Today's 5: Hulk out with Joan Crawford, ol' sport!
Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at 9:24AM 
Good morning film fans. Make today a good one. We'll help with suggestions as to mental memes and mood boosters for the day.
Five showbiz anniversaries of note today (May 10th) and how to honor each of them
2013 The Great Gatsby opens in movie theaters. It's yet another hit for Baz Luhrmann and yet another Oscar-winning moment for his wife/collaborator Catherine Martin. It's also, to date, your only chance to see Leonardo DiCaprio in a pink suit.
In its honor today: Listen to that great soundtrack and annoy your friends by calling them "ol' sport" all day!
1977 Joan Crawford dies (as just dramatized on Feud's finale). But like all of the great film stars, she's immortal...
with Clark Gable in CHAINED (1934)
People have been trying to reduce her or count her out since she first became famous but she held on for decades with an iron grip...
She was declared box office poison. Mommie Dearest made her the butt of jokes. Feud pretended she was interchangeable with Standard Jessica Lange Character. But despite all the attempts to undermine her, JOAN CRAWFORD (in all caps) lives on.
In her honor today: Queue up one of her classics. Total movie star.
1962 The Hulk debuts in "The Incredible Hulk" #1 published by Marvel Comics
In his honor today: Wear green and rewatch that Thor: Ragnarok trailer if you've missed the big green guy.
1955 Marty wins the Palme D'or at Cannes. It's the only time in history that the Cannes champ goes on to also win the Oscar for Best Picture (unless you count The Lost Weekend from 1946 which you shouldn't, as it shared the with 10 other films and that was also before the prize was called the Palme d'Or and after the movie had already won the Oscar)
In its honor today: Be like a scrappy no budget indie and surprise everyone
1940 Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of England and tasked with forming a wartime coalition government. John Lithgow just won a SAG Award playing him in the TV series The Crown. Two new movies featuring Churchill are on the way: Darkest Hour stars Gary Oldman (who is surely hoping for Best Actor dominance) as Churchill during World War II and he's also a character (played by Brendan Patricks as a young man) in the curious project The Professor and the Mad Man which stars Mel Gibson as a professor compiling a dictionary who is sent 10,000 entries from asylum-dwelling Sean Penn.
In Churchill's honor today: Fear nothing but fear itself.
1872 Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for US Presidency (by the Equal Rights Party) and the first to run. She was only 34 at the time and a leader of the Suffragette movement.
In her honor today: Be excited about the forthcoming biopic starring Brie Larson. Woodhull led a dramatic life!
Linda Evangelista in the wildly entertaining documentary UNZIPPED (1995)
OTHER BIRTHDAYS
Dance icon Fred Astaire (vote on the new poll!), Movie mogul David O Selznick, Oscar winning composer Max Steiner (Now Voyager, Top Hat, Gone With the Wind), Director David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water, Starred Up), Oscar winner Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph, Zootopia), Italian auteur Ettore Scola (A Special Day, Le Bal), supermodel Linda "I don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day" Evangelista, rock stars Sid Vicious and Bono, and the great French actress Emmanuelle Devos (Kings and Queen, Read My Lips). They all share May 10th as a birthday. If today is your birthday that's quite a group of fellow revelers.
OTHER ANNIVERSARIES TODAY
Rustlers Rhapsody (1985), Twister (1996), The New Guy (2002) all opened in movie theaters. Nelson Mandela's inaugurated as South Africa's first black president (1994) -- he's been played by both Morgan Freeman and Idris Elba at the movies. Laverne and Shirley aired its last episode (1983). Louis and Marie Antoinette became King & Queen of France (1774). Their reigns were short. Cue: the guillotine.
Reader Comments (29)
Nat,
Let it go. The Lange-hateration is gettin' tiiiiiiired.
There's actually another Churchill film which is being released in June with Brian Cox as Churchill, although I don't fancy it's chances against The Darkest Hour.
KBJr -- sorry i'm not a basic. I won't bow down to someone just because everyone else does.
Great! You're Susan Sarandon now ;)
Nat,
Jessica Lange is one of my five favorite actresses EVER, and watching her in Feud was such a blast for many reasons.
But i have to admit that while i admired her performance as a character, she had nothing to do with Joan Crawford, but reminded me of Constance in AHS 1.Watching Lange being Lange is my greatest pleasure on screen, so her lack of "trying-to-be-Crawford" didn't bother me too much, but i kept saying at least once or twice per episode : "She's soooo Lange and so far from Crawford" ... Causing my husband to roll his eyes each time...
Speaking of things Baz Luhrmann, I'm surprised that Team Film Experience hasn't covered The Get Down on Netflix.
"sorry i'm not a basic. I won't bow down to someone just because everyone else does."
Yass! Speak the truth, Nathaniel.
It bugs me that Jessica Lange's Joan is so celebrated (and soon to be award-winning) while Faye's earned her a Razzie. The latter was significantly more interesting and evocative of the woman she was playing.
EW opined that *both* Lange and Sarandon should win Emmy, which I think is whack. Lange's performance had nothing to do with Crawford, and Sarandon was too self-conscious to convey Davis's acerbic, "IDGAF how I look," go-for-broke attitude.
@ KBJr - You must be new here! Welcome to The Film Experience, where we pretend Jessica Lange, Helen Mirren, Amy Adams and Meryl Streep are sh*t actresses, but Gwyneth Paltrow is heralded as one of the greats! We also ignore the large swaths of questionable work done by Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore over the course of their uneven careers and focus only on their brilliant performances. For undisclosed reasons, that same generosity does not apply to Renée Zellwegger or Hillary Swank. Don't worry, with time you'll get used to the program. xD
Re: original post. Leo had such a great year in 2013 w/ Gatsby and Wolf, I really wish he had won his Oscar that year (especially since my favorite performance, Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips, was snubbed). My consolation prize were the memes during the Revenant season, especially the ones with the "raping" bear, which gave me life.
@Nat -- Mmkay. I ain't falling at any alters for Lange (or the performance), but I'm not coming for her (perfectly fine) performance in "Feud" every chance I get either - which is what I'm callin' tired. If that's basic, then lemme find my instinct. lol
We get it. She didn't mimick Crawford enough for your tastes. Coo. We disagree. But she ain't even won anything yet...
@Carmen -- I'm a looooooongtime reader of TFE. Love it. (and your point about Kidman...yes....I've stayed out of it for the most part, though...pickin' battles).
Though I'm sure it was an unplanned coincidence on their part at least a couple (staying with the rule) JOAN CRAWFORD pictures, Strange Cargo & Forsaking All Others, ran on TCM earlier today as part of their Clark Gable Star of the Month tribute. It works as a nice remembrance for her as well especially since those two movies were decent ones in her filmography.
Carmen that is very unfair,I know we all have our faves,I am a total Swank champion but love The Bening too,Nat doesn't really play faves it's just he doesn't warm to some Actresses,I don''t get any of the Huppert love for Elle and thought Chastain was overrated until Miss Sloane.
oh lord Carmen, really? yeah, that's me. Amy Adams and Meryl Streep are "shit" actresses that somehow have won gold and silver and bronze medals here for acting. Funny how that works. It's almost like I GASP watch performances before judging them and some are great and some aren't with every actress :)
KBJr -- for the millionth time. It's not about "mimicry". I dont need that. That bores me if that's all there is. I have never been a champion of mimicry as you'll see with awards year in and year out here demonstrate. It's about getting to the spiritual truth of a character. She didn't do mimicry (which is one option with real people) OR show the personality and persona of who Crawford was in Hollywood (the other option, though the best actresses often go for both). She just did another version of her raging AHS divas who are furious about aging / fallen stardom and toxic of personality to all around them.
okay sorry why am i arguing about this? those who understand my objections to that performance, understand it. The rest of you aren't coming around so i should let it go.
UNLESS IT WINS THE EMMY AND THEN YOU'LL NEVER HEAR THE END OF THE GRIPING ;)
Y'all are too buttoned up, come on. We all have our favorites and our blindsides. Some friendly poking is part of the fun!
Btw, I do love that I mentioned four actresses as getting the sh*t treatment but there was objection to only two of them. Oh, the shade!
Unfortunately, I have to agree that Nat's hatred of Jessica Lange's performance in Feud is getting old. As much as I respect his opinion, sometimes he just gets too biased. We know he doesn't like Jessica, Renee Zelwegger, and Hilary Swank, but constantly bringing it up can be exasperating.
I have a feeling that Nat keeps belittling Jessica Lange's performance in Feud because he is afraid she might steal the Emmy from Nicole Kidman. I may be wrong, of course, but he just loves Nicole too much and Jessica seems to be the biggest threat to that Emmy.
Sorry. Not a troll nor a basher. That's just how I see it.
Nathaniel, gird your loins. Jessica's got that Emmy. And she deserves it. And I love you.
I seem to remember Nathaniel praising performances by both Swank and Zellweger. Didn't he love Bridget Jones and Teena Brandon? And didn't he like the performances in Conviction, M$B, and Nurse Betty (even if he didn't think they were Oscar-worthy)? Let's not make this an all-or-nothing thing when it really isn't.
I think Joan Crawford was a great actress and the times being what they were it was harder when she got older. Same holds true for all actresses of that time nobody is perfect but I think Jessica Lange was perfect playing her.
I sm totally on carmensandiego' wave length. I like this blog site and totally disagree about some of the actresses worshipped sickenly here. They are mortals just like us. I like or dislike some performance and/or performers.
I like Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. I will see them in anything as they can make a poor movie great IMO
I dislike Nicole Kidman, renee Zellewegger, and Scarlett Johansen. None of their movies move me much.
III
Podcast moment reference: The AFI film festival with the main quarter and Anne Marie, where Anne Marie, talking about The Gambler, inadvertently compared John Goodman and Jessica Lange in front of Nick. And Nathaniel meant to say Jessica Chastain but said Jessica Lange in terms of oscar likelihood, which again, amusing.
Also, I'm not the biggest fan of Jessica Lange. Or Ryan Murphy. Which is why I haven't read anything written about Feud (sorry, Nathaniel, just really don't like Ryan Murphy).
I thought Leo was saying "old spore" in the Great Gatsby. If you have a catch phrase, make it clear what it is. "Old spore" just sounds mouldy.
I too wish Leo won the Oscar in 2013 but I feel like the only person on here who liked him in The Revenant.
It is his website, so he can do what he wants.
I did like Lange's emotional performance, if not physical performance, but she's already won a few Emmys for AHS, so Spread the Wealth to Nicole, Reese, or Susan, please, Emmy People!
Co-signing Carmen SanDiego's remarks on Leo. He should have won the Double Whammy of "Gatsby / Wolf" over.... yawn... "The Revenant".
Sigh, it makes me depressed how much shade/hate his Oscar win + performance gets from a large group of cinephiles. I'll forever defend that performance even if it's not one of his best.
S, don't get me wrong! I'm definitely not dissing Leo's win. In his defense, he was deservingly the best among the five guys nominated for Best Actor that year (it was a weak year, though).
I'm am perfectly fine with his 2016 win, I believe he merits his Oscar in both performance and career/body of work, but I see his turn in Wolf as much more of an acting stretch and showcase of his versatility (even body humor, that car scene is genius) than The Revenant which is more in his wheelhouse (dark and somber, lost-my-wife tortured Leo).
Also, at that point the combo of role, hardship of the shoot and general perception of his being overdue and going that extra mile to make sure he'd get it made for a hilarious awards season of memes, which I actually enjoyed more than his movie/performance (I mean, even if you are very bullish on the movie, you gotta admit that enjoyable is not a word you'd throw around to describe a 3h long miserabilist survival drama/revenge tale).
I though Jessica Lange was damn near perfect in the final episode in Feud. I don't want her to win the Emmy and would prefer Reese or Nicole, but I do think she was very, very good. I WOULD be pissed to high heavens if Susan Sarandon won the Emmy though, considering I thought she never had a full-grasp on the character and couldn't even commit to Bette Davis's idiosyncratic speech pattern (girl, either go all in or go home).
@Carmen Sandiego Ah I see. Thanks for clearing that up! I agree with everything you've said. When it's all said and done, The Wolf of Wall Street is a brilliant performance and definitely his best performance. It's unfortunate how actors never win for their best but as we know that's how Oscar rolls. I was rooting for both Chiwetel and Leo that year, so I was very disappointed when neither of them managed to win. I figure Leo is bound to win a second Oscar down the line, so hopefully it's for a performance that showcases more of his comedic side and/or is considered one of his best performances.
Of the nominees that year, Leo was definitely the best. Actually, he was the only one of the five who deserved to be in the running. Damon and Fassbender were close to deserving of the nomination, but Redmayne and Cranston were jokes. The other four nominees should have been Oscar Isaac, Michael B. Jordan, Tom Courtenay and Michael Caine, who really should have won the damn thing.
Having said all this, I'm not mad at Leo's win. It is some of his greatest work in an unfairly maligned film.
I'm never a Crawford fan n i dun condone her actions in stealing the best actress limelight at the 1962 Oscar, but to b fair. How the hell was Bette nom n Joan snubbed ???!!!.
IMHO, i feel tt Crawford gives a much betta performance than the OTT batshit crazy acting by Bette. Hers was such a wonderfully subduled n vulnerable performance that you actually forgot tt she was Queen Bee Joan. While Bette, beneath all that layers o hideous makeup never let us forget tt she was Bette beneath all that layers o hideous makeup.
I know 1962 is a super competitive yr, but i wld've rather both o them were nom or none at all.
Crawford and Gable is probably the most beautiful image this blog showed in its existence. And have been so many.