Link 15
Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 12:45PM New York Times Deanna Durbin, juvenile Oscar winner and 30s/40s star, has died
Rope of Silicon the first suggestive poster for Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac ...
Nymphomaniac ...which also now has an official website
Us Weekly Reese Witherspoon talks about her arrest and taking responsibility for the crazy
People Seth Rogen's mancrush on Zac Efron. I'm wondering what the "expletive" was but FWIW Zac is "very veiny"
DP/30 David Poland talks to actress Alicia Witt
NPR the music from The Great Gatbsy (2013)
Empire Logan Lerman joining Brad Pitt in the WW II tank thriller Fury
All Superheroes All The Time. Must Be Summer
Vulture a practical guide to not hating Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man Three. This is amusing but Gwynnie is actually wonderful in the movie. Take that!
YouTube a teaser for The Wolverine that I like more than that big trailer
The Playlist Quicksilver & The Scarlet Witch confirmed (sort of) for The Avengers 2. I'm confident that Joss Whedon can do right by witches (duh!) so yes, please.
Movieline A sweded Iron Man Three parody from Thailand
(Sort of) Off Cinema
The Stranger an excellent and funny piece about professional basketball's first coming out by heterosexual filmmaker Sherman Alexie (Smoke Signals, The Business of FancyDancing)
ValleyWag an oblivious startup party from AirBnB themed on The Great Gatsby
In Contention this is a few days old but fun. President Obama as Daniel Day Lewis as President Obama
How Had I Never Seen This?
Meryl Streep with Adam Guettel ("Rain")
As a lifelong Streep fan and also someone who loves Adam Guettel -- some of you may remember I recently saw him do a rare live performance -- how had I never even heard of this collaboration? Or is my memory going already? Thanks to TFE Reader Rene for pointing this out to me in the last Meryl post.
Reader Comments (16)
Meryl in 'The Music of Regret' is just... wow, " Excellent Moon " is my favorite though.
LOL @ that Nymphomaniac poster... love it or hate it I suppose?
I love Eartha Kitt made the banner.
3rtful -- reading Einstein no less!
Nathaniel -
Being a fan of both Streep and webcomics, I wonder if you've come across this piece of incisive film commentary...
http://www.shortpacked.com/2013/comic/book-15/01-about-face/grandpa-2/
My reactions to that Nymphomaniac poster: Pure Lars
Can we talk about the rumor going around about a Chronicle reunion between Josh Trank and Michael B. Jordan for Fantastic Four with Jordan cast as Johnny Storm? I am for this, and part of it because it angers fanboys by merely suggesting it so much. Like Donald Glover campaigning for Spiderman all over again.
I'm in an odd spot for Paltrow in Iron Man 3. I don't hate Paltrow, largely because I don't follow her personal life and just enjoy her typically terrific acting. Yet, I feel her part in Iron Man 3 is the equivalent of Jude Law in the Sherlock pics, where she feigns annoyance. I was half expecting her to go, "Oh Hooooolmes." Now, I liked Law in those movies, but he has nothing much to do, just as Paltrow isn't much more than a damsel in distress in IM3.
I'll always prefer 90s Gwyneth.
Farewell lovely Deanna. The UnJudy who was smart enough to exit the stage at the top when she'd had enough making her future husband promise before she'd marry him to give her what she wanted most "the life of a nobody" and meaning it. A happy, long life lived on her own terms, who could ask for more?
Of her films "It Started with Eve" with Charles Laughton is enchanting but the maddeningly hard to find noir "Christmas Holiday" is painted in the darkest shades of black. Also worth seeking out "Lady on a Train".
Paltrow is annoying as hell in interviews...I get why people hate her, I really do, but what bothers me is that most cinema goers can't seem to seperate her public persona from Paltrow the actress- they find her grating IRL which translates into hating her acting. But the thing is, she's a wonderful actress.
But like Bia I also prefer her in the 90s. What she did in Se7en, very very moving, she's the heart of that film. Today, off course, it's so funny that ha ha ha her head is in the box....good riddance! But back in 1995 when Brad Pitt opened that box...pretty devasting...because of her few, but very precisely acted scenes.
Skip to 16 years later: people cheering when her skull is drilled open in CONTAGION...
People forget how stunning she was in Great Expections, how beautiful and sexy she was. Or A Perfect Murder, probably Paltrow at her most luminous, and she got to show alot of range...playful, lovely, light whenever she's with her lover, Viggo Mortensen - cold and distant whenever she's with her husband, Michael Douglas. Talented Mr. Ripley, maybe her most emotionally complex performance and pretty damn impressive.
She was good in the 2000s aswell- Bounce was pretty sappy, but she's quite good in it, and she was believable as a mom (It can be difficult for actors who don't have kids yet to be believable parents on screen, but she had a really good report with her on screen sons). For me she was the best thing about Royal Tennenbaums, and she's very underrated as Sylvia Plath,
On one hand it's too bad that her real life personality leaves so much to be desired...
on the other hand it's impressive that on screen she's able to become all the things she's not in real life...sexy, funny, charming, smart, etc.
That means...she's a good actor.
She's awkward in the Iron Man movies, feels out of place - hopefully she can move on to better and more interesting things, now she's got three giant blockbusters under her belt.
I really don't understand Gwyneth Paltrow hate. She's nice enough in interviews. I don't get it.
I have a crush on Seth Rogen, so does that even things out? (and I think we can just assume the expletive contains the letters "m" and "f".)
Off topic, and sorry if this has already been asked... but when will we be getting Oscar predictions?
To springbroad off this Paltrow discussion some more, it sort of reminds of how people view Kidman. While Kidman certainly rubs people the wrong way less, her massive fame, marriage and plastic surgery has led to me overhearing many a conversation about her lack of talent. In both case, these are silly ideas. Paltrow and Kidman, more often than not, tend to pick roles with some risk, or in a less than flattering manner.
Not to throw Witherspoon under the bus, she is clearly part of something else lately, but her career feels so tame. Yet, I never hear people rag on her career.
Oy, I'm rambling.
No problem, Nathaniel. After watching it, you can see why it has left an impression on me. It was also how I found out Guettel sang (beautifully) and wasn't just a composer of the wonderous The Light in the Piazza.
I just watched a Deanna Durbin movie with an elderly relative a few days ago. It brought him close to tears. She really hit a nerve for that generation, as the way they wished people would be. And I'd have to agree, that someone who chooses to retire completely and doesn't need the attention and confirmation of an audience, is the kind of person I wish there was more of too.