The Mother of all Feuds

a must readAs you've surely heard by now, since it's one of the most striking actressy announcements in some time, Ryan Murphy's next anthology series will be called "Feud" and for its first season the subject is the über showbiz catfight: Bette Davis vs. Joan Crawford. Bette & Joan's famous loathing for each other was not confined to just the horror classic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) but the series will be confined there since that set is the natural place to dramatize. It was the only film the two combative actresses made together. After the success of Baby Jane, Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) was intended as a reunion but ultimately Olivia de Havilland (who had her own legendary feud with sister Joan Fontaine) took Crawford's place.

Since Ryan Murphy can't live without Jessica Lange he's cast her as Joan Crawford. It's a terrible call because their screen personas are antithetical...

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#Links

CriticWire this ongoing conversation about what critics should review is troubling/interesting
i09 seems we're getting a new Interview with the Vampire movie
Variety on what's holding Hollywood back from putting gay characters in franchises. I mean imagine if this hashtag were successful...
#GiveElsaAGirlfriend for Frozen 2. It's what the fans want and the narrative really calls for.
Pajiba omg. There's a kickstarter for a deck of "woman cards" which has awesome illustrations including Hillary, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Beyoncé

EW Congratulations to Colton Haynes, he of bolting from TV series just when everyone is falling in love with him (Teen Wolf, Arrow) and amassing a massive Instagram following. He is officially out of the closet after years of rumors and hints and non-denials
New Yorker Kiki & Herb are back after 8 years! My favorite cabaret act of all time
Final Girl looks back at James Whale's The Old Dark House. That's a fun ol' horror flick for Whale while he was warming up for Bride of Frankenstein (1934) 
TV Line I was never into the show Alias (Jennifer Garner has never done it for me with the exception of Juno) but if you were you'll probably like this oral history
Awards Daily Alicia Vikander sets up her own production company - first project is called Euphoria and Eva Greene is her screen-sibling co-star
Towleroad Channing Tatum introduces the Men of Magic Mike Live. (I thought they were doing this as a Broadway show but it looks more like it's going to be more of a Las Vegas revue thing.) 

Yes I will review Captain America: Civil War but until then...
Here are some articles on Avengers 3...
Games Radar 26 easter eggs for comic fans in the new movie
E! News 20 (fawning) questions you'll have after the movie 
Comics Alliance schools Emily VanCamp (Agent 13, Cap's current love interest) on the world of "Stucky" fan fic. How did she not know that fans obsess about Steve & Bucky being in love? 
Screen Crush all the Captain America: Civil War rumors that turned out to be false and the sites that published them. Haha. Another reminder of how useless the internet is when it comes to obsessing over things that don't exist yet!  

Finally because I couldn't unsee it...

When Posters Collide pic.twitter.com/Hej8wERYKi

— Nathaniel Rogers (@nathanielr) May 6, 2016

 

Open Thread.

I just assembled an entire chair from provided instructions so am feeling unusually manly. Grunt. Grunt. Also hoping it makes my writing less painful and more productive like -- Old chair to the garbage bin!

What's on your cinematic mind? Inspire us with your brain vomit and Happy Weekend! 

Tweetweek: Young Han Solo, Met Ball, and Civil War

Apologies for the slim postings the past two days. Boring issues at TFE HQ that will hopefully be remedied shortly for a jampacked next week. But enough of that...

As you may have heard Alden Ehrenreich has been cast as the Young Han Solo. If you are old like me you know he won't be the first actor to have risked Ford comparisons in the role. Way back in 1989, then freshly Oscar- nominated teen star River Phoenix (Running on Empty) played Young Han Solo in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in a flashback scene wherein we learned how Indiana Jones got that scar under his lip. 

Alden Ehrenreich is all the rage at the moment due to his truly awesome work in Hail, Caesar! And the following tweet is most definitely true of actor heat both now and in general. The Coens have a rich history of making people notice how great certain actors are and then other filmmakers capitalize on it. It's not just that galaxy far far away that takes cues from them. 

First Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver, now Alden Ehrenreich. Lucasfilm just waits for the Coens to show them who's cool. #StarWars #HanSolo

— Angie J. Han (@ajhan) May 6, 2016

The Coens have a rich history of making people notice how great certain actors are and then other filmmakers capitalize on it. It's not just that galaxy far far away that takes cues from them. 

But before we begin after the jump please note that I'm nominating Scott Beggs for the Pulitzer in criticism

The punching in Captain America: Civil War looks better than the punching in X-Men: Apocalypse.

— Scott Beggs (@scottmbeggs) April 26, 2016

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Luca Guadagnino's 'Splash'-y Return

After debuting at last fall's Venice Film Festival, Luca Guadagnino's A Bigger Splash finally arrived stateside. It's another entry in the growing mass of festival titles taking their time to make their way to the US, with last year's Cannes Palme d'Or winner Dheepan oh so quietly opening next week as well.

A few extra months' wait for Splash is an acceptable compromise consider the six years wait fans of Guadagnino's 2009 slice of divinity I Am Love have had to endure. This time, Guadagnino looks to trade in Love's breathless romanticism for a feverish chic, but upping the ante of the former film's sexual intrigue. It would be some kind of crime against the audience to have a cast like Tilda Swinton (Guadagnino's returning muse), Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Dakota Johnson and not get a little randy.

But wouldn't you be willing to wait for summer to get a dancing (and birthday-suited) Ralph Fiennes by the pool?

Luckily, the wait won't be so long for the director's next lush piece of cinema: he announced this week that his long-gestating remake of Dario Argento's Suspiria will shoot this fall. The remake has had a long haul in its own right, with rumored directors like Darren Aronofsky and David Gordon Green. Luca Guadagnino is an exciting fit for the project, the visual opera he crafted with Love a perfect fit for the giallo nightmare of Argento's original. The director has already lined up his Splash cast to return, so we can expect something special without becoming impatient.

What are your thoughts on Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria?