Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford? We're so ready!

by Nathaniel R

As all of you pfans now, Michelle Pfeiffer is not easy to pin down. She's been skittish about projects for her entire career, regularly turning down big deal stuff. That became especially true after the mid 90s when she turned her attention to raising her two children and only sporadically made movies, taking some very long breaks from cameras. With the kids left for college she finally started acting again. Her return has been pretty slow but it's now speeding up. Her renewed public profile began with the launch of her perfume line "Henry Rose" and a wonderful Instagram account (social media is not something we ever thought she'd embrace!). We're now in the middle of French Exit's awards run (we're crossing our pfingers hard for a Globe nomination as they've historically loved her more than Oscar voters have). There's so much Pfeiffer to enjoy lately including an amazing new interview with George Clooney in which she reveals she feels exactly the opposite as critics do when it comes to what she thinks are her best performances, and a long conversation with Scott Feinberg at the Hollywood Reporter.

Now comes news that she's signed on for the Showtime series The First Lady to be directed by Danish director and Oscar winner Susanne Bier. Emmy nomination #2 here she comes! The anthology series will reportedly focus on multiple first ladies per season...

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Critics Choice TV Nominees Are Here

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

Right in the middle of seemingly thousands of critics’ prizes for film work, today we got the TV nominations for the Critics Choice Association, nearly three weeks ahead of their corresponding film lists. It’s the first major mid-year opportunity to see what television may still be in the conversation from the Emmys and what new series have been strongly received. There’s plenty to say about this list that isn’t entirely consistent, nominating certain performers from some shows while questionably ignoring their costars. It’s also worth noting that not a single one of the comedy or drama winners from last year were eligible this time around, though that’s just as much about series that ended (Fleabag, Watchmen) as shows that have yet to premiere their latest seasons (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Succession).

For the second year in a row, Schitt’s Creek is nominated in all five eligible categories, and it’s joined this time around by three drama series in pulling off that same feat – nominations leaders The Crown and Ozark (each with six total bids due to a second cited performer in one of the categories) and new series Lovecraft Country. The best residual breakthrough from the Emmys appears to be What We Do in the Shadows, which scored four acting bids, for all except my favorite series regular, Kayvan Novak. I’m particularly pleased that a slew of actors who missed out on Emmy nods, like Josh O’Connor, Tobias Menzies, Bob Odenkirk, Tom Pelphrey, Janet McTeer, Nicholas Hoult, and most importantly, Daisy Edgar-Jones, did manage to score here. Read on for the full list of nominees, with some more commentary by category...

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Showbiz History: Carole Lombard, Donny & Marie, Marwen Kenzari

6 random things that happened on this day in showbiz history...

1942 Movie star Carole Lombard, then married to the "King of Hollywood" Clark Gable, tragically dies in a plane crash on the way home from a war bond rally. She was just 33 but thankfully left behind stone cold comedy classics like Nothing Sacred, My Man Godfrey, and her last film, released posthumously, To Be Or Not To Be...

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Showbiz History: Batman's debut and JLaw's second Globe win

5 random things that happened on this day, January 12th, in history...

1966 Beloved but shortlived Batman TV series premieres on ABC. The first episode "Hi Diddle Riddle" introduced Frank Gorshin as The Riddler (my personal favourite, this side of Catwoman, as a child watching in syndication years later). He would appear in 10 episodes across the three seasons. The movies have preferred the other key villains for some reason. Listen, it's not like The Penguin and The Joker are any less ridiculous conceptually! 

1981 Dynasty premieres on ABC in a three hour event with its first two episodes "Oil" running back-to-back...

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Showbiz History: Hurston's work, Nicole's night, and Fame's debut

7 random things that happened on this day, January 7th, in showbiz history

1891 Best-selling author Zora Neale Hurston is born in Alabama. Where's her biopic? Hell, where are the movies based on her books and plentiful short stories? The only movie length adaptation has been the TV movie Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005). 

1971 Today is the big "5-0" for Jeremy Renner, twice Oscar nominated (The Hurt Locker, The Town), but whose promising gifts were completely swallowed up by a desire to become a franchise star which was both successful in a supporting sense (9 years and counting as Hawkeye in the MCU) and not in the headliner sense (Mission: Impossible... Tom Cruise quickly taking the franchise back, Hansel & Gretel... one and done, The Bourne Legacy... Matt Damon quickly taking the franchise back)...

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