Links: Misunderstood Meryl, Angry Leo, Cheap Deadpool
Wednesday, February 17, 2016 at 4:00PM • MNPP All is well since Jason has seen The Witch and loves it. It's so spooky, guys. Go see it this weekend
• Pajiba "11 Things I Learned from 'Star Wars and the Power of Costume' Exhibit"
• Playbill Bull Durham: The Musical (?) may be headed to Broadway soon
• Scriptnotes how to introduce characters in screenplays without being mocked on Twitter. (For those of you are like what? This is in reference to a recent writing controversy that we spoke of right here)
• i09 says Zootopia is the best film Disney Animation has made in 20 years (!)
• MNPP freaks out over the new Pee Wee Herman Netflix trailer
• Simply Streep Screencaps of Meryl Streep in the Florence Foster Jenkins teaser
• Boy Culture have you heard about Strike a Pose, the documentary about the Madonna documentary Truth or Dare?
• Boy Culture your semi-annual reminder that Miriam Margolyes is an international treasure and gay hero
• Awards Daily "everyone owes Meryl Streep an apology"
• /Film Julianne Moore offered the villain role in The Kingsmen 2. This historically hasn't gone well for her (See: The Seventh Son or Hunger Games) Why Julianne? You already have tons of money.
• Hairpin "how not to write something"
• Toyland the coolest stuff from Toy Fair 2016 including *gasp* female action figures
Deadpool at #1
• i09 everything they cut out of Deadpool to get the budget way down (which now means its going to be insanely profitable)
• /Film Rumors are that Wolverine 3 is considering an "R" rating following Deadpool's success
And James Gunn, who did the superheroes being mocking and sarcastic before Deadpool, took to Twitter to hype his forthcoming blockbuster...
Official Photography on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has begun. You're very welcome. pic.twitter.com/741upZ21g7
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) February 17, 2016
Oscar Mania
• The Guardian on why The Big Short should win Best Picture. I haven't to admit I couldn't follow this argument at all (perhaps you can?) but maybe I was just thrown because they start the video talking about surprise winners and cite Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump? Of all movies. That was a behemoth that year and couldn't lose. People say such strange things when they're talking about the Oscars!
• THR Robert Richardson and other cinematographers calling for a separate category for VFX heavy films. I absolutely agree that this is a problem - this year not so much but usually
• RED CARPET RAMPAGE. Help Leonardo DiCaprio finally win his Oscar! I tried to play this on my phone last night. It's actually hilarious. Especially the bonus round "Act Harder!" LOL...
Reader Comments (25)
That red carpet rampage game is a lot harder than it looks. I'd love to see a reporter bring it up to Dicaprio in an interview just so we could see his reaction.
So when Leo campaigns (and he is undoubtedly campaigning) it spawns a game and becomes an online rallying cry, but when Anne Hathaway or Melissa Leo campaign they're derided. I wonder what the difference is.
The cinematography question is a fascinating one. I'm currently of the opinion that if there were two categories - one for 'classically shot' and one for 'digitally enhanced' - it would become hard to work out which films should go into each category. I can imagine categorisation issues such as we get with Original/Adapted or Leading/Supporting. To take Skyfall as an example - the film that, I believe, should have won Cinematography in the year Life of Pi won it - that film was also shot digitally, and Deakins finessed a lot of it in post. So, which category would that fall into if there were two categories?
But I don't have an issue with Deakins and Miranda competing with, say, Richardson, as they did that year when he was nominated for Django Unchained, because they are all the cinematographers of their films. So, perhaps the question is just about making sure that the Cinematography category is awarding the work that the cinematographer was in charge of, rather than work that bleeds into Visual Effects. But again - hard to see sometimes where the line should be drawn...
@John: that games *is* derision.
@MDA: He would Act Harder, I'm thinking.
jULIANNE NOOOOOOOO,like Sarandon you can'tdo evil,hey what about JLC she'sgr8 in that trashy 90s thriller Mother's Boys.
Bull Durham: The Musical? Only with Sherie Rene Scott as Annie Savoy.
That Winter Soldier + Guardians of the Galaxy double feature from Marvel really made me appreciate the studio more.
I'm hoping for a Spotlight v. Revenant v. Big Short split so Mad Max can sneak on through.
Peggy Sue, I LOVE Sherie Rene Scott. That would be brilliant casting and far better than, say, Kelli O'Hara or Sutton Foster (both of who are fine, but not as right for this role).
Not a fan of Julianne taking these nondescript parts in big budget films. I don't blame her too much for Seventh Son since that was directed by a Russian quasi-auteur and had potential. But these movies like Next and Non-Stop are putting chinks in her reputation as a great actress.
On a side note, it's sad that she'll only be the reigning Oscar winner for another couple weeks, no matter how much I'll be happy for Brie.
Leo's Red Carpet Rampage - so totally funny and so true - loved "Act Harder".
Julianne Moore in the next Kingsmen - First of all I found The Kingsmen to be funny and she gets to work with Colin Firth again. (keeping an open mind)
A musical of Bull Durham - It's unfortunate that they didn't come up with this when Sarandon could have done the part but ...Sherie Rene Scott is a very good choice. will they be able to come up with songs that are worthy of this great role?
Oh, Sasha. Always a day late and a dollar short. Meryl is worth upwards of $75-100 million, possibly more, so I think she will be okay.
@ Rahul: I'm having a hard seeing which bloc of votes those three films would be splitting, although I could see Spotlight and The Big Short splitting a potential "current events" voting bloc, Room and Brooklyn splitting a "women's pictures" bloc, and Mad Max and The Martian splitting a "action/adventure directed by old guys" bloc.
Which would pave the way for a victory by either The Revenant or Bridge of Spies, i.e., The Revenant.
But I don't really buy into the idea of vote-splitting.
20 years ago would be The Hunchback of Notre Dame -- I consider that a flawed masterwork, but I assume they're dating it from The Lion King.
Never saw The Seventh Son but she was solid in the last two Hunger Games films until they botched the writing in part 2 halfway through, so... third times the charm? Anyway, I enjoyed Kingsman a lot and I think she MIGHT be a good fit for Kingsman 2. As for Wolverine 3; they need to focus on making a good film from beginning to end instead of what rating it's going to get. So far we've had one complete turd (X-Men: Origins) and one okay film until the crappy third act (The Wolverine).
I don't think Julianne taking roles in movies like Non-Stop is hurting her reputation as an actress. She just scored at the Oscars and at Cannes last year--I'd say she's doing fine in the reputation department ;) As long as she doesn't get caught up in utter dreck too often and balances the action films with the indie work that she excels at, I'm happy. Plus, it somehow fits her image--she's an art house goddess, but she's not above a popcorn thriller. She's definitely had some stinkers, but her ratio of hits to misses is still solid. I don't see everything she does (I wouldn't go near Next or Seventh Son with tongs), but I'm a superfan and it feels like she's doing well right now. Yes, she might do a Kingsmen sequel--but let's not forget that she's also attached to the next Todd Haynes film.
Put it this way-- she's in her 50's and is managing to take part in movies that are actual hits. Yes, I'd rather see her in a Boogie Nights or a Safe or a Far From Heaven or a Still Alice. But being in movies that people actually SEE probably gives her leverage to do smaller films and puts her name on the top of casting directors' lists. So many other actresses try to balance the art house and the mainstream and end up flopping at both. I mean, I'd love for Nicole Kidman to be in an actual hit movie again (besides Paddington).
I will admit that I have a preference for seeing Julianne in mainstream big-budget comedies versus action movies, though. Although they'll never count among her greatest performances, she's done some lovely work in movies like Don Jon and Crazy, Stupid, Love.
@ Jesus - It would help to click the link and read the report before making a snarky remark. The piece is not by Sasha Stone, it is by Joey Nolfi, a guest crontibutor and it is actually as much about Meryl as it is about misinformed idiots who act up based on a grabby headline and refuse to put on the work to figure out what actually happened.
On that subject, I will eat some major crow and praise Sasha Stone for hosting on her website that piece, which is clever, reasonable and addresses two prickly issues (the problem of lack of diversity and how the twitter-induced moblike totalitarian hysteria is not the way to fix it).
One of the great bits of the piece: "The scary thing is that now we can see that even the trade publications are purposefully speaking to an increasingly lazy audience that doesn’t want to put in the work. No one wants to feel anything more than what a headline tells them to. People want to feel angry, and they’ll take a headline that panders to their heart whether those few lines of text accurately reflect the subject at hand or otherwise. If a false construct fits the calculated narrative, it’s used as a weapon, and we’re all expected to get out of the way when it comes time to launch the rocket."
It is a very sound piece and it deserves to be read, not dismissed by the headline alone.
Appreciated. Thank you.
I would so want to watch the Witch - few weeks back VOD release was planned along with theatrical and at least this way I could see the movie the day it opens in US. Now the VOD release was pullled. I don't think they will bring it to my country and even if they though it will be MONTHS. I'm so pissed off because I'm looking forward to this one since the buzz on Sundance. I even have a banner from it on my website :/
And that Leo game is great, but so far I didn't make it beyond round 11
@Paul Outlaw - you let me dream!
"People say such strange things when they're talking about the Oscars!"
This! This week I saw something about how Kate Winslet is the untouchable frontrunner in Best Supporting Actress. It was some BAFTA red carpet tabloid garbage but still.
@John - Leo has been mocked for years for his Oscar thirst. There was a ton of derisive memes floating around during the Wolf of Wall St. year.
Edward L: I wouldn't phrase it as "Best Cinematography: Digital." I'd phrase it as "Best Cinematography in a CGI driven (a movie where 50% or more of the feature has CGI VFX on screen) production." What that means? Well, that Digital Colour Correction and Digital Cameras are counted as conventional cinematography. So, let's look at the last ten ceremonies to see what would get moved:
2006: Nothing. (Probable other category nominees would be: Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Ultraviolet, Talladega Nights, Superman Returns and Letters from Iwo Jima.)
2007: Nothing. (Probable other category nominees would be: Grindhouse: Planet Terror, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Ratatouille, Harry Potter 5 and Resident Evil: Extinction.)
2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button definitely moved. The Dark Knight probably not moved. (The Wrestler or Milk takes the empty conventional slot. The other four CGI slots go to Iron Man, Indiana Jones 4, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and WALL-E.)
2009: Avatar and Harry Potter 6 move to the other category. (The other two conventional slots go to Precious and, probably, In the Loop. The other three CGI slots go to Up, District 9 and Watchmen.)
2010: Probably nothing, even if Inception is arguably dicey. (The CGI slots go to Toy Story 3, Iron Man 2, Harry Potter 7, How to Train Your Dragon and (depending on the decision on Inception) either Inception or Tron: Legacy.)
2011: Hugo and The Tree of Life moved. (The other two conventional slots go to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Midnight in Paris. The other three CGI slots go to Rango, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Harry Potter 8.)
2012: Life of Pi moved. (The other conventional slot goes to Beasts of the Southern Wild. The other four CGI slots go to The Avengers, Brave, Wreck-It-Ralph and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.)
2013: Gravity moved. (The other conventional slot goes to Her. The other four CGI slots go to Iron Man 3, Frozen, Thor: The Dark World and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.)
2014: Unbroken possibly moved. (The other conventional slot goes to American Sniper if so. The other four CGI slots go to The Lego Movie, Interstellar, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy if so. If Unbroken is not moved, let's get Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in there.)
2015: Nothing. (The CGI slots go to Ant-Man, The Force Awakens, Inside Out, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ex Machina.)
Oh right—I was stunned because I read that line in VANITY FAIR, from which I expect more.
"a formidable actress who has already won an Oscar herself and is all-but-guaranteed to take home a second this year."
ALL BUT GUARANTEED. Bizarre.
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/02/leonardo-dicaprio-kate-winslet-baftas-homegirl
Hayden W --- strange. It's obviously going to Vikander who is undefeated when nominated for her leading role in supporting.
@Nat - not sure if a Ask Nathaniel is coming up but just thought I'd post away. What do you think about Keira Knightley's three upcoming projects - Colette, Collateral Beauty and Catherine the Great.
Would love to see a post about your thoughts!