I'll Link to That: Pedro, Liza, 'The Northman', and Anthony Bridgerton

• The Guardian ranks Liza Minnelli's 20 best films. You can quibble with the order but there's so much good stuff in here; very happy to see the wildly underrated Lucky Lady make it all the way to #7
• IndieWire looks at the first take reactions to The Northman (which are wildly positive as first take reactions tend to be) 
• AfterEllen here's something a bit unexpected. Pioneering lesbian rockstar Melissa Etheridge has released a graphic novel AND announced a week-long event in Mexico called Etheridge Island which is aimed where she and Ani DiFranco and other artists will perform

Upcoming music biopics, You Won't Be Alone, Killing Eve, Bridgerton, Pedro Almodóvar, Mad God, and more after the jump ...

• IndieWire surveys all the music biopics in the works from Elvis to Madonna
• The Guardian interviews Goran Stolevski, the director of buzzy folk horror film You Won't Be Alone, now in theaters
• ...TFE our review of the film in case you missed it.
• Cartoon Brew Shudder acquires exclusive streaming rights to Phil Tippett's stop-motion feature Mad God
•...TFE you might recall Elisa attended a Phil Tippet event in Locarno to discuss this film
• Deadline A Killing Eve spinoff is being planned around spymaster Carolyn Martens. But since it won't feature Fiona Shaw we aren't the least bit interested!
• MovieWeb Jim Carrey planning to retire after Sonic the Hedgehog 2 opens. Feels he has nothing left to achieve. Which is such a bummer because we were hoping he had another Man in the Moon or Eternal Sunshine left in him (you know, the two he should have been Oscar nominated for)

One Last Oscar Night Throwback
• IndieWire We feel terrible that we forgot to share Pedro Almodóvar's awesome lengthy Oscar Diary that was translated into English. It's a week old of course but if you missed it, you absolutely must read it. Almodóvar writes awesome diaries about his career and we wish he would release like 10 memoirs. In the piece he talks about The Slap, the widely held last-minute belief that Penélope Cruz was going to snag Best Actress, and scoping out Hollywood actresses that might join Cate Blanchett in his first English language film A Manual for Cleaning Women. 

Bridgerton Mania - spoiler heavy
• Slate an animal historian speaks at length --and it's quite interesting! -- about Kate Sharma's corgi and whether this beloved pet is historically accurate or yet another anachronism
• Variety Season 2 of Bridgerton broke a single week record for most-viewed English language series (though Squid Game still has the all time best single week)
• Refinery 29 opposing points of view on the hotness of Season 1 versus Season 2
• Buzzfeed obsessives over 25 details in the season  from bees decorating clothing through flower motifs to men's grooming choices
• Slate's ICYMI wonders how the unauthorized Grammy-winning Bridgerton musical is even legal

Comments

[cal roth]

I love that Almodóvar diary entry about how rude Madonna was at the party in Spain she filmed for Truth or Dare. Wonderfully petty.

[Tom M]

Thanks for pointing to the Almodovar diary. Delicious. My favorite martini-dry laugh line: "Branagh asks me if it’s true that I’m going to do a film in English. I confirm that the project exists, but there are days when I can’t get over the fear it produces in me. He reminds me that he is also an actor."

[Edwin]

Not sure if you saw the Robert Eggers interview a few weeks back where he said his original cut of The Northman tested poorly so the studio made him recut it. He said it was a painful experience and expressed doubt that he’d ever make a movie with that big a budget again because of it. That had me worried we were getting a butchered version for the theatrical release, but apparently the early reviews are good so that’s somewhat reassuring. Plus I’m sure there’ll be a director’s cut at some point so we can see what Eggers originally intended.

[LynK]

Best line in that incredible Almodovar piece

“ After that, I meet with Paul Thomas Anderson. We first met a long time ago, in 2002, at the Cannes Film Festival. I presented him with the Best Director award for a film that has what for me is an unpronounceable title, “Punch Drunk Love,” and we celebrated intensely that night in the discotheques on the French Riviera.”