Horror Actressing: Judy In Oz

by Jason Adams

Consider this just a half entry in our "Great Moments in Horror Actressing" canon as I'm somewhat waylaid with New York Film Festival screenings at the moment. But I wanted to mark the release of the "Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland!" bio-pic this week with a quick thought. No The Wizard of Oz is not a horror movie. As far as I can suss out Judy Garland never starred in a proper horror movie. (Feel free to set me straight, as I'm not a Judy expert.) But I don't think we really give her enough credit for how fully she sells Dorothy's many many moments of sheer unadulterated terror in The Wizard of Oz, all the same...

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Podcast: Hustlers, Ad Astra, and More...

with Murtada Elfadl & Nathaniel R

 

Index (42 minutes)
00:01 Hustlers - lots and lots of Jennifer Lopez love for you, plus thoughts on Loren Scafaria, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Constance Wu. Yes, we also talk Oscar buzz for JLo, which scenes Murtada wants to rewind again and again, and why Nathaniel was triggered.

25:00 Murtada gawks at Brad Pitty's beauty in Ad Astra while Nathaniel travels to Downton Abbey and marvels at Dame Maggie Smith's Oscar clip.

31:00 Best Supporting Actress chatter including Annette Bening in The Report

35:00 Recommendations from the New York Film Festival and which films are coming to regular theaters shortly after the festival: Pain & Glory and Parasite

40:00 Announcement: Murtada's new podcast "Sundays with Cate!" 

 You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

JLo, Brad, Dame Maggie

Emmy Winners 2019. "Fleabag" and "Game of Thrones" Triumphant

We couldn't watch the Emmys tonight due to a major off-blog deadline but here is your list of winners. How satisfied are you on a scale of YAAASSSS to I FEEL SICK in each of the big sections, comedy / drama / limited series.

COMEDY

Best Comedy “Fleabag” (Amazon)
Best Actress, Comedy Phoebe Waller-Bridge, “Fleabag”
Best Actor, Comedy Bill Hader, “Barry”
Supporting Actress, Comedy Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Supporting Actor, Comedy Tony Shalhoub, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”...

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Downton Abbey is a hit!

[NOW UPDATED WITH ACTUALS] Box office pundits thought it would be a tight battle for the crown this weekend but it wasn't. Downton Abbey trampled all over its competition with its army of butlers, ladies & ladymaids, footmen, and visiting royals. The chart is after the jump...

Weekend Box Office Sept 20th-22nd (ACTUALS) 🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = recommended
WIDE RELEASE (800+ screens)	PLATFORM TITLES
1 🔺 DOWNTON ABBEY $31 *new* ★	1  🔺 LINDA RONSTADT: SOUND... [DOC] $427k on 218 screens (cum. $1.6) REVIEW

2 🔺  AD ASTRA $19 *new* REVIEW ★	2 🔺 OFFICIAL SECRETS $249k on 482 screens (cum. $1.3) REVIEW

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Best Actress / Supporting Actress - Chart Updates!

We fully expect Marriage Story to be nominated in all four acting categoriesBEST ACTRESS and BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS charts are now up. Strangely, this year doesn't feel as competitive as usual when it comes to these two categories. That said, given the lack of a wide field of wildly loved work, we're expecting some unexpected volatility to occur. If one of the early precursors throws a major curveball expect everyone else to follow suit if the field isn't inspiring them. 

We are starting to wonder if Lupita Nyong'o is closer to a nomination for Best Actress than we thought she'd be at this point. (She's great in Us but we assumed the genre trappings would hinder her... but is enthusiasm there for other performances the way it was earlier in the year for hers? That's a campaign strength right there if Universal goes for it.)