ICYMI - Best of August/September

We realize the site has been eerily quiet this past month. But as we meet backstage to rectify, here are a dozen highlights you might have missed these past two months...

A dozen highlights
• Michelle Williams' Ocar campaign Nathaniel on the pundit freakout of her lead campaign
• Emmys in Review Nathaniel shares highlights from TV's big night
• Don't Worry Darling Glenn reviewed the film that's on everyone's lips albeit for the wrong reasons
• Smackdown 1997 Special guests have a lively discussion on Julianne Moore, Joan Cusack, Kim Basinger and more to celebrate a great Oscar year
• Almost There Cláudio revisited James Dean's iconic work in Rebel Without a Cause
• Ranking: Joanne & Paul to honor "The Last Movie Stars" limited series, Cláudio watched all of the Newman & Woodward collaborations
• Goddamn Asura Juan Carlos interviews the director of Taiwan's Oscar submission
• Film Critic & The Common Man Ben shares what he learned launching a podcast with his brother
• First Look - Babylon Thoughts Nathaniel had on the first official images
• TIFF Baby Clyde, Matt, and Abe reviewed new films
• Venice Elisa attended, Cláudio reviewed past winners, and Nathaniel gawked at fashion
• Palme d'Or title switcheroos an international amusement

Coming in October. We're going to be careful about promising too much given the past two months but we will 100% be attending the NYFF (already in progress) and Middleburg festivals to discuss hot Oscar titles as well as exciting world cinema offerings. The 1951 Smackdown (already recorded) will also go up soon. And we will try to find time for some spooky treats for Halloween, too. Stay tuned. 

Tweetweek

Honk!

Every Batman actor should have to audition with this scene. pic.twitter.com/jzqKqVo9QO

— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) September 26, 2022

How much would you pay to see the audition tapes of Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, and Robert Pattinson? More after the jump including embarrassing deaths, Avatar thoughts, Muppets request, Emily Watson shaming, a brilliant Wes Anderson suggestion, questionable phrasing, and one final round of Dont Worry Darling tweets...

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Almost There: Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like It Hot"

by Cláudio Alves

September started with the Venice Film Festival where Andrew Dominik's controversial Blonde premiered and closes with its arrival on Netflix. As a Marilyn Monroe fan who tried and failed to get through Joyce Carol Oates' doorstop of a novel, I had early apprehensions about this production and its fictionalized account of the star's troubled life. However, the combination of a gorgeous-looking trailer and moralistic backlash online led me to anticipate the movie with bullish optimism. Yet, having seen the thing, I'm afraid I can't sincerely take on a contrarian positive take nor defend most aspects of the misbegotten mess.

Worst of all, I'm stricken by the picture's puddle-deep purview of stardom, image-making, and Monroe herself as a person and phenomenon. Considerations of her as an actress are similarly shallow, verging on nonexistent. This is especially disheartening because, above all else, she was an amazing actress whose talent is often overlooked, either obfuscated by the glare of tragedy or dismissed by those who can't see beyond media objectification. So, to combat both narratives, let's remember Marilyn Monroe, the actress, in one of her best films – Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot…

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Review: 'Don't Worry Darling'

By Glenn Dunks

To quote Lady Gaga: That’s gossip!

To ignore the gossip cycle that has become the press tour of Don’t Worry Darling can be difficult in the macro, but when the movie started it slipped away quite easily. For whatever may have been said about Olivia Wilde’s second directorial feature in the lead up to its release, that friction hasn’t quite come through on screen.

It’s not a good movie in the sense that it is coherent and fully grapples with the ideas it appears to be putting forward. It isn't and it doesn't. But it also is not a bad movie in that it is badly made or devoid of imagination or one where you can tell everybody on set hated everyone else. Which, after everything that’s happened, feels like more of a win in the moment than it oughta be...

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Apologies for the Momentary Lull.

Dear readers, We apologize for the lack of the normal volume of writing/updates. There have been significant unavoidable struggles off site. Because life is life, these are naturally paired with other time-consuming things that are entirely unrelated like moving apartments in a couple of weeks plus festivals (NYFF screenings begin today and then Middleburg). While we collect ourselves check out the updated Oscar charts for Picture, Director,  Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, International Film, Screenplays, Visuals, Sound if you haven't yet. More soon.

Also please consider following on Instagram and subscribing to the new substack which I'll be using to experiment a bit or in case we go dark or decide to switch hosting platforms or whatnot.