Showbiz History: Battleship Potemkin, Fantastic Four, and Kevin's Bacon
Monday, July 8, 2019 at 8:30AM Ten random things that happened on this day (July 8th) in film history for your edification or amusement
1905 The mutinous soldiers of the Russian battleship Potemkin surrender to Romanian authorities. The event later becomes the subject of one of the most influential films ever made, Sergei Eisentein's Battleship Potemkin (1925).
1907 Zeigfeld stages the very first "Ziegfeld Follies" on a New York theater roof. The elaborate theatrical revue becomes a showbiz institution and the subject or setting of major movies, most famously the Best Picture winner The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and the Best Actress winning Funny Girl (1968)
After the jump Cary Grant, Kevin Bacon, Fantastic Four and more...
There was also a film called Ziegfeld Follies (1945) which gave us that amazing Judy Garland number "A Great Lady Has an Interview"
1935 The Boris Karloff / Bela Lugosi horror film The Raven (based on the Edgar Allan Poe poem) hits movie theaters
1942 Cary Grant marries American heiress Barbara Hutton (thus ending his decade plus co-habitation with "best friend" Randolph Scott). It was his second of five marriages for Grant (Scott only married twice) and lasted three years. The two men reportedly remained close their whole lives. Barbara Hutton's life later became the subject of a Golden Globe winning TV biopic called Poor Little Rich Girl (1987) starring Farrah Fawcett.
1967 Two-time Best Actress winner Vivien Leigh (Gone With the Wind, A Streetcar Named Desire) dies of tuberculosis at just 53 years of age. Her last film was the Best Picture nominated drama Ship of Fools (1965)
1996 The Spice Girls release their debut single "Wannabe"
2005 Fantastic Four opens in movie theaters, the second live-action attempt to make these superheroes work for the big screen. There have been five films now (1994, 2005, 2007, and 2015) and none of them have ever worked (with Chris Evan's Human Torch being the only entertaining part of any of the four films). You'll know Marvel Studios feels infallible/invincible if they try this supergroup a fifth time now that they own the rights. Given that Marvel likes Peyton Reed (Ant-Man) wouldn't it be bizarre 'time-is-a-circle' interesting if they gave him the project since he wanted to do it originally in the Aughts but Fox wouldn't buy into his vision.
2011 Project Nim opens in US theaters. Curiously Oscar passes it by in the Best Documentary Oscar race, despite its reviews and box office hit status.
2018 Tab Hunter dies at 86. Have you watched the documentary Tab Hunter: Confidential yet? It's really fun and Old Hollywood juicy -- streaming on Amazon Prime.
2022 Supposedly Disney will open another live-action film on this date... which probably means it's another live action remake. They won't stop until they've regurgitated their whole back catalogue!
Today's Birthday Suit
Hollow Man (2000)No one speaks of Kevin's Bacon anymore. Or Hollow Man (2000) for that matter even though it's a typically provocative Paul Verhoeven picture. Kevin was feeling quite frisky from the late 90s to the mid 00s with frequent nudity (see also Wild Things and Where the Truth Lies)
Oscar Winners: Actress Anjelica Huston (Prizzi's Honor), cinematographer Wally Pfister (Inception), editor Conrad Buff IV (Titanic)
Oscar Nominees: Writer/director Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk), producer John Calley (Remains of the Day)
Actors: Billy Crudup, Lena Endre, Kathleen Robertson, Milo Ventimiglia, John D'Leo, Sophia Bush, Jaden Smith, Lee Tergesen, Jamie Blackley, Andy Gillet, and Corey Parker
Spawn of Celebrity: Maya Hawke (daughter or Oscar nominees Ethan Hawke & Uma Thurman, currently on Stranger Things season 3!), Schuyler Fisk (daughter of Oscar winner Sissy Spacek and Oscar nominee Jack Fisk)
Other Showbiz Peeps: Director Joe Russo, musician Beck, singer Sky Ferreira, director Michael Cuesta, makeup artist Glenn Hetrick, casting director Des Hamilton, and writer/director Mark Christopher.
Reader Comments (14)
those pics of Chris Evans (who people I know have been raving about for months, and i never got it but now i do) and Kevin Bacon are GORGEOUS!
Nat: The problems with doing Fantastic Four are in order of severity: 1. The 2005 movie is a decent adaptation, in terms of tone...of the non-superhero parts of that book. 2. The superhero parts of the classic book are 60s Sci-Fi. 3. Reed Richards is kind of a crap character, and the movies have, honestly not wrongly, always flattened him, so as to not be forced to turn into Watchmen: Marvel Edition. 4. The fall of Communism and what that means for Doctor Doom. I'd argue the last of these is basically fixable (just think less Norman Osborn, or whatever the 2015 movie was playing at, more pushing him closer to gender flipped Mandy from Billy and Mandy (I'd honestly KILL to see Maxwell Atoms write the official Doctor Doom movie), but the other three...? Whoo, baby. They've got a tall order to make something even approaching decent, let alone "good."
We need a film experience deep-dive into WILD THINGS, stat!
A Wild Things retrospective with people competing over who gets to write about what parts!
What has Kevin Bacon been doing lately? I know he was on the Following on tv a while ago. I think he took a beat seat when his wife had her own successful show and she was getting awards and attention. He seemed really proud of her and seemed ok letting her take the spotlight.
I think Bacon lost a lot of money in the 2008 financial crash which ha has spoken about,just needs the right role for that 1st nomination.
He does phone ads here in the UK which is a shame cos he has a solid filmography and is often underutilised or underappreciated.
They do not make movies like WILD THINGS anymore sadly.
I remember seeing it with a packed theater and it was so much fun taking in all the over-the-top plot twists at the end. If ever there were a film suited to earn the title "TOTAL TRASHY FUN" this was it!
Me -- the 1980s and 1990s were full of erotic thrillers... but I guess DVD screen capturing technology and the internet damped the appeal since everyone could just see all the nude pics without actually going to see the movies? Because why else did the genre die such a sudden death just as the internet picked up?
David & Tom -- literally the only thing i remember about Wild Things is Kevin Bacon's shower scene. LOL.
Nathaniel- apparently they were running short on time or money but Bacon was not supposed to have a nude scene. In the end he was just like screw it and what gets shown gets shown.
Nathaniel-
It is SOOOO worth a rewatch! There were like 100 double-crosses at the end.. and the fun part was, they explained them during the credits!! I remember it being such a hoot.
I think if Marvel wants to do Fantastic Four. set it in the 1960s. Don't try to do any inclusive casting to be with the times. Just keep it simple. Get the right people to play those characters. For the sequel, it would be set in the present where the 4 cope with being lost in space and realize they've come home many years later (due to time dilation) as they deal with foes and the new world.
I do have a few ideas for the casting of the Fantastic 4. John Krasinski-Reed Richards, Evan Rachel Wood-Sue Storm, Ross Lynch-Johnny Storm. I have no idea who should play Ben Grimm but I think it should be someone close to Krasinki's age as well as touch upon Grimm's connection with Judaism since Grimm is originally Jewish.
thevoid99: Ross Lynch is the best of those three choices. I could see that working. I'd prefer Logan Lerman, but I could see that working. But Evan Rachel Wood as Sue? John Krasinski as Reed? Those picks are both TERRIBLE, if you're trying for character proximity. As hard as I think even doing the FF well would be and I think they would probably skip the four and just do a Doctor Doom movie? Here's my picks for Reed and Sue.
Reed: Jason Bateman. (I would say Ty Burrell or Colbert, but the MCU already has Burrell as a character, sadly, and Colbert's too busy for a big movie with that late night show. Bateman's "egotistical lame dad" credentials are absolutely established. That's Reed.)
Sue: Rosamund Pike.
Actually, I was a bit harsh, probably because my picks were more terrible than yours. Also because I only ever shoehorn one animated tv show reference into most comments. Am I cool and edgy yet?
Nat: Don't know where this...jackass...is posting from, but can you please block this guy? For coherency? If you can't, I understand.
Jackass: I like cartoons, yes. But "cool"? "Edgy"? I would NEVER describe myself like that. I know I'm kinda lame. Not Reed Richards lame (which is you, right now), but lame.
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