"Greatest Showman" Posters Say "This Is... We"

Chris here. I have seen a few folks suggesting online that The Greatest Showman could currently be greatly underestimated in the Oscar race. Sure, we're talking about an opulent original musical with one of the biggest movie stars taking center stage, so dismissing it entirely from the conversation is perhaps historically unwise. While the trailer and first two released songs have gotten a decidedly mixed response, let's not underestimate the financial success of recent musicals during the Christmas holiday window - maybe this is a splashy musical with box office gold in its sights ahead of statues.

But its also perhaps wise to note that the film's promotional campaign is just beginning, and we've got some new character posters to ogle! Let's do just that and drum up some Oscar talk while we're at it...

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Honorary Oscars: Agnès Varda's Cléo from 5 to 7

We're revisiting work from this year's Honorary Oscar winners. Here's Salim on Agnès Varda...

What's good?

When most people look back on the French New Wave, it’s unconsciously seen as a boys’ club, especially of the Cahiers du Cinéma clan with Godard and Truffaut. That’s unfortunate when a chapter in film history feels marginalizing and the masculinity in the French New Wave movement can end up nondescript.Much thanks for Agnès Varda then, representing both the literary Left Bank wing of the French New Wave and the feminine voice she brought to the fray.

While her directorial debut La Pointe Courte predates and even informs much of the French New Wave proper, Cléo from 5 to 7 is essentially the work that broke that glass ceiling and introduced a new sort of perspective into the one of the most radical movements in film history.

And the brilliant thing is how unassuming Cléo from 5 to 7 is about these things. Not TOO relaxed, mind you...

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Beauty vs Beast: Marriage Among the Prophets

Jason from MNPP here -- the great Mike Nichols would have turned 86 today if he hadn't passed away back in 2014, and yet even with him gone for three years now I've spent a good chunk of the year thinking about him. Specifically I've been thinking a lot about his 2003 adaptation of Angels in America, thanks to the most recent London production with Andrew Garfield & Co grabbing headlines before moving here to the US in a few months. What are your thoughts on Mike Nichols' miniseries now? Have you re-watched it lately? (The whole thing is available to stream on Amazon if you haven't.)

Anyway there are a lot of antagonistic pairings in Angels that I could have used for this week's "Beauty vs Beast" but in every iteration of the show I have seen it's always the fractured marriage of Joe (Patrick Wilson in the film) and Harper (Mary Louise Parker) that I come back to, so that's where we'll land.

PREVIOUSLY Last week we floated down through the storm-drain on a raft of red balloons and took on Stephen King's most recent blockbuster adaptation of It - y'all weren't in the mood for clown-time though, choosing The Losers Club over Pennywise by just a couple of points. Said catbaskets:

"Tie between Beverley and Pennywise. You can keep all the boys. They bring little to the table compared to those drama gals with demons."

The Furniture: Grotesque Extravagance in Fellini's Casanova

"The Furniture," by Daniel Walber, is our weekly series on Production Design. You can click on the images to see them in magnified detail. Since the Honorary Oscars are handed out next week, here's a Donald Sutherland film for you!

Federico Fellini didn’t much like Giacomo Casanova, the famously amorous subject of his meandering fantasy-biopic. The director may not have liked Donald Sutherland, either. The actor was required to shave his head and sport both a false nose and a false chin to play the long-winded lover. The costumes aren’t especially flattering either. Fellini’s Casanova is an erotic descent into Hell, a grotesque pageant of 18th century moral abandon. It frequently borders on the disgusting.

It was also on the edge of Oscar’s attention, sliding into only two categories. While Fellini’s Casanova did win for its costumes, its production design missed out entirely. Anyone betting that year would likely have lost money; La Dolce Vita, 8 ½ and Juliet of the Spirits were all nominated for both.

Though this sexualized panorama thrilled the costume designers, it may have shocked too many art directors. Like Sutherland’s performance, it’s proved to be a bit too much for the Academy. That’s a shame, because the contribution of legendary designer Danilo Donati is dazzling...

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Podcast Smackdown Companion: Gaslight, Since You Went Away...

Please read the Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1944 before listening please!

After voting in the Smackdown Nathaniel and the panel which included Mark Harris, Loren King, Farran Smith Nehme, Molly Pope, and Matthew Rettenmund got together to talk about the five films we watched and that era in Hollywood during World War II. We hope you enjoy the conversation!

Index (62 minutes)
00:01 Introductions of the Panel
03:00 Dragon Seed, yellowface, production trouble, and Oscar theories
11:50 Since You Went Away, war propaganda, and acting styles
24:00 None but the Lonely Heart, Cary Grant, Barrymore and "great lady" acting
38:50 Gaslight and Mrs Parkington
51:30 Our favorites of 1944 including Meet Me in St Louis and Double Indemnity
57:30 The forgotten Wilson, final Oscar notes and goodbyes.

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?

Gladys Cooper downing the drinks! Was she watching Dragon Seed, too?

FYC after listening...
Mark's "Five Came Back" as a miniseries on Netflix
Matthew's new nostalgia site Gr8ter Days
Molly co-stars in Bulldozer: The Ballad of Robert Moses (previews begin Nov 25th)
Farran's book "Missing Reel"

Smackdown 1944