Links: Rip Torn, Woman in the Window, Mank, The Lion King, and more...

• THR Woman in the Window, the Fox thriller starring Amy Adams as an agoraphic woman is being pushed back to 2020 for reshoots. Mark it off your Oscar lists (for now)
• Coming Soon Rip Torn has passed away at 88
• Variety Queen & Slim, one of the most hotly anticipated 2019 titles hoping for awards play, screened its first 12 minutes at the Essence Festival this week

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Goodbye, Valentina

We regret to inform you that the headscarf-loving Italian actress Valentina Cortese has passed away at 96 years of age. She first came to international fame playing Fantine & Cosette in an Italian take on the oft-adapted Les Misérables (1948). After that picture European directors came calling and so did Hollywood (including the Academy)...

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Soundtracking: Wild Rose

by Chris Feil

If it’s time to start assessing this year’s Best Original Song Oscar potential at 2019’s midpoint, we have just been given a hell of a frontrunner in Wild Rose. The film’s buried lede is the participation of one beloved Oscar-winning actress. Guys, Mary Steenburgen is also a songwriter these days, and as Wild Rose’s finale proves, she’s a pretty good one.

Earlier this summer Rocketman arrived already prepackaged for a Broadway iteration by design, and Wild Rose feels similarly ready for the stage translation. The narrative follows all of the hallmarks of the traditional narrative structure for film’s about everyday people with big musical dreams. The film follows young Rose-Lynn, freshly released from prison back to her humble Glasgow home where her wary mother and two children await. She’s a long way from the Nashville she claims as her true home, with even further distance between her dreams of being a famous singer and her reality cleaning houses.

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Showbiz History: Hound dog Kurt Russell and fishy Fiona Shaw

7 random things that happened on this day (July 10th) in showbiz history

1964 The Beatles release "A Hard Day's Night" their 3rd studio album. Have you seen Yesterday the high concept musical comedy about a world without The Beatles in it? Only the title song from this particular album gets played in Yesterday. 

1981 It was a big weekend for Kurt Russell with two new movies in theaters...

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Big Little Lies MVPS: Episode 2.5 "Kill Me"

Previously: Episode 1 (Nathaniel) Episode 2 (Spencer) Episode 3 (Lynn) Episode 4 (Nathaniel) 

by Eric Blume

I’m onboard with most of the TFE staff that season two of Big Little Lies isn’t quite up to the level of its first season, but that it’s filled with fun, exciting, and interesting things.  Last week, Nathaniel noted that David Kelley’s writing is weaker this season, and I agree (especially in those therapy scenes), but it’s also about the directing: Andrea Arnold has talent, but she lacks Jean-Marc Vallee’s lush lyricism and ability to keep everything jangled and on-edge. She also doesn’t have Vallee’s gift for framing:  the images aren’t as memorable as what Vallee put together, and she’s shot too many in-the-car sequences from the backseat so the scenes feel repetitive rather than intimate and revealing. 

 But each episode holds wonderful surprises and treats for those invested in the show...

Top Ten MVPs of Big Little Lies, Episode 2.5 "Kill Me"

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