Daniel Day-Links

• Vanity Fair the interrupted erupted into crazed outrage early today over fake news regarding Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman payday. Katey clears up the confusion

• Time has a gorgeously written profile of Sofia Coppola by Stephanie Zacharek as The Beguiled heads to theaters.

• Meanwhile, though, not everyone is happy with the film. Our own Murtada thinks the film lacks tension and should've switched its setting away from the Civil War. Slate details the whitewashing of the source novel that happened in both the 1971 movie and to an even larger degree in the current film. I think a couple of the Slate article complaints are overdoing it particularly when it comes to the dialogue addressing the absence of slaves -- that feels absolutely authentic as to how that particular character (Nicole Kidman's stone-faced self-serving Miss Martha) would dismiss the topic but there are enough valid ones that now I'd love to see a third version that is actually more faithful to the book because it sounds, at least in this article, like its more fascinating than either movie version. I guess we should read it.

• THR Young Han Solo loses/fires (?) its hot directors Phil Lord & Christopher Miller under the typical "creative visions" disagreements. The worrying part is that they're already several months into production. Deadline follows up with the bad news that they want Ron Howard to finish the film

• GQ Joel Schumacher looks back on the reviled camp of Batman & Robin. Has no regret about the Bat Nipples.

• Village Voice Transformers: The Last Knight wrecks Bilge Ebiri. Perfect. This review is perfect. 

 • And you have probably heard that Daniel Day-Lewis is retiring...
The Wrap reminds us that he's announced his retirement before but Variety goes with the sensational misleading "Shocker!" headline even though Daniel Day-Lewis hardly ever works by his own choice and thus it was only a matter of time before he did this. Letters of Note shares a cool story about how hard he fought for his breakout role in My Beautiful Laundrette. I personally think it's fine that he's retiring. He's clearly not a "hungry" actor anymore and actors are better when they really want it (just as people in all professions are). Also Lucy Prebble, Clarisse Loughrey, and Teo Bugbee had amusing notes to comfort us on this topic on twitter.

Naturally this means that Phantom Thread, his next Paul Thomas Anderson picture opening in December, would theoretically be his last. Cynics will tell you -- and have already told you online surely -- that this means he's a lock for the Oscar yet again. But let's not get carried away. People will have to at least really like the movie and Oscar voters will have to really want him to tie Katharine Hepburn's record for that to happen. Will they? We'll see.

New to Netflix: Heymann Brothers Double Bill

by Seán McGovern.

Filmmaker brothers Tomer (director) and Barack (producer) Heymann have two documentaries available on Netflix. Mr. Gaga (newly arrived) and (in time for Pride) Who's Gonna Love Me Now?. Though quite different films, Israeli brothers have a distinct knack for getting to the center of their subjects. 

Mr. Gaga details the life and artistry of Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin, whose voice is just as deep and intense as the work he creates. Staged reconstructions of his work, interviews and reels of footage from his youth bring him to the screen. (Sidebar: Am I the only one who thinks it's amazingly coincidental when documantary subjects have years of home movies?). Docs about dance can often be high in concept but distancing, but Tomer Heymann captures the otherworldliness of the dancer, as well as issues of cultural censorship and the impact of loss. And there's lots of cute Israeli boys dancing. Let's be honest.

Who's Gonna Love Me Now? (available in the USA on Netflix and to rent on the BFI Player in the UK) is truly moving. And while you may be wary about having all the emotions watching, it's a perfect heartwarmer for any queer person who has made their friends their family. After being expelled from his kibbutz aged 21, Saar moved to London where he lived for the next twenty years. But his sexuality and his HIV diagnosis are not things his family know or can understand. The Heymann brothers choose to focus so succinctly on Saar's experience that you have to remind yourself that this is merely a story about someone trying to live his life. Bolstered by the love and support he receives from the London Gay Men's Chorus, Saar makes some changes.

Whatever your experiences of being your true self to your family, there's a universality in remembering that it's not you who changes, but the people around you who must. There are tears. But there are also camp choral classics. It's beautiful.

More Kidman Birthday Wishes

How are you doing on your 50 Celebratory Assignments for Kidman's birthday? You've only got a few hours to complete them all. Chop chop. Let's close out the festivities by revelling in all the Kidman love online today starting with her BFF Naomi Watts.

Happy Birthday to this beautiful woman. A remarkable human who gives so much love and spirit to all those around her. My friend, I am so happy to have shared incredible experiences with you over the last 3 decades. May there be many more to come... 🍾🎉🎈😍🎂💥👯💃🏻🌹

A post shared by Naomi Watts (@naomiwatts) on Jun 20, 2017 at 5:18am PDT

More Kidman Love for the half century mark after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Emmy FYC: Samira Wiley in "Orange is the New Black"

Team Experience is sharing Dream Emmy nominations this week. Here's Deborah Lipp

Reading the list of eligible Emmy performances is an eye-opening survey of how much good and great TV I’ve seen this year—and how much I’ve missed. How can anyone single out an individual, or a few individuals, from this sea of excellence? There is no doubt that Orange is the New Black is a great show, and my favorite show, but even narrowing the list to performances from that one show is daunting.

But then there is Samira Wiley...

Click to read more ...

Pride Month Doc Corner: 'Whitney: Can I Be Me'

This month for Pride Month we're looking at four documentaries that tackle LGBTIQ themes. This week it is Whitney: Can I Be Me, the latest in a long line of musical documentaries.

There is no need to introduce Whitney Houston; we all know her and her songs. I also have no doubt that people reading this know her story of soaring talent and troubled downfall due to drugs. Hers was an arc that is rooted in the blueprint of great cinematic tragedies, a story that we have seen play out plenty of times before (in life as well as in in the movies), that it would be easy to roll our eyes at how cliched it was if it weren’t so painfully true.

If it feels somewhat curious then that director Nick Broomfield has turned his documentary eye to her story then that’s because it is. Unlike his earlier music doco Kurt & Courtney (or even his pair of Aileen Wuornos docs in which he takes an antagonistic role with his subject), there isn't an antagonist to go after. Whitney: Can I Be Me’s central conflict is predominantly between Whitney and herself. The title, “Can I Be Me”, was a phrase used often by Whitney – at times in the backstage footage, her team are even seen joking about it – as a means of apologising for being herself rather than the perfect pop creation crafted by Clive Davis and her mother.

Click to read more ...