ICYMI
Tuesday, August 18, 2015 at 10:30AM 
Hello all. Nathaniel, returned home, back from vacation. You may not have even noticed that I'd gone but I was almost completely offline for the past 5 days. I was in Austin, TX to visit a friend I hadn't seen in a few years and we had a ton of fun. While travelling I read "The Devil in the White City" and y'all were right -it's absolutely gripping. It's also so dense with information and fascinating details that Leo & Marty may well have a tough time pulling it off. Especially if they make it a star vehicle since the book screams for more of an Altman Ensemble feel.
On the trip home my friends and I discovered we were sharing the flight with Pearl (from RPDR) so the return to NYC felt even more glamorous than usual. This long weekend vacation was the last movie and computer free moment before The Season which, roughly speaking, consumes my entire life from mid-September to late-February each year. Thank you to Jose and Manuel for keeping the lights on while I was out and to Murtada, David, Kyle, Glenn, Sebastian, Amir, and Margaret who also pitched in.
Why not catch up on anything you missed this morning? I'll be doing the same.
A Heaping Handful of Highlights
Chris Eigeman talks Metropolitan - This uniquely pleasurable 1990 indie just turned 25
100 Things I Love About Movies - off the top of my head
HBO LGBT: "Normal" - Manuel's great series is revealing that HBO has really been ahead of the curve
Bergman Kisses - a grand swooney journey through Ingrid Bergman's onscreen love life - she may be well be the greatest romantic heroine of the movies
Mr Robot and Humans - we started a new weekly TV discussion series with these two paranoid examples of our current communal disconnection. The series continues tonight with Masters of Sex
Smackdown 1995 - that's how we started the month and Smackdown 1954 is how we'll end it
Disney's Upcoming Slate - Moana, Zootopia and more
Meanwhile in Oscar Land
The forthcoming Oscar race is all starting to feel very real what with the releases of Hateful Eight's trailer, Germany's long list, Carol's teaser, and that image of Tom Hiddleston in a big hat...
Reviewed Recently
Fantastic Four (Tim), The Gift (Jose), Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Kyle), M:I - Rogue Nation (Tim), Ricki & The Flash (Nathaniel) and Woman in Gold (Nathaniel)
Reader Comments (6)
So few directors can pull off that Robert Altman ensemble feel.
Suzanne -- yep. I mean even Altman would have trouble with this material since his vibe is too chill. I think the ideal director might be PT Anderson actually, but PT Anderson of 15 years ago when he was chasing Altman while developing his own chillier sharper thing.
PTA can pull off Altman now. Inherent Vice made fantastic use of its ensemble.
3rtful -- wildly disagree. That all felt so disconnected, like showy stand-alone cameos rather than an ensemble picture. The focus was very much on one man. I think this project (DEVIL IN WHITE CITY) needs something closer to a MAGNOLIA approach... where the focus shifts rapidly but every one feels like important players in the trajectory.
You're complaining about the nature of the movie. But the cast was uniformly pitch perfect. He can manage to make a more Altman-esque movie. Though many would argue Vice was Altman-esque.
Hey Nathaniel, Glad you had a good trip, and yes, your team did you proud in your absence.