Links: Nate Parker, Ben-Hur, and Donald Trump as Film Critic

Friday, August 19, 2016 at 2:01PM
NATHANIEL R in Amber Heard, Ben-Hur, Donald Trump, Lynda Carter, Nate Parker, Olympics, The Night Of, Travis Knight, Twitter, Zendaya, politics, sports

Variety Amber Heard donates her entire divorce settlement from Johnny Depp to charity
Pajiba ... she also apparently passed on receiving residuals from his movies
Monkey See funny talk about the new Ben-Hur and the long shadow of its 1959 Best Picture predecessor
Kenneth in the (212) alerts us to a new webseries on Woody Allen movies. 10 things about Interiors this time 

Olympic play, Nate Parker controversy, and Donald Trump as movie critic after the jump...

Salon talks to the stars and creator of HBO's The Night Of. I'm in the middle of this now. I can't decide if I like it. I loved it up until prison but around about episode 4 (which I just finished) it just feels like "oh, i've seen this prison drama a million times before on other shows"
Film Stage talks to Travis Knight about Laika and Kubo and the Two Strings
AV Club sources are saying that Zendaya is actually playing Mary Jane in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Todd Jacobs ... has the best tweeted response to this news 
Tom & Lorenzo Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter, on the Supergirl set 

Olympic Fever
Towleroad male gymnasts strip down for the crowds at the gymnastic gala (non-medal event) 
Simone Biles shares her Zac Efron kiss surprise for fans 
Simone Biles and she's also palling around with Brazil's Arthur Mariano (who won my personal Gold Medal)
Pitchfork Olympic athletes share their playlists 

Today's Must Read
Buzzfeed has a compelling overview of the media coverage of and/or spinning around Nate Parker's alleged rape in 1999 and what it means or doesn't mean for his Oscar hopeful Birth of a Nation. Fox Searchlight plans to continue with the scheduled release dates and award plans. There has been such a flurry of articles about this, and so many heated reactions to those articles that it's very helpful to read such a thoughtful insightful piece. Of particular note I think (because it gets lots in the less nuanced discussions of this) is the ways in which this case is not relatable to the auteurist cases it keeps being compared to (Allen & Polanski, of course)

The lesson was that the specter of alleged sexual assault could be circumvented, and a male auteur could continue to win awards, obtain funding, and attract stars to collaborate with him. Or so it seemed. The context that distinguishes Parker’s case is, in many ways, what Searchlight failed to understand... 

Do you think Fox Searchlight should delay or march forward with plans?

And now for something much lighter to end with...
Trump Explains Movie Plots, a Tweet Meme that made us giggle. If we don't laugh we'll cry where this man is concerned...

 

Little Frodo, very small guy, tries to destroy a ring, it takes forever, total loser. I'd do it quicker, believe me #TrumpExplainsMoviePlots

— Trevor Donovan (@TrevDon) August 18, 2016

She let him freeze, people. She let go. I don't like people who let go. Many people say there was room on the door #TrumpExplainsMoviePlots

— Nick Mancuso (@Nick_Mancuso) August 19, 2016

Hot cartoon wife, a real 10, believe me. Cheats on and frames her rabbit husband. She'd never cheat on me, folks. #TrumpExplainsMoviePlots

— Justin Gauthier (@reddayblueday) August 19, 2016

Listen, folks. Japan is in real trouble. Nice people. Big lizard problem though. Huge. Ruining the market. Sad. #TrumpExplainsMoviePlots

— Bo Hunter (@BoHunterrr) August 19, 2016

This guy, Aladdin- hes making terrible, the worst deals. Believe me folks, I would've got 4, 5, even 12 wishes

#TrumpExplainsMoviePlots

— Josh Mahan (@squashmahan) August 18, 2016

This guy, this creepy guy, he's got scissors for hands. Many people are saying this. My hands, they're great. #TrumpExplainsMoviePlots

— Aaron Wiener (@Wieneraaron) August 18, 2016

This girl. I'm telling you she's been possessed by the devil.She's going to puke so much it'll make your head spin. #TrumpExplainsMoviePlots

— Brian Zitzelman (@BrianZitzelman) August 19, 2016

 

and, as bonus round, Scott Feinberg converted the #7favfilms hashtag into a fun spoof just before that hashtag -- perhaps he inspired it?

 

 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).