Link Link Link Went the Bloggie
Wednesday, October 15, 2014 at 9:21AM A veritable cavalcade? avalanche? orgy? of links this morning from news stories we haven't covered through interesting film tidbits and showbiz articles we wanted to point out for various reasons.
bigscreen
Vanity Fair looks back at the making of now 20 year old Pulp Fiction
Fox Searchlight Birdman gets an incredible series of city-specific movie posters. Hopefully various movie theaters around the country will latch on to this. Such a fun idea.
The Spy in the Sandwich looks at Oscar's resistance to Asian cinema in the Foreign Language Film category and The Phillipines in particular
Variety Jason Reitman doing another "Live Read" of American Beauty on Thursday in LA, this time with his Men Women and Children cast
The Wire on where Jason Reitman (Labor Day, Men Women and Children) went wrong
Awards Daily Meryl Streep on the set of Ricky and the Flash
NonFics 10 essential documentaries on sex and sexuality. I've only seen one of these, the experimental and memorable Zoo (2007) but it's not for the sensitive but it's brilliant
In Contention can Paramount toss a lifeboat to Noah for awards traction?
MNPP manages the internet's only 100% appropriate response to news that Javier Bardem might do the next Pirates of the Caribbean movies with Johnny Depp
Boy Culture 'Nick the Gardener' is going to be in Magic Mike XXL
The Wrap Benedict Cumberbatch gets political on tour for The Imitation Game. He's had it with religious fundamentalism. (Haven't we all?)
Variety looks at the new efficient micro-targeting for ethnic audiences from this past weekend's Addicted through last year's Hispanic hit Instructions Not Included
Why am I not linking to any Marvel Universe news that has been dominating the web for the past 48 hours (yet more Doctor Strange and Avengers rumors)? It's like this: Avengers: The Age of Ultron isn't out for another seven months and we haven't even seen a trailer and people are already speculating endlessly about the sequel after its next sequel. This madness has to stop. The balance is way way off and I wish other far more powerful movie sites would realize this. It's fun to speculate and look ahead, sure. But Jesus. Can we stick to the next year's worth of stuff? Rather than the stuff the unseen still unknown content of that stuff might lead to?
smallscreen & other randomness
Salon smart fascinating piece on Twin Peaks' influence over the television landscape spurred on by the announcement that the show will return. I'm confused why I didn't post about that as it's easily among my four immortal TV loves (if you must know the others are: Buffy, Mad Men, and My So Called Life)
AV Club Agents of SHIELD finally gets a near-great episode with double the Ming-Na Wen. She's so good on this show and it's just now realizing it in the second season.
THR Awesome director Steve McQueen is ALSO going to TV (argh) with a series about a gifted young African American testing the limits of social mobility for HBO called Codes of Conduct.
Popwatch a beautiful piece on the mother/daughter relationship at the heart of Gilmore Girls and how revolutionary it was for television. A truth: I had never seen this show before, apart from I think one random episode, so I've been watching it on Netflix and it is adorable and everyone was right about it all along and why didn't I watch at the time?
Dangerous Minds just how beautiful was Karen Carpenter's voice?
Empire First reveals of Netflix Daredevil series poster and stills
Sound on Sight Closure is important on television
The Daily Beast the great animated series Archer drops the name of their spy org "ISIS" - now what to do with all that merchandise from a name that was once funny and is no longer
It's All GONE GIRL All The Time round the web
On the post-production...
New Yorker "What Gone Girl is really about"
New Yorker "Marriage is an abduction"
iTunes you can now buy the "Amazing Amy" books as featured in the film/book
Antagony & Ecstasy Tim Brayton's review...
And for all that it's perfect, I find that Gone Girl suffers from that most amorphous and indescribable and subjective of artistic flaws: I just didn't like it.
The Sweeney SistersBELATED RIP
I am terribly sorry that I forgot to acknowledge the passing of Jan Hooks, who died way too young at 57, this past Thursday. But please know that she was easily among my favorite SNL players of all time - definite top 10 material of their 141ish cast members to date were I ever to make a list. I adored the Sweeney Sisters (her lounge lizard duets with Nora Dunn) and of course her off-SNL stint as a tour guide at the Alamo in Pee Wee's Big Adventure is immortal. It may well be the single movie scene I've seen more than any other as people I hung out with in high school and then a different set of friends I lived with during college all loved that movie and had that scene memorized and somehow it was frequently thrown in the VHS or DVD players for insta-laughs. What's your favorite Jan Hooks contribution to TV or film? Saturday Night Live honored her with a clip reel tribute.
Reader Comments (15)
Why is Steven McQueen going to television a cause for "argh"? It offers a canvas on which to tell different types of stories than he could tell on film.
Gilmore Girls is one of my all-time favorite tv series. So glad it is finally on Netflix, maybe more people will discover it.
Jan's immortal portrayal of Bette Davis will forever make her my favorite SNL alum.
You can watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-A9RzG2Rgs
Join me in a collective prayer. Turn it down, Javier, turn it down!
Instructions Not Included was the runaway Hispanic hit last year. Although, now I really want to watch Batteries Not Included because I haven't seen it in years.
Ming-na Wen is the ONLY good thing about Agents of SHIELD (such a snooze fest, except when Sif from Thor was in it). Reserving my comic book TV time for the likes of Archer, Arrow, The Walking Dead, and Gotham.
Re TV, anyone watch Jane the Virgin? I loved it.
Santy C -- unfortunately that video isn't available in the US. so wanting to see her as Bette Davis now. I don't remember that one.
Sean C -- anytime he spends on tv prevents him from making another masterpiece on film. He's only made 3 movies and they're all great great movies.
If ever there's been someone who deserved all the awards in the world for a two-minute performance, it's Jan Hooks as the Alamo tour guide. I should really look up her work in SNL...
(PS - not trying to be funny with my handle, Jan is a male name here in Europe)
@Nathaniel: Sure, but if he makes a masterpiece on television, that's just as good, and there's even more of it.
I too have just started watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix, mostly to fill the hole in my heart left by the cancellation of Bunheads (both share the very distinct voice of shared creator Amy Sherman-Palladino), and I love it. It was definitely not my taste when it was on the air (I was in high school/college at the time), but now it hits my sweet spot. Funny how time can change the type of art we respond to, and how we respond to it.
Pam - I watched Jane the Virgin since it got such stellar reviews, and I also loved it. It's the most adorable thing on television.
"Demonic raisins I rebuke thee!" - Jan Hooks as Tammy Faye Bakker. Though absolutely anything by The Sweeney Sisters also makes me laugh. I think she was a seriously underrated member of the cast. She and Phil Hartman worked very well together. Oh, and "I am a Barfly."
If they sold a stripped down version of Karen Carpenter's vocal tracks with just drums or bass? I'd buy in a second.
"Yes, there are thousands and thousands of uses for corn ... all of which I will tell you about ... right ... now." RIP Jan Hooks!
Rich Juzwiak on Gawker.com posted a clip of Jan Hooks' cameo in "Batman Returns". Such great, random casting.
I re-watched the clip of when the Sweeney Sisters opened The Emmys and that helped me realize what a big deal they were. They gave them eight minutes! I also enjoyed her as Verna on "30 Rock" -- it wasn't until that episode when the narcissism of Jenna Maroney finally made complete sense. Look how crazy her mother was!
Nathaniel, Yahoo Screen has the Bette Davis clip:
https://screen.yahoo.com/video-000000540.html
Archer is dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb to drop ISIS, which it owned before the media started to call the latest Al-Qaeda offshoot ISIS. Own your invention, guys! Besides, the irony now makes it all the weirder, wilder, and funnier.