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Thursday, October 4, 2018 at 5:38PM • IndieWire a brief interview with Steven Yeun about life after The Walking Dead -- strangely there are no questions about his new Korean movie Burning despite the fact that he's amazing in it
• THR Bradley Cooper getting an award from PETA for casting his own dog Charlie in A Star is Born. I mean.... the dog is perfection, so why not?
• Vanity Fair Fan Bingbing has broken her silence after disappearing. She is said to owe more than $100 million in backtaxes to the Chinese government
• /Film Trailer for The Conners series, essentially Roseanne without Roseanne
• The Guardian a wonderful interview with Samantha Morton about choices she made in her career, her new part on The Walking Dead, and why she was dubbed "difficult" in her early years of stardom.
• Playbill Emmy & Oscar winner Christine Lahti now starring in a play Off-Broadway about Gloria Steinem called Gloria: A Life. Steinem is quite the hot topic at the moment since there's also a biopic in the works
• Pajiba on the Bullseye rumors around Daredevil season 3
• Decider a Jeopardy moment that will go viral involving drag superstar Alyssa Edwards
• /Film Netflix will be releasing Paul Greengrass 22 July in 100 theaters (they're also rumored to be trying to buy movie theaters, which is odd considering how much they've worked to diminish the moviegoing habit)
• MNPP Luke Benward nine times
• Daily Beast and director Catherine Hardwicke reflect back on Twilight's success and the sexist aftermath
This Week's Must Read (s)
Wesley Morris has an amazing challenging essay about the new ways we discuss art and how they've come to center more on the artist and that person's perceived moral or representational correctness then the quality of the art. I loved reading this because so much of what he's saying I've seen happening and whenever I tried to put my finger on why it was frustrating me, I couldn't quite locate the target.
The essay also prompted this interesting discussion at Vulture among a panel of mostly female critics. I love the point raised that there's a way to discuss art in this new way while also balancing aesthetic discussion but a lot of younger critics haven't been trained in that way or encouraged to learn that skill in the charged political time we're living in.
Reader Comments (23)
1 - I want to see Burning now. Lee Chang Dong is the best director of this century.
2 - I've said before in those Harlots reviews: Morton should be as big as Blanchett and Winslet. She's a marvelous actress, a perfect presence - I love her as much as I love Rachel Weisz.
I caught 22 July in Toronto, and I'm glad it will get more than a token theatrical release. Overall I liked it very much, even though I went in wondering if the world really need this. My 2 main problems with the movie are: 1) 77 people were massacred, yet there is almost nothing about any of their stories, even the one rather perfunctory strand is mostly at the service of the "feel-good" story of the boy who makes a physical comeback from his severe wounds. As for "problem" #2, I'll take off my critic's hat and put on my dunce cap just to say that the murderer is played by Anders Danielsen Lie, one of the hottest actors on this planet, and as excellent as he is, he can't make me feel as unsympathetic towards him as I know I should. It was quite distracting. Mea maxima culpa.
Christine Lahti is most definitely not an Oscar winner :) I love her though
@Becausewhynot--Christine Lahti is an Oscar winner. Best Live Action Short film (1995) for 'Lieberman in Love.'
I found Steven Yeun incredibly annoying in The Walking Dead, so imagine my surprise to find him so utterly compelling as a douchebag in Burning. That move is long and slow and totally engrossing, and I hope it gets nominated for Foreign Film, if it's eligible.
Also a shout-out for Jong-seo Jeon who I thought was remarkable in her debut. The post-pot smoking scene is one for the ages.
Y'all are. not. ready. for Charlie the Dog, the star that is born in A STAR IS BORN. America's next sweetheart, and a very good boy indeed.
because why not -- what Mike M said. It's easy to forget this because she didn't win for her one acting nomination but 11 years later for short film.
Mike/ Nathaniel - good to know :) Thanks
@Becausewhynot (and anyone else): There are a handful of actors who won their only Oscar in categories other than acting. Leaving out common crossover categories like Director, Picture, or Screenplays, here are some of them...
Original Song: Keith Carradine
Documentary: Fisher Stevens
Live Action Short: Peter Capaldi, Christine Lahti, Steven Wright.
Nominees for Live Action Short include Griffin Dunne, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Riegert, Peter Weller, JoBeth Williams, and William Zabka.
Family trivia: Husband and wife Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole co-wrote a nominated song. Stepfather and stepson John Astin and Sean Astin made nominated short films about 25 years apart.
Where can I watch Christine Lahti's short film? Anyone know?
OFMG!! Mary, Queen of Scots juz dropped a new thrailer n it looks smashing!!
Robbie really goes for broke w tt potmark face!
Can't wait to see Steven Yeun in BURNING. He was so good and SO HOT... in Sorry to Bother You.
Morton fascinates me - at her best she burns up the screen and is the equal of any great actress in history (see Morvern Callar, Under The Skin and The Messenger).
However, too often she is disconnected from her co-stars and unable to judge the overall tone of her film (In America, Control and Synecdoche New York spring to mind).
I struggle to think of another talented actor who struggles to gel with other actors so often on screen...
Kermit -- hmmm. i'll have to think on that but the examples dont persuade me as I think she's pretty good to great in all three of those movies.
While I somewhat disagree with Kermit (I quite liked her work in Synecdoche and Control), I may be inclined to agree to an extent since when I think of her I always first think of that scene in Cosmopolis, and it's basically a monologue with the camera always on her. Something about how she uses her voice and even the smallest body movements (she's seated in the back of an automobile after all) just fascinated me. It was commanding and fascinating, even though the whole set-up was stylize or stilted or however one would describe it. It made me really want to see her in a one-woman show of some kind.
The artcle makes a few good points about identity politics but ultimately reads too much like some “minorities make bad art, too” article rather than engaging in any significant postcolonial discourse.
Also, of course you would like an article that criticizes our lack of criticism of Beyoncé. lol
Morton was nod worthy for Minority Report.
@beyaccount
Oh please lack of criticism Beyoncé gets criticized constantly by both Black and White people. From her child’s hair to her hair, to forgiving JZ to the drama with Destiny’s child, to
her singing a country song etc. If she breathes slightly off it’s a problem.
I am so happy for Steven Yeun, his career is thriving after The Walking Dead. I hope the same happens with Danai Gurira!
Will someone please give the wildly underrated Christine Lahti a juicy feature film role so she can grab another Oscar nod.
I only saw In America once and I can still recall pieces of Morton's performance (the scene where she smiles at her first glimpses of New York from the window of the car, especially). I've never considered her one of my favorites, but when all of these performances are considered individually, she seems so impressive.
Samantha was also awfully awfully good in Jesus' Son. Just her entrance to 'Sweet Pea" was worth the price of admission.
a) Samantha Morton is a little too odd for me, but I also really like her (see Swinton comma Tilda). I'm glad she gets roles and would like to see her more often but also understand why she isn't the big star/acclaimed actress.
b) That was a terrific article. I didn't agree with all of it but it made me think a lot more about my own reaction to art and artists.