Friday
May062016
Open Thread.
Friday, May 6, 2016 at 9:04PM 
I just assembled an entire chair from provided instructions so am feeling unusually manly. Grunt. Grunt. Also hoping it makes my writing less painful and more productive like -- Old chair to the garbage bin!
What's on your cinematic mind? Inspire us with your brain vomit and Happy Weekend!
Reader Comments (27)
Why we are not celebrating Marie Antoinette's 10th anniversary?
Because as previously mentioned i have been having a very difficult week. But we can always celebrate its 10th anniversary of when it opened in theaters and not when it premiered at aCannes
Just finished watching the final Best Actress winner I'd never seen (Mary Pickford in Coquette). Any chance TFE staff would post their top 10 Actress winners? I'd love to see the differences. Also could make for a fun poscast.
On my cinematic mind:
Counting down the days until I get to see A Bigger Splash and High Rise
Looking forward to Cannes coverage
Saying goodbye to my favorite video store
And Julianne Moore. Always Julianne Moore.
I caucht me thinking why the great directors don't want to touch the superheroes.
Even Spielberg. He made a movie about a shark attacking people on the beach,
and made a movie about a creature from outter space.
Very good movies, by the way, but not considered noble material.
Superhero movies are compared with the western and gangster movies:
are action movies, good guies against bad guies,
heroes saving situations, solving problems, law versus crime.
But the great directors don't wanna know about.
In the past the great diretors made the western and the gangster movies
what most of them are now, classics.
But don't want nothing with the superheroes today, even the guy
who made a movie with a shark attacking people on the beach.
I'm watching a bit of the 1947 film Crossfire on TCM, which stars Roberts Young, Mitchum, and Ryan. And that got me wondering about other movies with the leading stars sharing a first name. The first one that came to mind is the Marvel franchise with Chrises Hemsworth, Evans, and Pratt.
The 1947 Best Picture line-up always fascinated me too, with two movies about Antisemitism (Crossfire and winner Gentleman's Agreement) and two Christmas movies (Miracle on 34th Street and The Bishop's Wife). And then there's Lean's adaptation of Dickens's Great Expectations.
I catch me thinking why the great directors don't want to touch the superheroes.
Even Spielberg. He made a movie about a shark attacking people on the beach,
and made a movie about a creature from outter space.
Very good movies, by the way, but not considered noble material.
Superhero movies are compared with the western and gangster movies:
are action movies, good guys against bad guys,
heroes saving situations, solving problems, law versus crime.
But the great directors don't wanna know about.
In the past the great diretors made the western and the gangster movies
what most of them are now, classics.
But don't want nothing with the superheroes today, even the guy
who made a movie with a shark attacking people on the beach.
I watched "Bell, Book and Candle" today, and I kept getting distracted by Kim Novak's eyebrows. It reminded me of how my sister could not get over Keira Knightley's hair sticking out from under her wig in "Pride and Prejudice".
Anyone else ever get too distracted over small things in movies?
What is the antidote for Corey Stoll addiction?
Holy shit, I assembled a chair yesterday! Almost impossible to screw the screws in, I think this thing should fall apart within a week!
The DVD release date for Carol in Australia has been pushed back. I am not coping.
Kimberly S: I have a few thoughts about this.
First, keep in mind that Ang Lee and Kenneth Branagh DID direct movies for Marvel. At this point, though, the Marvel Cinematic Universe sells itself and seems to follow the company's agenda, so it follows that the films will be directed by company men.
Second, this corporate arrangement isn't limited to the superhero genre. The young adult franchises (Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, Divergent) also tend to steer clear of A-list directors in favor of hired hands -- sometimes inspired, indie choices, but still people who will fall in line. Alfonso Cuaron is kind of an exception, even though he wasn't really A-list at the time.
Third, I think you may see a Spielberg or Scorsese (not sure who else is at that level: Coppola? Cameron? Howard?) approach the superhero genre tangentially, either by adapting a non-mainstream title or by making some kind of meditation about being a superhero. Like Shyamalan did, and Adam McKay is now doing.
I'd never before realized that the number 9 gave us 6 of the greatest Best Actress winners in a row.
1939: Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind
1949: Olivia de Havilland in The Heiress
1959: Simone Signoret in Room At The Top
1969: Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie
1969: Glenda Jackson in Women In Love
1979: Sally Field in Norma Rae
Additionally, I can live with the already mentioned Mary Cockford in Piquette (1929), Jessica Daisy in Driving Miss Tandy (1989) and Sandra Blindock in The Bull Side (2009). But uh-oh, 1999 resulted in the terror of Hilary Skunk. (Too many 9s, I suppose.) To quote the best review I've ever read about Boys Don't Cry:
"A monkey with a wig could have played that role and won the Oscar for it. To make matters even worse, a monkey wouldn't have made this character and his story altogether boring."
Well, one probably has to write it off as poetic justice that even the number 9 has to cope with one of the truly terrible Best Actress wins.
Just watched BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP, which I enjoyed as a book, and the film adaptation was pretty entertaining. Forgot how much of an underrated talent Mark Strong is, and I'm happy he got a Tony nomination this week. Hoping to catch the other released Kidman-Firth pairing THE RAILWAY MAN later this weekend.
cash, I have problem being distracted by pierced ears when not consistent with the character or time-period eg Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood. It should be easy to cover but seems often to be missed.
The shit Swank gets is out of control. Now are you people saying shecdidn't deserve it for Boys Don't Cry?
She was a deserving winner both times, even if she was not the best of the nominees the second time -hello, Winslet - or the best of the year - hello, Delpy.
Swank is a wonderful actress that doesn't have a good eye for projects that suit her, but when she finds the right movie she is just aces. See her in The Homesman and try not to be moved by her performance
You people? As far as I can see here, no one but the most intelligent visitor of this site has said that Hilary didn't deserve it the first time, so please don't attack the other commentators for my shortcomings.
And in all my false judgement I'd even go one step further and say that Croys Don't Buy is a genuinely bad film. But that Skunk is not a wonderful actress goes without saying, I presume. Which is why I'll continue to avoid her movies and suffer from my own obstination.
Oh, and thank you, cal, for making me realize that Hilary did further damage to the number 4 which already has the two worst Best Actress wins of all time.
1954: Grace Country in The Kelly Girl
1964: Lady Asshole in Mary's Popping
And in 2004 comes Skunky with Billion Dollar Maybe.
But at least I can live with the remaining 4s.
Willy: Glenda Jackson won for 1970.
I am completely smitten with U.K. TV actress, Sarah Lancashire, after Last Tango in Halifax, Happy Valley, and The Dresser. Can totally see why folks in the north of England call her "our Meryl Streep". Especially because she can also do comedy and musical theater (Betty Blue Eyes) brilliantly. When are we going to see her in a film? Soon, I hope!
you might have covered this, nathaniel, i can't remember if so, but have we talked about glenda jackson's return to acting with KING LEAR???
You don't say. That's why it took me so long to realize. Doesn't make Women In Love a 1970 movie though.
But I wonder how the 1969 Best Actress race might have ended had Glenda competed in the correct year. I only know that in a situation like that I'd have voted for Maggie.
willy - i dunno. correct years are kind of debatable. the film premiered almost everywhere in 1970 (including America, thus Oscar eligible) but for, according to IMDb, the UK. Even Ireland supposedly had to wait til 1970.
Country of origin is UK. But to avoid the usual release date confusion, I got into the habit of using the IMDb year. Which means that I have to destroy Oscar's great Best Actress quintet of 1969.
Geneviève Bujold in Anne Of The Thousand Days
Jane Fonda in They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Liza Minnelli in The Sterile Cuckoo
Jean Simmons in The Happy Ending
Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie
Jackson instead of Simmons.
How funny! I assembled a chair just like that this week!
As for my cinematic mind, it thinks of nothing else but Civil War. 3 more hours...
That 1950 Best Actress Line Up came up again on this site, and on TCM's Facebook page, and on IMDB's Facebook link.
Is there a way to create a 1 through 5 poll to see who everyone would have voted for for that year. I myself do not know who I would choose between Davis and Swanson for #1
You could do the same for the 1987 Best Actress Year of Cher. That one, again, I think I would choose Close, but Hunter is also so very very good.
willy - i get why people do that but it makes me crazy (imdb years especially since in many cases the "year" is just the first festival... so it doesn't accurately reflect the movie's premiere). For instance all these websites were celebrating Heather's 25th anniversary some years back only it wasn't the 25th anniversary as the film didn't come out anywhere until 1989 (they list 1988). Same thing with Crash (2004/2005)
but sorry. just pet peeve of mine :) I agree that the 9s are pretty great with 2 exceptions. Hopefully someone awesome will take it for 2019.
1939: Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind
1949: Olivia de Havilland in The Heiress
1959: Simone Signoret in Room At The Top
1969: Maggie Smith in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie
1979: Sally Field in Norma Rae
1989. LET US NOT SPEAK OF IT
1999. Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry
2009. Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side.