Doc Corner: 'The Fight'

By Glenn Dunks

The Fight is not a film about the ACLU. It’s probably wise to know that before going in. Because lord knows the American Civil Liberties Union have had their fair share of odious choices under the guise of free speech, namely defending anti-unionists, Nazis, the Klu Klux Klan, and—as seen briefly here, the only such moment of critical assessment—the Charlottesville white nationalists and their antisemitic tiki torch parade that resulted in the death of Heather Heyer in 2017.

What The Fight is, however, is a cleverly constructed documentary about four lawyers by three filmmakers who by happy accident or quickly assembled timing placed themselves on the frontlines (so to speak) of the American President’s war against the rights of immigrants, voters, women and transgender individuals. It’s a film that begins on the courthouse steps and in the airport waiting lounges as fast-typing associates battle against the ‘Muslim ban’ and which hasn’t let up in the three and a half years since...

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Sixteen Linkles

• Vulture why Charlize Theron is so pleasurable to watch in action films
• My New Plaid Pants Luca Guadagnino signing on to deliver a feature adaptation of Scotty Bower's "Full Service" which has already inspired a feature doc and that gas station as whorehouse in Ryan Murphy's Hollywood
• Vanity Fair What Olivia de Havilland remembered about the 1939 Oscars 

After the jump, Ramy's nominations, Michael Fassbender's return, Hugh Jackman's butt, Scarface memories, X-Men's 20th, and more...

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Podcast (ICYMI) at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Have you had a chance to really bite in to the delicious Smackdown 1991 podcast yet? We know you read the article given the plentiful comments but there's so much to chat about within the podcast conversation. Nikki M James, Rory O'Malley, Nick Westrate, Mark Harris, and Katey Rich were all terrific guests, don'cha think? Dying to hear your thoughts on the specific things we discussed, but especially...

- Fried Green Tomatoes' 'food fight as lesbian sex' metaphor (!), the confusion over Ninny's identity, and its rose-colored lensing of race relations
- Whether Cape Fear's ending is confusingly botched or confusing on purpose... "my reminiscence"?
- Rambling Rose's Laura Dern / Lukas Haas sex scene driving mothers and spouses from the room!
- The camp of all the Barbra scenes in Prince of Tides. What word was Dr Lowenstein looking up in her Pocket Oxford Dictionary? 
- Michael Jeter's "sprinkling for fairy dust" ("Sprinking?!") in The Fisher King and the AIDS crisis just beginning to hit the movies

download right here or hit iTunes

Smackdown at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Emmy Reactions Pt 2: What We Do in the Shadows, Unbelievable, Mrs America...

We polled Team Experience yesterday with several questions on the brand new Emmy nominations. In part one we explored fav nominations and anger-inducing snubs. Here are four more pressing questions -- and please provide your own answers to compliment our teams in the comments!   

• What We Do in the Shadows surprised with a big nomination haul but none for its actors. Who you think is most deserving from that hilarious show?
  
  
• What happened to Unbelievable? Only 4 nominations and only 1 acting nod.
  
  
• Mrs America landed three Supporting Actress nods: Uzo Aduba, Margot Martindale and Tracey Ullman. Were those your three favourite from that series? 
  
  
• Which acting category is the sexiest?  

Our individual answers are after the jump...

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The Furniture: Olivia de Havilland Embroiders Her Fate

Daniel Walber's series on Production Design. Click on the images to see them in magnified detail.

Olivia de Havilland was in nine films that were nominated for the Oscar for Best Production Design. It’s not the record, but it’s quite something. I’ve covered three of them: Hold Back the Dawn, My Cousin Rachel and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte. But none of those actually won the award, so I still have some work to do. I haven’t got time for Gone with the Wind, and The Adventures of Robin Hood can wait a few weeks until our 1938 celebration, so I dove into The Heiress.

I hope you’re ready to think deeply about embroidery.

Granted, I’m not entirely sure director William Wyler was thinking deeply about his protagonist’s favorite pastime. The emphasis on Catherine Sloper’s (de Havilland) stitching can feel like little more than shorthand for “spinster” status. And the mid-19th century was a high point for this association, as embroidery was a standard part of the girls’ school curriculum.

Dr. Austin Sloper (Ralph Richardson) sent Catherine to the finest boarding schools, where she would have learned the art of the sampler from an unmarried teacher. The end of the film bluntly zooms in on one of these stitched alphabets, which in this context might as well read “OLD MAID”...

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