Links: The Beguiled, Real O'Neals, Celebrity Politics, and More
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 4:24PM Let's try to cover everything we haven't mentioned lately (whew). The biggest and most obvious is that Sofia Coppola, whose plans to follow up Bling Ring with a live action Little Mermaid are no more, is now supposedly working on a remake of the Clint Eastwood romantic drama The Beguiled (1971). The film will star two darlings of TFE Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst. Plus Elle Fanning so Coppola already sold all the tickets to our crowd. The Clint role is as yet uncast. They're said to be looking for a 'Chris Pratt' type but what this surely calls for is a watch of the original film to familiarize ourselves.
Let's do it together shall we? It's available on Amazon and iTunes so let's all watch it by April 8th or so and we'll discuss. Deal?
Other News
• Playbill Julie Andrews will direct a 60th anniversary production of My Fair Lady this fall at the Sydney Opera House. Tell us how it is Aussie readers!
• Tracking Board Julia Roberts lines up another thriller Fool Me Once. Can she step off the thriller train please. She's always screaming. How about a romantic comedy revival?
• Coming Soon Naomi Watts joining Brie Larson in Destin Cretton's (Short Term 12) Glass Castle.
• Coming Soon Kristen Wiig replaces Reese Witherspoon in Alexander Payne's next satire Downsizing
• Guardian Woody Allen's Cafe Society will open Cannes this year but what other premieres might we see there?
• Comics Alliance First i'm hearing this but apparently April 26th is "Aliens day" and a bunch companies are going to be selling Aliens stuff, including Reebook who will be releasing replicas of Sigourney's hideous red white and black velcroed shoes from that 1986 classic
• Broadway Blog Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men getting the live TV treatment in early 2017 -- it's not just for musicals anymore
• /Film Channing Tatum's Gambit delayed yet again. Hopefully he'll realize soon he doesn't need to do it at all. I mean it'd be nice if ANYONE other than Leonardo DiCaprio stayed away from the superhero genre. Just for you know some variety in our top male stars
• BBC Hans Zimmer officially retiring from scoring superhero pictures after Batman v Superman
• Cinematic Corner Speaking of. If you're not done hating on that movie read Sati's righteous fury about it. She points out something I didn't notice: Zach Snyder can't even do cameos right. He uses THREE of his Watchmen actors (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino) and I didn't realize that any of them were involved!
i couldn't find a good video of this gay date scene but its adorbs
Recommended Reads
• Towleroad an interview with Noah Galvin, the talented funny star of The Real O'Neals. Try this show if you haven't. It's a delight.
• MNPP Which is Hotter: Ed Skrein or Ed Skrein
• Mike's Movie Projector shares an excerpt from an old Joan Fontaine autobiography
• Film School Rejects on Superheroes needing a dash of silliness even in their "dark" outings
• Interview talks to Sophie Okonedo about Broadway's revival of The Crucible. She plays Goody Proctor
• MNPP loved seeing Benjamin Walker in tighty whities for over an hour as Patrick Bateman in the Broadway musical version of American Psycho and since Jason hates musicals that is more than enough recommendation for me who loves them. I hadn't yet realized that
Can This Election Be Over Instead of 8 Months Away?
• Boy Culture agree with Matthew in this piece on Susan Sarandon's recent irresponsible political comments. I'm so ready for this election to be over and it's still 8 months away!
• Towleroad and icymi the genius Tony Kushner was a guest on MSNBC and discussed how baffling Sarandon has been about this (They're both heroes of my youth. I don't like it when mommy & daddy fight!)
• The New Yorker suggests that maybe Superman is Republicans and Batman is Democrats and now I just want to die rather than think about Batman v Superman for a second longer. DEATH TO INTERNET THINK PIECES ABOUT SUPERHERO MOVIES! (I'm suddenly dreading Captain America: Civil War and dreading a Captain America movie is not something I feel comfortable doing... at all. In other words: stop it internet!)
Reader Comments (29)
Bradley Cooper for The Beguiled, please. He's Clinty, and he's the right age.
TEAM HILLARY 2016 :-)
So that WAS Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Batman's dad. I did recognize him, but had absolutely no idea Wilson and Gugino were in the movie.
It is confusing and disappointing when a favourite actress like Susan Sarandon seems to have dispensed with common sense and logic. My hope is that this is a temporary loss of balance during what has been the worst U.S. election season I have ever witnessed. May her recovery be swift.
I truly hope voters for Sanders take the loss gracefully and unite as quickly as possible and face Trump and his followers with all of the power they can muster.
(and I promise that is the last political statement I will make on what is a normally politics - free zone)
I don't remember "The Beguiled" - but I'm game, I will look it up.
No mentions of Patty Duke so far, or did I miss it? I thought you were a fan of The Miracle Worker?
Just saw "The Beguiled" recently...a childhood favorite!
Gonna be hard topping Geraldine Page's brand of Southern gothic crazy!
Was also strucky by how 40ish Clint with a beard looked a lot like Hugh Jackman ; )
Nicole Kidman in a Sofia Coppola film is a dream come true. Truly. She really does love her auteur projects! I hope that Top of the Lake rumor is still true because the thought of her working with Campion again and Coppola in the same year is too much.
I even remember that photoshop job Nathaniel did years ago of Nicole going through her auteur checklist. Sofia's name was crossed out due to the fact that the females in her films tend to verge on the adolescent or something lol.
Now we just need to get her in a Todd Haynes film.
Michael Fassbender for The Beguiled!
The Beguiled just shot all the way up my list of Must See Movies. Kidman + Coppola is a dream come true for me.
And please be careful what you wish for re: Julia Roberts and romcoms, have you seen the trailer for Mother's Day? Further more, have you seen the wig she's wearing in the trailer for Mother's Day? Yikes.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned that there is absolutely nothing romantic about The Beguiled! It's a very dark film, more on the gothic side, even grand-guignol!
It was also a favorite of mine and Geraldine Page's performance should have been nominated for an Oscar.
Nicole Kidman will play Page's role of the Headmistress; Kirsten Dunst will recreate the teacher (Elizabeth Hartman in the original) and Elle Fanning will be the student who finds the wounded soldier (a role created by the amazing child-actress Pamelyn Ferdin).
NB: I believe the student should be a younger actress, not Fanning.
Thomas Cullinan's novel was fascinating in the sense that each chapter was narrated from the point of view of one of the characters: the ones we mentioned, plus an over-sexed student (JoAnn Harris),another student (Darleen Carr) and the black maid (Mae Mercer). However, the soldier does not narrate any chapters, but we can appreciate how he is manipulating everybody.
I hope that, now that there is a renewed interest, the novel is reprinted. I lost my copy years ago after reading it several times.
YAAAAAS KRISTEN WIIG! GET THAT ACTING NOD!!!!!!!
Nicole Kidman in a film by Sofia Coppola w/ Kirsten Dunst & Elle Fanning.... I see $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Mike in Canada: If they were trying to replicate the feel of the original, they probably wouldn't want someone similar to Chris Pratt. Other than Pratt himself? Bradley Cooper, actually a good suggestion Mike, seems like he'd be able to match the general feel that casting implies they're going for. Along similar lines, Jason Bateman might also work, if they want someone who looks like more of an everyman. But, Ulrich, I'm not sure Fassbender has that KIND of charm in his range. I'd love to be proven wrong on that, but when Fassbender has gone charming, it's read either very much "ballroom" (Inglourious) or "dangerous" (everything else) and Chris Pratt as their ideal casting implies they don't really want either of those.
Fassy for The Beguilded. Yes, good idea! Is Kidman goint to play Geraldine's role? She's all wrong for that part.
Sarandon never said that she would vote for Trump. If you have followed her over the years, it makes total sense that she's not supporting Hillary Clinton.
The Beguiled is strange and kinda wonderful. I don't generally like the idea of remakes - since there's so rarely a point to their existence, other than money - but Coppola could potentially do something new and interesting with this story. Especially if she privilege's the women's perspective.
Cooper would be good, but Fassbender would be great in Eastwood's role.
Meantime, I violently loathe most of Payne's post-Election output, but I'm feeling like he might actually give Kristen (my life partner) Wiig exciting things to do. It's high time he did something with a female lead.
I am so glad you're enjoying The Real O'Neals. I am completely smitten.
"You mean tonight, boo boo? Club-wise?" - DiCaprio to J.Lo
That whole interaction just made my day. Link to J.Co's youtube vid, Nat. Lol
goran and Peggy Sue: I'd think the idea behind suggesting a Chris Pratt type is to make him charming in an also easy to hate, nakedly sleazy way. If that's the angle they're going with it, the typical Michael Fassbender kind of charm ("Oh, he's so dark, mysterious and dangerous"), isn't going to happen. It's why I suggested Jason Bateman (who just showed he could sell something close to that kind of charm with just his voice in Zootopia) as another, more plausible, alternate casting choice.
Volvagia, I did read the part where it said they wanted a Chris Pratt type, I just chose to ignore it! I much prefer the dark, mysterious, dangerous, sexy - angle. And for that, Fassbender would be perfect.
But of course,, knowing it's Sofia Coppola who's at the helm...
having a man who thinks he's the man and thinks he's oh so charming and funny, but the women just thinks he's an ass, could be funny - think Josh Hartnett trying to impress Kirsten Dunst but she just sees right through his swagger...
What about Chris Pine or James McAvoy for the Clint Eastwood part? It should be someone fairly young, somewhere between 28-38 yrs.
Thanks for the link! Before the movie I was like 'well maybe at least JDM gets few scenes". Boy, was I in for a bitter disappointment...well at least he is in the best part of the movie, after the opening credits it was just all a rapid drop to the rock bottom in the end.
The Beguiled is brilliant. It's got my favourite Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page performances, and Elizabeth Hartman is very affecting. I love the atmosphere. But I'm excited for this remake.
Should have read that New Yorker article earlier because: UGH. Superman's eyes glowing red as political metaphor = you're an idiot. Yes, I know that most works have subtext of some kind, but assigning subtext based on that is DUMB. Also: The thing that article hinges on? Buries the point completely. Yes, Democrats are a check and balance in the name of an idea, but that idea is typically that the rich need to be controlled so they don't hurt people and that ignorance and racism need to be bred out. (Gee, who does that first part remind me of? A little squirrel named Lex, perhaps?) What about structuring this argument around a more pertinent subtextual moment like, I don't know, Batman actually paraphrasing Dick Cheney!?
Channing Tatum would be my choice for the Clint role. Has a slight twang in his accent already which would serve the confederate soldier role and it wouldn't be difficult to imagine women succumbing to his charms. He's shown a lot of range lately and I'd like to see what Sofia could get from him.
Volvagia - no, Jason Bateman does not have the innate sex appeal to manipulate and seduce an entire house of women.
And I'm not sure how you read looking for a Chris Pratt type means "charming in an also easy to hate, nakedly sleazy way" (when has Pratt been easy to hate? He's the guy everyone loves!), but even if that is how you read it, that's a kind of charm that Fassbender can do very well.
DJDeeJay: Three things: 1. Bateman would, admittedly, be more of an "you know this is wildly implausible" angle. 2. On "when has Chris Pratt been easy to hate?" Two words: Jurassic World. 3. I already summed up the kinds of charm we've seen from Fassbender. It'd be an interesting choice to see him try, but he's FAR from the first on-paper choice I'd come up with to match that suggestion.
@Volvagia - I guess it depends if you only read one way into "Chris Pratt type," which you've decided is "charming but in an easy to hate, nakedly sleazy way" even though that iis definitely NOT the only kind of charm Pratt has demonstrated. I'm not sure either of us has much to go on what they're looking for if "Chris Pratt type" is all we're getting.
Also, did you see Fassbender in Shame? "Charming but in an easy to hate, nakedly sleazy way" could describe some of his scenes in that.
Anyway, I don't feel like putting much more thought into this debate as, like I said, we're given so little to start with.
I thought you were going to discuss The Beguiled! Is that going to take place?
yes, tonight