My link runneth over
Saturday, December 23, 2017 at 5:29PM • Vanity Fair Carrie Fisher's best lines in The Last Jedi come from the actress/writer herself
• Rolling Stone David Fear's 25 reasons to love the movies in 2017
• Variety a "tsunami" of change in Hollywood. Netflix, MoviePass, sexual harrassment scandals, low box office. What's next?
• Vanity Fair Annette Bening, Whisper campaigns, The Last Jedi and more
• AV "TV Club" a lengthy but always engaging 17 part lookback at the year in culture and the small screen
Much more after the jump including more "best of the year" lists, Strictly Ballroom, Hamilton, and female directors...
• Cartoon Brew though female directors are making inroads in live action features, in the world of animation it's still extremely grim
• Little White Lies looks back at critics 'best of' 50 years ago and what they were saying about 1967 as it ended
• Nerd Stash sexual assault accusations hit Max Landis (son of John Landis and screenwriter of Bright)
• Film School Rejects looks at some of the best video essays of the year
• Broadway World Charles Busch is sharing favorite holiday performances for 12 days. This one is Julie Andrews at the peak of her gifts
• Deadline both of the actresses who played Becky on Roseanne will be returning for the revival. Only one of them playing Becky this time, though
• Village Voice Bilge Elbiri's top 25 "songs from a sunken place"
• Vanity Fair the fan fervor and backlash to The Last Jedi (SPOILERS -- you guys I'm so glad I dont travel in the Star Wars stanning community because I don't even understand what the backlash is about. It was a perfectly fun entry in the endless saga. And if it was about the Rey reveal that her parentage is unimportant and irrelevant -- get outta here, that was the best part for not being so damn elitist preordained. I'm soooo tired of the "chosen one" stories and don't understand why people relate to them since they're so purposefully exclusionary.
On Stage
• Stage Buddy Cabaret stars Kim David Smith and Molly Pope talk about their NY's eve show
• Playbill Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom - The Musical will arrive in London this coming March. (How long until all his movies have stage versions?)
• The Play's The Thing Fascinating perspective on how Hamilton may resonate much differently in London, given Brexit and the UK's different racial demographics
• Hailey Bachrach "Starring Hamilton" a smart focused take on the lead of the London production of Hamilton, which could double as an essay about any talented unknown stepping into an iconic role
• Broadway World the hilarious Jeff Hill is taking over from writer/star Drew Droege in the must-see solo show Bright Colors Bold Patterns. (I sometimes struggle with solo shows but thought this one was especially smart about the way it addresses being a solo show and it's very funny)
Reader Comments (21)
Variety spoke too soon. This year about to break the year-end record for grosses.
The Last Jedi is a great revolutionary Star Wars film. Fuck the haters.
I'm kind of part of the Star Wars backlash. IMO JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson only have themselves to blame for people being disappointed, they intentionally chose to set up Rey's past and Snoke as mysteries, if they didn't think those things were important they should have just explained it upfront instead of being cagey. It's Lost all over again. Beyond that I just think it has tonal problems and other issues which I'm sure others will dismiss as nitpicks but which bugged me a lot. I get why people just wanting to watch a fun blockbuster would like it, the action scenes mostly work and the characters are still mostly charming, but the writing just annoyed me a lot.
I did not hate " The Last Jedi" but it's not a good movie- too many cute critters that have been place there by Disney to sell toys to the kiddies- actually the entire film felt more Disney than Lucas- they eliminated any hints of Dameron- Finn bromance- only the sight of Kylo ( Adam Driver) shirtless gives the movie a welcome jolt of sexuality.
I really liked The Last Jedi, but it does have some noticeable flaws and there was a little too much focus on Kylo Ren (though Adam Driver was good).
But Kylo Ren was the only interesting character- Poe Dameron had almost nothing to do- and they spent way too much time on the Finn - Rose subplot.
The whisper campaign against Streep and The Post is very Orwellian. I was thinking Fonda and Streep are so perfect for future biopics because their acting and personal lives have been so interesting.
I totally agree Nat, I thought the Last Jedi was fine, I don't understand the backlash at all.
I want to see Adam Driver play Dracula- actually I want to see more of him period
"But Kylo Ren was the only interesting character- ."
I don't really agree. Though it seemed like he was the character Johnson liked best and that was a problem with the film for me.
Star Wars, Meryl Streep... Nothing or nobody is or should be untouchable. Fortunately. Don't we all believe and support freedom of speech?
Even with the muddiness of the clip the Julie Andrews performance is just beautiful.
Loved reading all those best of lists from '67. Great to see how that was no complete consensus as often seems to be the case today when the awards fall into lockstep after the first round of nominations comes out.
Was wondering if you’d consider posing that old podcast that you an Nick recorded for Three Billboards? Know Nick has seen it again since you recorded, but I’d still like to hear what y’all initially thought about it.
@Tom Ford
I do not understand the "whisper campaign"
against Streep????
Yes. Smear posters and some intense anti-Streep sentiment on social media. Stated views by by poster artist to hurt her or The Post because it is a swipe against Trump. Conservatives paid a lot of money to have posters mounted. The Post is on track to make $1 million from 9 theaters in 4 days. I hope people pay to see it.
This * Meryl Streep Backlash * started with actress Rose McGowan.
Source:The Telegraph. By Telegraph Reporters. 18 DECEMBER 2017 • 10:17AM
Actress Rose McGowan has criticised Meryl Streep and other stars who are rumoured to be wearing black to next month's Golden Globes ceremony, in protest of the wave of sexual harassment allegations currently engulfing Hollywood.
McGowan, one of the figureheads leading the charge against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, whom she has accused of rape, tweeted that the protest is an act of hypocrisy, writing: "Actresses, like Meryl Streep, who happily worked for The Pig Monster [Weinstein], are wearing black at the Golden Globes in a silent protest.
"Your silence is the problem," she continued. "You'll accept a fake award breathlessly and affect no real change. I despise your hypocrisy." She added, "Maybe you should all wear Marchesa," taking a jab at the fashion house of Georgina Chapman, the separated wife of Weinstein.
Yes, Rose ignited a shit storm with her now deleted (!) tweet. Talk about stirring the pot on full boil and then running away from the house. Streep will be fine but there are a lot of forces that are out for her, ever since January 2017 and definitely now with The Post.
But yet Academy Voters give Casey Affleck an Oscar..... we should be fighting the real enemy.
Did Meryl know? If yes, what could or should she have done? We are killing our heroes.
I love all this 21st century self serving indignation which all boils down to hashtag this or that-and yet nobody does anything that really leads to change. I don't see the point of attacking Streep- who has worked very hard to reach her stardom and I'm sure dealt with plenty of shit from studios on her way up. And if she knew what was she suppose to do? They make it sound as if she approved of bad behavior.
that really leads to change