Tribeca 2022: B.J. Novak's "Vengeance"

by Jason Adams

Weirdly conservative and as profound as a midnight tweet-storm during a Dexedrine binge, I give you (no seriously, take it away from me) actor B.J. Novak’s writer/director debut Vengeance. This feels like a movie that Elon Musk will just absolutely adore... and please never defile my memory by thinking I mean that as a compliment. A wannabe Coens-esque satire of red-state/blue-state warfare and the champagne simps caught in the middle, Vengeance ultimately reads like a love letter to "Both Sides"-ism that ventures nothing so gains a great plains worth of nothing in bold-type return...

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Tribeca: Intoxicating Experiences in ‘Good Girl Jane’

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

Everyone’s experience of high school includes something they wish they hadn’t done. It’s much easier to reflect back on what that might have been as an adult; you have more distant to consider the impact and meaning of a moment or relationship that might not have problematic or regrettable at the time. For some, there’s a great deal of regret from a repeated pattern of behavior that had an undeniable effect on their lives. With time, humor can also be found in deeply disturbing events, and Good Girl Jane does that exceptionally well.

Sarah Elizabeth Mintz describes her directorial debut (she also wrote the screenplay) as loosely based on her own life but with considerable liberties taken and modifications made...

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Almost There: Bea Arthur in "Mame"

by Cláudio Alves

This past Sunday, the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League celebrated the 75th Annual Tony Awards. Considering past intersections of Tony gold and Oscar success, it's fun to speculate which honorees might one day reprise their roles on the big screen and play a part in a different sort of awards season. Not that repeating an acclaimed stage performance for film leads to a surefire triumph with the Academy. For every Yul Brynner in The King and I and Viola Davis in Fences, there's a Robert Preston in The Music Man and Bea Arthur in Mame. That latter film saw 2022's Lifetime Achievement Tony Award winner Angela Lansbury ditched by Warner Bros. in favor of Lucille Ball, despite having originated the role to great acclaim on stage and already being a film star. It was a move everyone involved grew to regret. 

Thankfully, the studios didn't replace Arthur from the original Broadway cast, so there's still something to love about the misbegotten Mame…

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Final Episodes of 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot'

little change of scheduling for "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" with no episode this week. 

 

1) watch the movie
2) pick your favourite shot (whatever you think is "best" however you would define that)
3) post it, with or without an explanation wherever you play online #bestshot

FINAL TWO EPISODES

Post before Thursday June 23rd Klute (1971) streaming on HBOMax
Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland star as a call-girl and the detective following her, respectively, in this paranoid classic. Leading up to the "Best Shot" post on we'll do a tag team retrospective. In other words it's a Klute week (June 20th-23rd) for its 51st anniversary (yes, we're kicking ourselves that we didn't do this last year) in our ongoing endeavor to get everyone to see this classic. If you've never done a "best shot" before but often thought of doing so, why not?

Post before Thursday June 30th SEASON FINALE Titanic (1997) streaming on Netflix
We have to watch this again for the next SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN so why not make a party out of it? Climb on that floating door with Rose -- there's room for everyone.

Tony Afterglow Notes + What's Opening on Broadway in 2022

A few tidbits in the afterglow of the 75th Annual Tony Awards. Plus which shows might factor into next year's Tony race.

Max Clayton labelled this photo "chlll date night" haha. Photo by Emilio MK

• Hugh Jackman tested positive for COVID after his Tony night performance. What timing. So his standby Max Clayton will be playing Harold Hill for the next week of Music Man shows. You saw Max Clayton a couple of times on Tony night since he got a big smooch and shout-out from his boyfriend Matt Doyle who who Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Company. Incidentally the role of "Jamie" in Company, which Doyle won for, is the same role that won Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey an Olivier in London so this gender-bent version of Sondheim's classic has been a huge boost for super-handsome out gay theater actors!

• Ratings are in and the Tony Awards were up 40% from last year's strange nearly awards free edition of the show. The Tonys went back to basics...

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