - I agree! Even though I liked the movie a lot the first time I saw it I also think it improves a lot with further viewings (the humour, the characters' relationships... awesome!) :)
Was gonna have a look, but looks like the Film Bitch section of the site is down?
I Love Penelope Cruz in Volver!!!!
I thought Penelope got the bronze in 2006 with Dench the gold and Streep the silver, but I could be mistaken.
Nat - thanks for all these links. Your links roundup always gives me a ton of great stuff to read, usually at the expense of my job. ;)
Carlos -- it's not done. it's just cleared to make room for this upcoming awardage. I'll have to put up a spaceholder. If you look on the lefthand side bar you can look at previous years of awardage going back to 2009
That essay on The Counselor is a riot. Now I gotta see this POS. LOL
Alice- Ugh! Clement was so good in Laurence Anyways. She was also quite charming in Dolan's debut I Killed My Mother but nothing in that performance prepared me for what she did in LA. Dolan can keep acting in his films all he wants but Monia Chokri or Clement need to be involved in some capacity too!
Hmmm now I'm curious about "The Counselor"...