Saving Mr Link
Monday, August 12, 2013 at 11:33AM Towleroad the new men of Dowton Abbey. So excited to see Weekend's Tom Cullen in the mix!
The Kind of Face You Hate on David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986) and John Frankenheimer's Seconds (1966, newly released from the Criterion Collection)
Guardian Xan Brooks loves non-professional film actors. Someone has to.
Variety says Snowpiercer is doing great business in its home of Korea, though it can't be their Oscar submission given that it's in English. Unfortunately the Weinstein Co still plans to cut 20 minutes before the US release
Amiresque looks back at the filmmaking of 12 Angry Men
Dial P For Popcorn (in Portuguese) riffs on an old article I wrote in 2008 about actors who were overdue for Oscar wins and at the time everyone (not just me) thought Johnny Depp was next. My how time/choices change everything.
TV Blend Juliette Lewis, Matt Dillon and The LEOgend will all be appearing in M Night Shyamalan's TV series Wayward Pines based on the book series "Pines" by Blake Crouch.
MNPP Which is hotter Mark Strong or...?
D23 Buzz
Awards Daily Saving Mr Banks is still fanning Oscar flames with clip debuts at D23, will the current buzz heat turn into a bonfire?
FanVoice Angelina Jolie also promotes Maleficent at the same expo, and the clip shown was the scene where she curses baby Aurora to the horror of the fairies
Hero Complex Awesome director Brad Bird (the filmography! The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol) is still playing coy with what Tomorrowland is actually about. But this is a good thing. More mystery in film promotion, please!
Box Office
Elysium, which we've just reviewed, topped the box office. Meanwhile World War Z (Reviewed) is just inches away from $200 million domestic despite all the negative buzz before its opening - the film aged well for me (its best passages really stick) and now my review is looking too harsh. Blue Jasmine (Reviewed and Podcasted) is still going strong nearly cracking the top ten box office without the aid of thousands of theaters. Fruitvale Station (reviewed and podcasted) didn't turn into the crossover talking-point hit that The Weinstein Co but it's at a respectable $13 million plus and will undoubtedly use its DVD release to recharge its Oscar buzz later on this calendar year.
WHAT DID YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND?
Reader Comments (13)
Other than "Elysium" (on which I've already commented), I screened "Twenty Feet from Stardom" on Friday night, with which I connected immensely as a performer. I was torn between sympathizing with many of the featured artists (dashed dreams of big solo careers) and apathetically shrugging (you got/get paid to travel the world doing what you love to do -- don't complain). I do think it should be essential viewing for anyone who wishes to break into the industry.
I finally saw "Valmont," that OTHER "Dangerous Liaisons" adaptation with Annette Benning and Colin Firth. It was okay, definitely lighter than the more well-known one. And while it was great seeing Firth as the sexy cad (even though he was underused, considering he's the title character), the film didn't quite earn its attempt at melodrama toward the end and Benning got robbed of any sort of great, climatic comeuppance that so memorably ends Frear's adaptation.
But I did buy Madame de Tourvel's love for Valmont much more in this one. As good as Pfeiffer and Malkovich were, I never understood how her character fell so quickly and so hysterically in love with his. Also, Fairuza Balk was kind of a revelation. Such a natural, responsive, endearing teenaged actress - I wonder, if this film was more widely seen, what it could have done for her career.
And I'm still working my way through "Orange is the New Black" - so good!
Marketing definitely gives away too much these days, but this mystery box stuff is just as bad. It gives away just as much by pretending it doesn't (See: everything about Star Trek Into Darkness). I just really hope Bird doesn't make a crappy mystery box movie like Lindelof loves.
I stayed home for Lana Turner night on TCM and was well rewarded for my hermitage.
In other news, HOW DOES M NIGHT SHYAMALAN KEEP GETTING WORK?? And how does he keep conning talent into working with him? Each movie he's made since The Sixth Sense has been progressively worse. He's basically an industry joke. SO HOW DOES HE DO IT? These are the filmic mysteries of our time.
Thank you for the mention, Nathaniel :) you're awesome! I know I've said this before but I'd love it if you did an update for that 2008 article of yours :) for a Top Ten Tuesday :)
Saw Elysium and have a couple of comments: 1. Sharlto Copley is insanely hot. 2. Jodie Foster has developed an odd habit of bobbing her head around with almost every line reading.
I watched the B&W Sirk There's Always Tomorrow that reunited Double Indemnity stars Barbara Stanwyck & Fred MacMurray. It's no All That Heaven Allows in domestic melodrama but it is so ahead of the curb on marriage and infidelity. Very good Sirk. I wish he and Stanwyck had done another movie together.
I then marathoned the first 8 episodes of the final Breaking Bad Season and of course, watched the excellent Episode 9 this past Sunday night. Nathaniel, I know you are turned off by the show's Leone-esque nihilism but it is one of the best long-form action movie thrillers going- with great work from Rian Johnson and Michelle MacLaren among others.
I heard from my friends who saw the original cut of The Grandmaster that Harvey totally went Harvey Scissorhands on the American cut too and according to cut to pieces one of the better sequences of the movie. So fellow Bong Joon-ho fans, tread lightly. But on the other hand people thought his recommended cut to Ain't Them Bodies Saints improved the movie but that is a first-time filmmaker and the other is friggin' Wong Kar-wai!!!!!!!!!!
" 2 Guns" which delivers plenty of action, laughs and bromance thanks to the great chemistry between Mark and Denzel. On TCM I caught the silent "Ben Hur" (1925)
I saw Blue Jasmine and enjoyed it despite its contrivances and clueless plot points. (A computer class? Seriously? How does she use her smartphone?)
Also saw This Means War on HBO (don't ask why), and was simultaneously embarrassed for and irate with Reese Witherspoon for throwing away her talent and audience goodwill for a role/script that's an affront to feminism and an endorsement of invasion of privacy. Enough already.
I saw "The Conjuring." Scary!
Seconds. My God. I'm having preemptive nightmares right now.
The missus and I saw "Elysium" on Saturday and "The Way, Way Back" on Sunday. I think "Elysium" was something of a missed opportunity given how good "District 9" was, but "The Way, Way Back" was charming, if not particularly groundbreaking. The cast certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves and, as a consequence, so did the audience.
The BF and I saw Percy Jackson on Friday. It's actually a lot of fun - better than the first film by a mile and a perfectly enjoyable late summer fantasy film. Nothing world shaking, but in this summer of elephantine destruction porn it was a pleasant surprise.
Sunday I rocked Fruitvale Station solo. It's a good movie but I wish there were a little more to it.