Hooray! May the Comment Party Begin Again...

And there was much rejoicing. I can "hear" you all again. You can hear each other. We didn't expect to take a vow of collective silence but I had just watched Novitiate, that movie about the nuns, in which The LEOgend is very very upset when people talk during conversation blackout periods so perhaps I spiritually triggered it? Anyway... PLEASE SAY SOMETHING TO END THE SILENCE.

Recent ICYMI

• 50 Beloved movies that received 0 Oscar nominations
• Jamie Bell Interview
• Meryl Streep in The Deer Hunter (1978)
• Harriet Samson Harris in Phantom Thread
• Paddington 2 Review
• The production design of Top Hat (1935)
• The women of The Post
• Scripter nominees for Adapted TV & Film
• Body of Evidence at 25 - the end of the "erotic thriller" period in Hollywood?
• Blueprints: Get Out
• A documentary on Barack Obama's final year in office
• Best Hitchcock star: Cary Grant OR Jimmy Stewart?
• Soundtracking: Call Me By Your Name
• Holiday weekend box office
• Visual Effects of Okja
• Michael Stuhlbarg in Call Me By Your Name
• Critics Choice Winners

Ding Dong! "Las Culturistas" Calling...

The TFE podcast will be back soon, but until then, here's a detour to another listen!

I had the pleasure of being this weekend's guest on "Las Culturistas". Matt Rogers (no relation) and Bowen Yang take you to the cultch each week. They've been making all sorts of lists of best comedy podcasts (Vulture, Esquire, TimeOut New York) and so I was getting my Lyft on to the studio, honey, as soon as they asked. Lists are life and to be consulted with when making life decisions like 'to guest or not to guest?')

I was terrified but they put me at ease immediately with Rule #1470 of Culture ("Kirsten Dunst makes it look easy"). And from there we talk about Oscar, actresses, Michelle Pfeiffer, who's going to win Best Picture, things that are pissing us off at the moment, and so on.

Women of "The Post"

By Spencer Coile 

There is a scene during a climactic moment in The Post where Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep), publisher for The Washington Post, wades into a crowd. News outlets and reporters swarm around her, probing her decision to run an article exposing the U.S. government for their involvement in the Pentagon Papers. Without uttering a word, she glides past the press, but the camera slows as Katharine finds herself surrounded by a small group of women in this crowd, all staring at her with admiration. 

The Post serves as a timely reminder for why we should never underestimate the impact one powerful woman can make. Though Katharine Graham is the central female focus of the film, Spielberg's latest work features multiple women: they are reporters, wives, mothers, daughters. Each character provides insight into this pivotal moment in American history. So how does The Post honor their legacy? 

Click to read more ...

US Scripters Nominations (Gloriously) Add to the Adapted Screenplay Confusion

by Nathaniel R

Lost City of Z finally makes a precursor markOne of the funniest developments this awards season is how weirdly empty the Adapted Screenplay became in the wake of so many top contenders being "originals". The balance is way off. Even the 'true' stories, the ones adapted from history or people's lives this year were mostly originals (Some have argued in the past should be considered for the Adapted category since they're not originating the stories and characters... though we've never come to a definitive conclusion as to whether or not we agree).

Today the US Scripters chaired by USC professor and past president of the Writers Guild of America, West, Howard Rodman, and a selection committee chose the nominees from a field of 91 film and 28 television adaptations. Because of a three way tie in voting they have SEVEN film nominees this year. Which is hilarious since most people though the category "weak" in terms of Oscar candidates. In spreading their net so wide they've done little to clear up the confusion as to which five films will receive Oscar nominations. More after the jump...

Click to read more ...

The Flesh is Weak: Body of Evidence at 25

 by Seán McGovern

Madonna is a lot of things: Singer. Mother. Grammy Winner. Cosmetics Magnate. She is also a “movie killer”. But Body of Evidence, which turns 25 this week, is not entirely her fault. Nor, sadly, is it camp enough, ludicrous enough or, really, bad enough for the opinion of it to have changed after all these years.

Body of Evidence arrived at a particular nexus of Madonna's career. Riding on the wave of Like A Prayer, pushing boundaries with the Blonde Ambition Tour and the exuberant Truth or Dare, Madonna's imperial phase began to dip with her boundary-pushing take on sex and erotica; namely, SEX and Erotica. While Madonna would remain unapologetic, Body of Evidence, and the accompanying explicit period in career concluded with one of the most consistent criticisms of Madonna: rigid-perfectionism and managed-spontaneity...

Click to read more ...