Your First Film Screening of 2017? Mine was "Casablanca"

Happy 2017, everyone! Dancin' Dan here, to celebrate how I rang in the New Year in cinema.

I personally opted not to go with any of the new releases, instead choosing January 1st to see a 35mm print of one of my Top Three films of all time, Casablanca. Apparently the print is making the rounds in honor of the 1943 Best Picture winner's 75th Anniversary. The timing, as always with Casablanca, is confusing: Casablanca premiered in New York in November of 1942 but it didn't become Oscar eligible until the 1943 film year winning the Oscar in March 1944 sixteen whole months after its premiere. Technically it's not quite 75 yet.

But never mind that, because Casablanca is always worth celebrating. It's so easy to fall in love with the shared beauty and charisma of stars Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, and to applaud the film's witty, instant-classic lines. This time around, though, I was particularly struck by two things...

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Podcast: "Lion" and "La La Land"

Katey, Nick, Joe and Nathaniel talk two Best Picture contenders along with conversational detours that pop up as these detours do. The podcast will return in the New Year. 

Index (43 minutes)
00:01 LION (and movie titles) 
12:15 LA LA LAND (divisive direction!) 
27:10 BEST PIC & LIST-MAKING (tis the season)
31:13 CHRISTMAS MEDLEY (Rent, Kermit, Judy G)

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments and please have very happy and safe holidays until we're chatting at you again in January (probably around Golden Globes weekend January 8th-ish). 

Lion & La La Land

25th Anniversary: Prince of Tides (1991)

by Eric Blume

Twenty five years ago, director Barbra Streisand delivered her big-screen adaptation of the Pat Conroy novel The Prince of Tides for Christmas.  The film went on to win the Best Actor Golden Globe for Nick Nolte, as well as seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture (but famously not a Best Director nod for Streisand).  

Looking at the film now, The Prince of Tides feels like a remnant from a lost Hollywood genre:  the mainstream, gimmick-free adult drama.  Streisand’s instincts lean to the commercial, and she’s fully devoted to the film’s rather banal psychobabble that purports how one good solid cry can heal a childhood rape.  The script may be as deep as a raindrop, but it has its strengths as well, and they’re strengths that align with Streisand’s own...

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Links: Rogue One, Hidden Figures, The OA

Gurus of Gold the latest Best Picture chart along with Globe predictions. I went out on a limb or two for fun because the Globes usually do at least one weird thing with winners.
Variety Guy Lodge on the foreign film finalist list 
Variety on the Peter Cushing visual fx in Rogue One and performers rights to their image after death (I suppose we should talk about this eventually but I am still really weirded out and uncomfortable about it)
Jezebel in case you missed the brouhaha about Tilda Swinton's conversation with Margaret Cho about whitewash casting in Doctor Strange 

Tracking Board Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig to headline a new musical comedy Everything's Coming Up Profits: The Golden Age of Industrial Musicals
The Gothamist loves Netflix's mystery series The OA [SPOILERS] from the pair that brought us that eco-terrorist thriller The East (Brit Marling & Zal Batmanglij), remember that one? I have only watched two episodes. Not sure that I get it. Feels padded and expository to me. I'll give it one more episode
Guardian talks to Sigourney Weaver, still going strong 37+ years into her big screen stardom
Coming Soon Ewan McGregor behind the scenes on T2 Trainspotting
Variety profiles great new director Garth Davis (Lion, Top of the Lake)
In Contention tries to figure out what the Makeup Oscar people might like in next week's bakeoff
Playbill First look at Philippa Soo in Broadway's adaptation of Amélie
Awards Daily Hidden Figures plays the White House. Headed for a Best Picture nod? 
/Film Josh Boone's initial plans for the movie franchise version of The New Mutants 

List-Mania
THR 25 best performances of the year - usual Oscar buzzing people plus a few interesting off-consensus choices like Kathryn Hahn in Bad Moms
Guardian 50 best comedies of all time - as chosen by comedians. 
Pajiba best lines of the year on TV 
Film School Rejects 50 most beautiful shots in Star Wars universe 

Podcast: Manchester by the Sea & Reader Questions

Katey, Nick, Joe and Nathaniel answer reader questions and discuss the new Kenneth Lonergan weepie

Index (43 minutes)
00:01 Manchester by the Sea
12:30 Separating art from artists
24:00 Director nominations and Ruth Negga in Loving
26:28 Things you should see that won't be nominated
31:00 Almodóvar's Julieta which we'll discuss later
34:30 Nomination Announcement Memories
37:20 Did we see these movies or not? 
39:00 How did Nick, Nathaniel, Joe, and Katey meet?

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments. Next podcast: La La Land and Lion

Manchester by the Sea