What should have been Meryl's third?

by Cláudio Alves

Daniel Day-Lewis may be the best triple Oscar winner among actors, but that doesn't mean he's the best performer of the bunch. It just means that he's had the luck of getting awards for his very best efforts. Historically, if we can count on the Academy for something it is to award the right people for the wrong movies. That started early -- Katharine Hepburn won her first Oscar for Morning Glory in the same year she was eligible for George Cukor's Little Women?

In any case, neither Hepburn or Day-Lewis are the subjects of this piece. That would be Meryl Streep, the most nominated actor ever and proud winner of three Oscars. Her first two victories, for Kramer vs Kramer and Sophie's Choice, are usually considered among the best in their respective categories, but the same can't be said for her third triumph...

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Today in Showbiz History: Julie Andrews in "My Fair Lady"

by Nathaniel R

We've discussed the Oscar wars of My Fair Lady and Mary Poppins (1964) before but have you ever wondered how history would have been different if Julie Andrews had scored the movie role in My Fair Lady after playing it on Broadway? Would there have been a different Mary Poppins? Would they have waited and wouldboth films hav won Best Picture in separate years? Would Julie Andrews never have won an Oscar at all (since so many saw her very atypical Oscar win and Audrey's own lack of a nomination as a way to shame My Fair Lady, the movie, for not hiring her?! The ripple possibilities are endless...

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Links

EW Scarlett Johansson covers the magazine and talks Black Widow
Guardian Guy Lodge curates a Max von Sydow mini-fest for us
Disney+ Frozen 2 is now streaming three months ahead of schedule.
EW Judi Dench delighted by her Razzie nomination for Cats
Coming Soon new Wonder Woman 1984 motion poster

Coronavirus 

The New Yorker "what the coronavirus crisis means for watching movies"
The Oatmeal "How to touch your face less" practical advice for a pandemic time
IndieWire AMC and Regal are limiting capacity to 50% at their movie theaters to help stop the quick spread of Coronavirus
IndieWire Cannes is now waiting until April 15th to decide on whether to cancel Cannes in May (French movie theaters have now closed)
Deadline Emmy campaigning forced to change due to industry shut downs and fears

Fassbinder Double Feature: "Ali" & "Maria Braun"

by Cláudio Alves 

In these days of "social distancing" and delayed releases, the cinephiles among us must satiate our hunger for cinema in the privacy of their own homes. Streaming services are saviors during such trying times, offering a respite from the chaos. Among them, The Criterion Channel continues to shine brightest as a paragon for the promotion of the seventh art's best triumphs. Just this month, two of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's most beloved and accessible masterpieces were made available for streaming. We're talking about 1974's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul and 1979's The Marriage of Maria Braun.

Join us as we peruse the glamor and doom, fear and fury of these singular films…

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Interview: Eliza Hittman on 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always'

by Murtada Elfadl

The first great movie of 2020 has arrived. Visceral, exquisite and artfully rigorous Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always drops the audience into the experience of two teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania. Faced with an unintended pregnancy and a lack of local support, Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) and her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) embark across state lines to New York City on a fraught journey trying to secure an abortion. The performances from newcomers Flanignan and Ryder are stunning in their simplicity and authenticity and Hittman reaches new heights with her assured filmmaking no matter what you thought of her previous films, Beach Rats (2017) and It Felt Like Love (2013). The movie won raves at this year's Sundance and won the Grand Jury Prize, or 2nd place, at the Berlinale last month.

Ryder, Hittman and Flanigan at the Berlinale

We recently met with Hittman in New York. [This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.] 

Murtada Elfadl: Congratulations on the film. I saw it at Sundance. I really loved it. It's great.I wanted to ask you first about working with the actors. I hear Sidney Flanagan has never acted before and Talia Ryder has maybe done a couple of things,

Eliza Hittman: Stage. She's done musical theater.

They are amazing. I was flabbergasted by these performances. I read about your casting process, but can you talk about working with them on set, how did you manage to get these performances out of them?

We had a day and a half to prepare and to rehearse.

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