Game of Links
Saturday, August 30, 2014 at 9:30AM 
Catching up on news & noteworthy we didn't cover the past couple of days...
Brangelina
Vanity Fair the details of the Brangelina marriage that we know. I'm really so happy for them as a longtime fan but...
Time knocks them for not keeping their promise to the gays. I knew this backlash would happen. But they did hold out a long time and they've done so much good for the world including for marriage equality that I think we should let it slide
Gawker asks the intriguing question: "Why is Angelina Jolia a movie star?"
Some of her movies have been well-received acting vehicles. Some of her movies have been gargantuan commercial products. There is no place where those circles overlap on the Venn diagram.
It's worth pondering her atypical celebrity.
Absolute Must Read!
/bent has a fascinating long essay about HBO, Game of Thrones, and the distinct feeling that TV series are beginning to go for sex and violence just to have them rather than serve the story. It's a super interesting detailed piece that covers more than just Game of Thrones but past series as well and troubling gender politics and rape fantasies.
More Linkage For Infotainment
Variety has intriguing film/stage news: Vincent Kartheiser of Mad Men fame will be playing the legendary filmmaker Billy Wilder on stage in a play about the making of Double Indemnity. Good luck finding someone who can pull off Barbara Stanwyck!
The Film Stage a new trailer for Stephen Daldry's Trash. You guys no matter what I do, I cannot remember to watch this. I didn't see the first one either. I still know nothing about this movie
Deadline the first Oscar FYC screener to go out is actually Snowpiercer. That's a fun surprise. They're pushing Tilda Swinton for Best Supporting Actress. I can't find a large enough photo of the screener online to tell who else they're pushing though.
/Film The Maze Runner is being shown in "Panoramic Projection" which is a new thing that's apparently descended from CinemaScope.
In Contention Kate Winslet and a bunch of acclaimed actors are starring in John Hillcoat's (Lawless) next feature in 2015 called Triple Nine
Out profiles Belgian superstar Matthias Schoenaerts
Empire Charlie Hunnam to play King Arthur for Guy Ritchie
The Wire explains the messy chain of events of that Bryan Singer sexual abuse lawsuit, which has now been dismissed
Variety The Art Directors Guild has expanded their annual awards categories. Lots of interesting things will be honored now like storyboard artists and such
Gizmodo wonders how NYC would respond to an actual Stay Puft Marshmallow Man attack.
/Film Actor Bill Hader shares a list of his 200 favorites (I was super happy to see Trouble in Paradise, Nashville, and L'Atalante... let's just say he has really good taste)
Vulture talks to Jessica Chastain about yet another season of multiple movies and her love of movies, even the bad silly ones.
But tonight I'm going to the movies and I really go to the movies any chance I can... I love 'em all."
Small Screen
Decider looks back at a very special episode of "The Facts of Life". Weren't they all?
Variety on why the Emmy rules are so hard to fix
Variety talks to Allison Janney about her career and double Emmy night
TV Line great news: Enver Gjokaj, so brilliant on Dollhouse and not as well employed as he should be is joining the Marvel Universe via that Agent Peggy Carter show
Pajiba David Fincher's Gap commercials
DISCUSSION TOPIC
Do you ever find yourself reading a blog post or essay or watching a conversation and one casual remark will totally throws you out of the piece until it's all you can think of? That's what happened to me with that Hilary Swank comment the other day. It happened twice more last night. I was watching an interview with the star of Obvious Child, Jenny Slate, where she was all "I miss romantic comedies where women are complex". Me too! But then her example of non-complex is shade thrown Kristen Wiig & Bridesmaids way? HUH? That's one of the only great romantic comedies of the past decade with complex female characterizations. Then I'm over at Film School Rejects reading a take on the Honorary Oscars and they're complaining about no "career tribute" style Oscar nomination for Maureen O'Hara in that John Candy movie Only the Lonely (1991). And then Christopher Campbell writes:
Did they really need to honor Juliette Lewis instead?
What-the-what-now? Juliette was the best one in her category that year! Plus, sucking Robert DeNiro's thumb is really going above and beyond for art on account of gross.
Has this happened to you recently where you just can't with one sentence?
Reader Comments (14)
With Angelina, from the beginning, it was always a mix of her beauty/charisma/"unusual" private life that propelled her fame. Even before Brad, she was a force and the UN work really turned around her image from freak to respected figure. Howard Stern always comments on how miraculous her image evolution has been.
Her performances in Gia and Girl, Interrupted stand the test of time though -- but I don't think they are movies people will be talking about 50 yrs from now.
Yeah The Hilary Swank post,see the film then judge.
"Time knocks them for not keeping their promise to the gays. I knew this backlash would happen. But they did hold out a long time and they've done so much good for the world including for marriage equality that I think we should let it slide."
When I read that they got married, that was my first thought too. I appreciate their support for marriage equality, but I'm glad they finally tied the knot. Marriage is still a very important and meaningful commitment, which just confirms why marriage equality is so necessary. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were able to get married when they wanted to. Here's looking forward to the day when everyone in love will be able to say that.
My understanding is that the Wilder play focuses on the relationship between Wilder and Raymond Chandler and the writing process, so they are probably spared that impossible casting job.
I would totally suck De Niro's thumb.
"Marriage is still a very important and meaningful commitment, which just confirms why marriage equality is so necessary"
I totally disagree (not on marriage equality, but on the significance of marriage itself). They are multimillionaires,they have joint custody of their children, access to any legal support they could possibly need, and endless resources of every kind. The most powerful statement they could have made would have been be to declare that their family was *already* complete, and that their children ought to feel no shame for having unmarried parents. Marriage does not solidify the commitment they've clearly made to each other for most of the past decade. And the suggestion that somehow their family is now better off on account of the fact that they've legally tied the knot only intensifies the discrimination against non-married families (gay and straight) and limits our ability to see the many, many types of familial arrangements that give our lives meaning.
All this to say, the Brangelina wedding was going to be a win for the institution of marriage whether or not they waited for the legalization of same-sex marriage in all fifty states. And despite our nation's general obsession with marriage, this is only bad news for those of us who will never fit that mold.
Thank you, Peggy Sue. (And Nat, that's also my answer to your discussion topic question.) ;-)
As a brazilian, i felt disgusted by the TRASH trailler.
Angelina Jolie is a movie star because she is so sexy (just look at that pic). Brad Pitt lucked out. Plus she has screen presence and acting chops too.
UGH that diss at Bridesmaids gets my goat. "Will I be able to save my cupcake store?"
Jenny Slate totally missed the boat on that movie. Yes, Bridesmaids does have some romantic comedy tropes, but I truly haven't seen a mainstream movie in a long time that deals unflinchingly with the debilitating effects of depression. Plus, it has really strong themes of female friendship, loyalty, forgiveness, and a plethora of interesting and complex female characters of varying ages, sizes, and personalities that is rare for a comedic film in this age.
"I'm living for your blunt blonde bob in A Most Violent Year. It's giving me Michelle Pfeiffer–in-Scarface realness."
There's a gay sentence for ya.
Stanwyck is the greatest actress that ever lived.
So I don't say this lightly:
Anamaria Marinca should play Stanwyck.
She has a (very) slight accent, sure, but still that would be an amazing performance.
I haven't watched the Trash trailer either, but it sounds awfully similar to the recent Best Documentary nominee Waste Land. That doc was so thoughtful a piece that I have a real hard time imagining that a feature film could do add much more to the conversation.
You know, I don't know whether to be annoyed Scocca's getting more attention for an article I wrote months ago, or go "Yes! Someone else gets it." Jolie is a good actress, and bankable, but it seems very odd nothing she's been in is iconic in its own right. It's something I noticed around the time people were predicting a nomination for her for "A Mighty Heart" because "She's a huge star", all the while the movie was tanking. And I did wonder if it's because the business is harder for women, but look at Lawrence. In any case, more power to her, but it makes it unlikely for "Unbroken" to be worth a damn, if she hasn't worked with enough talented directors any of it to rub off.