HMWYBS: Repulsion (1965)

Not with a bang but with a whisper. That's the way Hit Me With Your Best Shot season ends this year. We didn't want to let our signature craft-loving series go... so we extended by a few random spaced-out episodes but as it turns out this series needs the weekly check-list reminder to keep the party hopping. So next season we'll return to our March-August madness only.

Happily, whispering feels appropriate when it comes to our final film this season: Repulsion (1965) in which Catherine Deneuve barely speaks because there's probably no room in her brain for words what with sex filling every metaphoric or literal (if you will) crack.

What would Roman Polanski make of the virginal Final Girl trope that took over the horror genre about a dozen years after his masterful trilogy of horror flicks wherein people lose their marbles (and possibly souls) in apartment buildings? (More...)

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Links: Oscar, Kubrick, Jones, Knightley, and Ado Annie

Playbill Reviews are in for Keira Knightley's Broadway turn in Therese Raquin
Variety Nicole Kidman lines up a new thriller Silent Wife. The good news is the director is Adrian Lyne who is great with actresses: see Fatal Attraction & Unfaithful
Just Jared Jonathan Groff dies of happiness when Beyoncé pays him a compliment 

Brooklyn Mag pornish art films before Gaspar Noé's Love
Pajiba Patton Oswalt ranks the GOP candidates with D&D statistics 
Pajiba Quentin Tarantino vs. Cops. Ugly business.
My New Plaid Pants Rachel McAdams, Serious Journalist (via Spotlight) 

The Superverse
Variety talks to superhero loving TV megaproducer Greg Berlanti (The Flash and Supergirl are big hits ... but they aren't even his first superhero shows - remember that Incredibles/Fantastic4 ripoff called No Ordinary Family?)
Empire lots of new Suicide Squad photos 
Coming Soon Matthew McConaughey turns Marvel villain role down - I mean wouldn't you? Their villains suck
Tracking Board Li Bingbing (not to be confused with fashion icon X-Men actress Fan Bingbing) will supposedly headline a superhero film called Realm which is an original idea of Stan Lee's. It's a long ways off since the script isn't even written yet. Li Bingbing has previously appeared in action films like the recent installments of the Transformers and Resident Evil series

Oscar Mania
Movie City News Why The Martian is the movie to beat for Best Pic at the Oscars
Awards Daily Time to take Room seriously as a Best Pic winner? 
In Contention on the costume design Oscar race

Trailer Tease
After lots of teasing -- and we're sick of teasing! -- a real trailer finally emerged for Netflix's Daredevil followup, Marvel's Jessica Jones starring Krysten Ritter. ICYMI it goes like so...

(On a personal note it'll be interesting to watch this one as for once I have no connection to the comic books. So much of contemporary comic book cinema and television is based on characters who've been around since before most of us were born. Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman are practically octogenarians. Most of the Marvel superstars at the movies recently hit the half century mark. Etcetera. Jessica Jones didn't emerge in comic books until 2001 long after I had stopped reading them so I have no idea what to expect. )

Must See Mashup
This one is from some place called "GumpTV" which I hope isn't inspired by Forrest himself (blech). The short is called "The Red Drum Getaway" and it pits Hitchcock's Jimmy Stewart against the sinister auteurism of Stanley Kubrick. Terrifically edited, well paced, and that finale. Wowee.

The Red Drum Getaway from Gump on Vimeo.

Showtune to Go
Did you know that Oklahoma! (1955) is coming back to movie theaters for its 60th anniversary? Here's Kristin Chenoweth singing "I Cain't Say No" in celebration.

CAST THIS: Actressexual Ocean's Eleven

Hi, everyone. Coco here, with a fantastic opportunity for all agents and casting directors out there...

 Indiewire reports an Ocean's Eleven sequel is in the works, and that it will feature an all-female caper crew. Clooney is producing, Olivia Milch (Little Women) is writing, and Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Hunger Games) is directing. The biggest news for Actressexuals: Sandra Bullock has landed the Danny Ocean role. 

Bullock's star-persona is a little goofier than Clooney's ultra-suave schtick, but she seems like a great choice nonetheless. Very few performers ooze of charisma as strongly as Bullock. I mean, I still find myself thinking of her speaking "Chinese" at the Oscars from time to time.

The bigger question, though, is what other wonderful actresses should join her and her team of madcap con artists. Here are some options:

Melissa McCarthy: McCarthy and Bullock had great chemistry in The Heat, so who wouldn't love a reunion? The only problem I can think of is the fact that McCarthy is already committed to the Ghostbusters reboot. Would two all-female franchise revivals be too much? 

Reese Witherspoon: Listen everybody, this is where the Reeseurgence takes flight. Just think of Reese playing the Brad Pitt to Bullock's Clooney. 

Lily Tomlin: Ocean's Eleven had its share of older mentors with Elliott Gould and Carl Reiner. Tomlin's on everybody's mind right now thanks to Grandma, and we all know she'd be really funny in the role. 

Julia Roberts: Well, she's already been in the Ocean's movies. And even if you weren't a fan of her infamous impersonation of herself, you should consider the following possibility: Roberts and Bullock were the queens of nineties comedies, wouldn't it be great to see them share the screen? 

Angela Bassett: Because she should be in every movie, don't you agree? Maybe she could play the villain?  

Mary Tyler Moore: Is she in good health? Because wouldn't it be cool if this television legend played the Carl Reiner role in a wink to The Dick Van Dyke Show? 

But here's the fun part: What would you cast? Go ahead, sound off in the comments! 

Trailers for Short Oscar finalists

AMPAS has selected 10 documentary shorts from their undoubtedly long (unpublished that we know of) eligibility list to compete for the 5 nominations in the category. For those who are unaware the short film race at the Oscars each year can be a hodgepodge of years (no release dates apply obviously) because the shorts qualify for the competition by winning prizes at Oscar-qualifying festivals around the world. (The short film categories are often as international as the Foreign Language Film Award.) And the festival journey can be a long one for tiny low profile films. 

Doc trailers after the jump and a few Animated shorts, too...

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Morning Truth Tell: Tom Hanks...

Tom Hanks is giving way better performances recently (Captain Phillips, Bridge of Spies) than the ones he used to win Oscars for.