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A story that ends with a corpse on the floor is a tragedy. A story that begins with a corpse on the floor is a mystery. A story that begins with a floor on a corpse is The Wizard of Oz.

— Sandra Newman (@sannewman) July 27, 2020

I know its a weird year for movies and the Oscar will be a mess so I was thinking what if - and hear me out - what if - and I’m just spitballing here - but what if we gave Julia Roberts another Oscar for Erin Brokovich

— Chris Murphy (@christress) August 8, 2020

After the jump unexpected Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Young Girls of Rochefort, and Still Alice jokes, and great casting ideas for anything...

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The beauty of Wally Pfister's cinema

by Cláudio Alves

After looking at Dion Beebe and Rodrigo Prieto's filmographies, it's time to consider another of 2005's Best Cinematographer nominees. Our subject today shall be the man whose gloomy visual idioms helped redefine the superhero genre and its aesthetic possibilities – Wally Pfister.

The Chicago-born cinematographer was, for some years, synonymous with Christopher Nolan's cinema and, more specifically, The Dark Knight trilogy. Weirdly enough, Wally Pfister never considered himself a big fan of Gotham's brooding protector. His favorite iteration of the character wasn't even the comics, but the campy 60s TV show whose visuals are at complete odds with what Pfister would devise for the 21st century Batman. Still, his career is not all caped crusaders, and the director of photography has established a personal style that transcends genres. Wide lenses, low angles, steely palettes, horizontal motion, and visible light sources are his calling card. At least, they were, before he abandoned the craft of cinematography to try directing.

Here are 10 highlights from Wally Pfister's influential career…

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2005: Mercedes Morán in "The Holy Girl"

by Nick Taylor

Few working directors are as exciting as Argentianian genius Lucrecia Martel. To talk about her work means to talk about her bold experiments with lensing and editing, her immaculately controlled sound design, her unusual risks with structure and dense layering of themes in her screenplays, all capped off with a very particular sense of humor. Martel’s films don’t immediately spring to mind as performance venues, but one of the many (many) things I love among her small but indomitable filmography is her ability to coax tonally compelling characterizations from her actors, rather than overwhelming them under the weight of her own directorial idiosyncrasies. Daniel Giménez Cacho is able to find a million minute gradations of wounded pride, misplaced vanity, and diminished hope in Zama, keying to Martel’s riskiest wavelength by resourcefully flexing a very deadpan poker face. The many women running around La Ciénaga are charged with their own peculiar energies that combine and differentiate from each other in endlessly fascinating ways.

Mercedes Morán, a high point in the latter film, returns for The Holy Girl in one of its main roles, and she not only delivers the best performance in the film but sets a high bar for what an actor can do in Martel’s canon...

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Review: Gemma & Gugu in "Summerland"

by Juan Carlos

Jessica Swale’s Summerland introduces us to Alice, an old writer living in the countryside during the 1970s. We watch her drive away children who are playing petty pranks on her. While it may seem random, the film utilizes this moment to inform us of her instinctive response to children which will interfere with the story to unfold.

Cut to the 1940s: in the same town, people are wary of the looming terror of the war. A young Alice (Gemma Arterton), then a recluse, is given the news that she is required to take in a young boy named Frank from London as the perils of the war continue to escalate in the capital. Meanwhile, she remembers a former lover (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) from the past...

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Our Links Are Sealed

• AV Club Steve Martin and Schitt's Creek cast pay tribute to Eugene Levy
• MNPP Josh O'Connor six times
• Variety uh oh trouble on the new live action adaptation of Avatar The Last Airbender. The original creators are leaving. That's a pity because the last adaptation was widely considered to be horrendous and the animated show is so fun.

After the jump The Go-Gos, Madonna and Diablo Cody, AMC reopening, the musical Diana and more... 

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