Links
Friday, May 3, 2019 at 11:00PM • /Film RIP Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca actor in the original Star Wars films
• Film Comment a wonderful anecdote-filled interview with the legendary casting director Juliet Taylor Dangerous Liaisons, The Exorcist, Close Encounters, Schindler's List, and Broadway Danny Rose are among her many classics.
• Deadline It's official: Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges and Tracy Letts to headline French Exit...
• TFE ...our earlier report about Michelle's interest in doing this movie
• Slate thinks the romcom Long Shot is actually pretty feminist (though it's initially strange to hear that claim about yet another movie where the schlubby guy gets the hot girl)
More after the jump including Lucy Liu, an 80s singer coming out, the Karate Kid, the German Oscars, upcoming stage musicals based on movies, and more...
• My New Plaid Pants Chang Chen seven times (posing for GQ China)
• Vanity Fair yes, it's true. They wanted Charlize Theron to play Gal Gadot's mom in Wonder Woman in yet another example of Hollywood being horrible to actresses over 40.
• NewNowNext the Paley Center will honor some of TV's most groundbreaking LGBT shows at a gala on May 15th including Soap and Will & Grace
• Lifehacker YouTube will start allowing regular users to watch their premium comment (with commercial interruptions) later this summer (on a rotating basis) including their Karate Kid themed series Cobra Kai
• Vanity Fair insane as it is to read Lucy Liu just became only the second Asian American woman with a star on the Walk of Fame. She paid tribute to Anna May Wong in her speech.
• THR Gundermann was the big winner at the German Oscars
• Boy Culture Madonna's second song from "Madame X" release. It's called "I Rise"
• Kenneth in the (212) the amazing singer Maria McKee (of Lone Justice / 80s fame) has come out as gay. Love this bit:
In keeping with the theme of being a late dyke, I am a day late with my #lesbiandayofvisibility post. I suppose because there is a part of me that feels like an interloper. A pansexual identified divorcée plunging headlong into the chapter marked “femme for femme”. But I will say this. If being Queer is about solidarity and community, stretching back beyond 25 years to canvassing the streets for AIDS charities, picking up the slack for friends dying alone when their families abandoned them, extending my family circle to my gay fans above all others and being Queer not being about who you fuck, then I have been and, and always will be, Queer as fuck.
Screen to Stage and Back Again
• NYT Current Broadway shows grappling with the sexism of their source material in modern revivals -- Really great piece except for the weird snipe at Tootsie (1982) which the author claims is not beloved; we beg to differ! It's only one of the best films of its entire decade.
• THR The animated film The Prince of Egypt is getting the stage musical treatment with Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) adding 10 new songs to the handful in the film.
• THR Sideways is in development as a Broadway musical. Quick what rhymes with "merlot"?
• Broadway World The Prom and Boys in the Band, both up for Tony Awards are coming to Netflix. (And other stage shows soon to be adapted for streamed)
Reader Comments (16)
furlough
Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges is such a great pairing. The story sounds super quirky, I hope it works out well.
Lucy Liu just became only the second Asian American woman with a star on the Walk of Fame. She paid tribute to Anna May Wong in her speech.
Scoreboard...
SNL hosts: Lucy Liu, Awkwafina, Sandra Oh (she's North American, close enough)
Hollywood Walk of Fame: Anna May Wong, Lucy Liu
The race (so to speak) is on. And moving very slowly.
Still hoping Michelle can come back. She oddly lost all her wattage connected with good films.
Wow Lucas Hedges keeps working with the very best older actresses!!! Color me impressed.
So the owner of this blog didn’t say anything about the death of John Singleton.
Do other people have concerns about French Exit and Michelle Pfeiffer’s awards chances because the film features Tracy Letts as a talking cat?
@Nikki, I guess you just are looking to stir up trouble (where there is none), because there was a post about John Singleton three days ago, as well as a retrospective of the director’s magnum opus (Boyz in the Hood) right here on its 25th anniversary.
Re: Tootsie, “Though the 1982 film was a hit, few treasure it enough to care much...” Wait, what? Would there even *be* a Broadway musical of it if many, many people *still* didn’t love it so much/remember it so fondly? That’s a weird dig at a clearly enduring I.P.
P.S. Was Charlize Theron even 40 when the offer to play Wonder Woman’s mother was made? Because I believe she was still in her 30s, as a matter of fact.
Good to know to disregard any Future Nikki comments from this show of bad faith drama attempting.
@Mareko
If you saw that tribute then you would know Nathaniel didn’t say anything in that post.
@Sun Chi
Good to know that the owner of the blog didn’t mention him on Twitter or in the tribute not a peep.
Is Hedges playing Pfeiffer's lover or her son?
Nikki -- if you expect me to write every article on the site you will be sadly disappointed always. I am not superhuman and cannot write everything myself. Alfred Soto is much more well versed in Singelton's career and Lynn Lee wanted to write about Boyz n the Hood for its anniversary (i send all the contributors lists of topics to choose from every couple of weeks) so they were the natural choices.
at any rate if you're looking to think ill of anyone its easy to find projection heavy reasons if you're seeking that out. But why would you want to?
Hey -- i'm really excited about the Pfeiffer project. Azazeel Jacobs has potential and it'd be great to see her in a quality movie again.
Brevity -- i'm sure Sandra Oh and Awkwafina could get them if they wanted them (and both would be so deserving). we'll see. The Walk of Fame is such a weird beast. Sometimes veritable superstars will suddenly get one when they're old and other times people get them right away. But since you do have to pay for them it takes kind of a desire to be on the walk of fame to get one... and not every celebrity has that desire.
@brevity - thank you for including that info. Of course "Walk of Fame" means privilege to pay, but good to know anyway.
Thanks always Nathaniel R.
"Tootsie" is a perfect comedy movie- how can it be sexist if it's about jerk who becomes a better man by pretending to be a woman?
I’m so excited about these musicals being released for streaming! Obviously, not everyone can afford to see musicals (or may live far away from NYC). Very very cool :)