Talented Mr Linky

Must Reads
The New Yorker an evocative thoughtful profile of Mike Mills and 20th Century Women
The Muse Rich Juzwiak on the year in overrated pop culture, starting with Manchester by the Sea. ("A Masterpiece." "It's not tho")
The Metrograph Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy (Carol) reflects on Patricia Highsmith's dislike of the screen adaptations of her work - Metrograph is showing a handful of them his month. (Finally my chance to see Purple Noon on a big screen.)

Films which take place in 2017, Hayao Miyazaki's non-retirement retirement, Aquaman stunts, Broadway divas, and Postcards from the Edge after the jump...

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Billy Crudup won't tell you this but he's terrific in "20th Century Women"

20th Century Women, now playing in limited release, is named after its complicated women. There are three of them to be exact played by Annette Bening, Greta Gerwig and Elle Fanning. To the movie's great credit, the two male characters are no less fascinating. Take note, men: while the men have their own distinct characters, half of the reason they're so interesting is their empathy and curiousity about the women they share their lives with. One of the guys is a teenager just getting started in life (Lucas Jade Zumann) and eager to soak it all in. The film's quietest character is William (Billy Crudup). He's moving into middle age but headed nowhere in particular; the women have always come to him but he still doesn't know where he's going.

On a very busy day just before the holidays I was able to catch Billy Crudup for a few minutes at the tail end of his press duties for 20th Century Women. While far more articulate than his character, he was similarly self-effacing, deflecting praise more often than not to pass the achievement on to co-stars, directors, and writers. Suddenly his theorized resistance to being A Movie Star (a long-since forgotten topic of discussion from the early days of his career when he turned down high profile gigs) made a great deal of sense. And since he won't say it himself, let it be known that this modest actor is very good in a tricky part in this wonderful film.

lost William in 20TH CENTURY WOMEN (2016)

Here's our conversation...

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Co-Star Chemistry, The "Make or Break" Secret Ingredient

Year in Review. Each day another different angled wrap-up.

Last year during our year in review roundup we did our first list of "best co-star chemistry" and it was such a fun way to pinpoint the intangible and often uncategorizable spark that ignites greatness in movies that we're doing it again. Want to capture lightning in a bottle in your movie? Hire the right casting director who will pair the right actors together. No special effect, setpiece, or plot twist can or will ever rival the amount of movie-long electricity that can be generated when actors are really sparking off each other and nailing whatever the roles their characters play in each other's lives simultaneously.

The list is presented without much commentary... unless we couldn't escape it. Chime in in the comments, won't you?

16 Chris Pine & Ben Foster, Hell or High Water (Brothers)

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Zsa Zsa's Farewell and Other Links...

The Retro Set a "loosely autobiographical review" of 20th Century Women
Variety there's a documentary coming about the men behind the classic "Curious George" books
The Guardian Dick Van Dyke, who is 91 years old, has confirmed that he has a part in Mary Poppins Returns playing the son of one of his two characters in the original (the ancient banker guy apparently rather than the chimney sweep)

Browbeat BAFTA makes a bold move, requiring some degree of diversity to be eligible for awards starting in 2019 (they offer several ways in which you can do that for those worried about artistic freedoms for filmmakers)
Towleroad a list of retailers you should shop at this Christmas since the anti-gay right wing is targeting them.
Decider the year in cinematic smoking 
New Yorker their 16 most read stories this year
Coming Soon Legion, an X-Men spinoff TV series, gets a poster
Awards Daily Vancouver Critics favors Manchester by the Sea in 5 of its 9 categories

Zsa Zsa in the 1980sMore goodbyes... as is 2016's awful habit
Eye for Cinema remembers French actress Michèle Morgan who passed away today at the age of 96 - her credits included Port of Shadows, The Fallen Idol, and Pastoral Symphony (Cannes Best Actress win)
Variety Dick Latessa, who was so wonderful as Mr Turnblad in Hairspray on Broadway, has passed away
New York Times Zsa Zsa Gabor (Moulin Rouge), the last surviving member of the world famous Hungarian Gabor sisters (famous for acting, yes, but arguably more for the 20 marriages between them) has died. She was just two months shy of her 100th birthday! Her sisters Magda and Eva both passed away in the 1990s. Zsa Zsa's last two big screen appearance were cameo apperances as herself in the comedies Beverly Hillbillies (1993) and A Very Brady Sequel (1996). She was the only Gabor sister to have a child but she outlived her daughter Constance Francesca Hilton (yes, of that Hilton family) who died just 13 months ago.

Fun Oscar Trivia: One of Zsa Zsa's nine husbands was George Sanders (All About Eve) and she was married to him during that Oscar-winning career peak. She was considered for the role that went to Marilyn Monroe in that classic.  

Happy "Annette Bening Is Awesome" Day

by Jason Adams

When was the first time you took note of Annette Bening? I had probably seen her play Dan Ackroyd's wife in the John Candy comedy The Great Outdoors in 1988 but it was the next couple of years after that made a movie star out of her, coming to a head when she coupled up with Mr. Beatty for Bugsy. That film was released in theaters on this very day in 1991, meaning she's more or less been "a name" for precisely 25 years to the day.

And coincidentally five years after that - to the day! - Tim Burton's film Mars Attacks! came out, in which Annette gave what was up until this year my favorite performance of hers. As the space-cadet Barbara Sand she's a comic riot, tapping into the sometimes flightniess of her voice - Bening's voice has always been her secret weapon, switching between high and low registers with ease; one second she's confused, the next she's deep-throated with determination.

I wish that 20th Century Women was coming out today not only because I would love to go see it a third (and a fourth, and a fifth) time right this minute, but because it'd be a swell coincidence, making December 13th a lucky charm for the actress. 20CW isn't out until Christmas Day. But we'll sing its praises anyway! Nathaniel ain't alone in adoring the movie - I cannot get enough of it, and The Bening's performance as Dorothea has already in my mind shoved all of her other work out of the way and taken the acting crown. May Oscar feel the same!