Link. Link. Link. Etcetera

The Wrap Glee's Chris Colfer is Struck By Lightning in a darkly comic high school movie which he also wrote. It's a Tribeca hit. Will it transfer outside the festival?
Art of the Title Saul Bass' work on Bunny Lake is Missing 
Stale Popcorn starts a 1994 project (great year) with one of my personal favorites Reality Bites and, yes, I think that's Winona Ryder's single greatest performance.

Movie|Line asks you to a caption a new pic of Nicole Kidman from Paperboy. Damn, I wish I'd seen this for Say What before they did.
MNPP (NSFW) Les infidèles with Jean Dujardin gets even more notoriety: Dujardin takes it like a man
MNPP ...and of course Jean Dujardin is all hilarious about it in a promo 
Self Styled Siren is hosting another film preservation blog-a-thon and as a little appetizer a piece on Farley Granger and Alfred Hitchcock. Ugh, I love Rope (1948) so much.
Chicago Tribune yesterday's it girl Rooney Mara replacing last week's it girl Carey Mulligan in the new untitled Spike Jonze movie, his first since Where the Wild Things Are. (No word on if today's it girl JLaw was ever discussed). 

Four Avengers moments
Pajiba the most deplorable comments on a negative review of The Avengers on rotten tomatoes. Every time I read a piece on superhero movies not getting the respect they deserve I think: the fanboys bring it on themselves. 
In Contention Kris stumps for The Avengers under the "best ensemble" category at SAG 
Joe Utichi interviews Joss Whedon on his ups and downs and downs and downs and back up again in Hollywood 

Finally... What if The Avengers had been made in 1978? 

My ears. My ears. Bleeding. (The eyes on the other hand enjoy their 70s kitsch)

Burning Questions: Romantic Comedy Pet Peeves

as tempting as it is, we can't blame everything on Kate Hudson Michael C. here with some constructive criticism for the rom-coms of the world. Is there any genre in more dire straits than the romantic comedy? If you counted the genuinely great recent examples on your fingers you would be back in the 90’s before you ran out of digits. 

I’d love to write a post outlining a scenario where the rom-com is saved but I don’t see that happening. Not unless the current movie industry is demolished wholesale and replaced with a system that doesn’t release a shamelessly mediocre product in the hopes of turning a modest profit before forever banishing the title to the murky depths of Netflix Instant. Such daydreaming is fun but let’s be serious. Better to ask the more practical question:

What are some quick fixes for the Romantic Comedy? 

I’m not asking the world here. Hollywood can keep the meet cute, the gay best friend, and running to the airport. I’m talking a few pet peeves that if eliminated could lift the genre up a notch or two. Amy Adams’ time is valuable. Let’s not waste it. So with that in mind here are a few plot devices that rom-coms should cease and desist using immediately...

Dream Girls, Opposites and Whack Jobs with Wacky Jobs after the jump...

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We're Making Gong Li Wait...

Tsk-tsk.

This week's edition of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" has been postponed. It couldn't be helped. But if you've already watched it, start discussing over at The Film's The Thing where one entry is already posted. We'll do two episodes in a row next week on Tuesday May 1st  (this one, Raise the Red Lantern) and Wednesday May 2nd (Pariah, 2011). For more of what's on the "hit me" schedule, click here.

A Look at Pixar's Forgotten Treasure

Amir here. With Brave’s release on the horizon and Nathaniel writing a lot more about animated films lately, I’ve been thinking about Pixa. Let's talk about a film not many people talk about these days. Counter programming!

If the collection of Pixar films were a large family, A Bug’s Life would be that one child whom everyone always seems to forget. He just never comes up in conversation. It’s not that he’s in any way less than the other children. Quite the contrary, he’s interesting and handsome and courteous, but of all the sisters and brothers and cousins, he’s the one who sits in a corner in Christmas gatherings; he’s happy on his own and nobody bothers him either. That’s A Bug’s Life, essentially.  It’s a story as well told as any other Pixar film; its characters are as memorable as anything else they’ve created; it’s exciting, colourful, intelligent and mature. But ask around and see how many people cite it as their favourite Pixar.  

I’m not sure what happened in the time between the critical and box office success of the film at the time of its release and today, but something prevented A Bug’s Life from becoming a cultural phenomenon like the rest of the studio’s oeuvre. Is it because this film is more about pure entertainment than the grand ideas discussed in WALL-E and Toy Story 3? Say, more of a kids cartoon than an animated film for adults? Is it because Bugs’ greatest asset – its magnificent visuals – were trumped by Pixar’s return to nature in Finding Nemo and the rapid advances in technology that have so significantly improved the look of CGI animations? Or is it because they followed this up with Toy Story 2, part of a trilogy that still dominates the Pixar conversation?

Irrespective of those arguments, A Bug’s Life is as entertaining today as it was when I first watched it. Revisiting it this week, I found it to be one of Pixar’s most unhinged moments: imaginative in bringing an impossibly distant world to life but also adding an extra-saucy dimension to its anthropomorphic characters, richly detailed and attentive to landscape and the insects without sacrificing the vibrancy of the atmosphere and the journey. Everything about it just comes together perfectly, from the cinema’s only German caterpillar to the consistently zappy humour to the exhilarating frenzy of the finale, from the endearingly clumsy anti-hero in Flik to his monstrous arch-rival Hopper (voiced by Kevin Spacey whose immense talent for voice acting was utilized to carry a film more than a decade later in Moon).

The fact that A Bug’s Life doesn’t feature on the “Best of Pixar” lists frequently is more a product of the consistently high quality of the studio’s output than any shortcoming on the film’s behalf. So if you haven’t seen it in a while, pop it back in the DVD player. It’ll be a fun ride.

"Hello Gorgeous" How Many Streisands Have You Seen?

Today is the 70th birthday of the legendary Barbra Streisand who we always call Babs. We were chastized in the comments for not celebrating and we get it. There's only one of her, a national treasure. In fact, just a few weeks ago I watched Funny Girl (for the 6th or 7th time) and Funny Lady (for the 2nd time) almost back to back and that double feature is astounding. The first would have to be in the top ten Pure Star Vehicles ever made (♥) and the second one is just... just no, Barbra!

Like Jane Fonda, another screen icon from the 1970s who is on our way back to us, we're über pleased that she's suddenly decided she's an actress again even if we haven't seen the results yet. Barbra's big picture this year is Guilt Trip (co-starring Seth Rogen. November Release) which happens to be her first leading role since the stoney end stone age. Advanced word is positive but you never know who is doing the talking when it comes to advanced word so we're anxious. Comedy was always her forte  and there's no reason that La Streep should be the only elderly giant who younger audiences completely "get" as a Funny Girl.

So for today's big day, let's republish an old article called "Posterized Babs". 

Funny Girl (1968. Best Actress Winner Oscars & Globes) | Hello Dolly (1969. Best Actress Musical Comedy Golden Globe Nomination) | On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970))

15 more films and brief commentary after the jump

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