Absolutely Linkulous

THIS JUST IN: Brett Rattner has resigned as producer of the Oscar telecast after his gay slur this weekend at a Q&A. So we don't even need to link you to Mark Harris's sharp opinion piece about why they should fire him. Good. Let us wash our hands of this one and move on... although I'm still more worried about him ruining Wicked for all time than ruining the Oscars for one year. The Oscars survive everything.

Coming Soon we're going to get a youth-centric fictional film about the adventures of the young Leonardo da Vinci.
Hollywood Reporter interviews the recipients of the upcoming honorary Oscars including Her Oprahness 
Tom and Lorenzo object to this new pictorial of Chloe Moretz
VGL Bruce Weber shoots Weekend star Tom Cullen (left). I think this is the most clothed I've ever seen a Weber shoot but beautiful pics. I hope Cullen and co-star Chris New have the offers rolling in now. (For movies, not more photoshoots!)
Buzz Feed speaking of photoshoots -- that's three links in a row. it's all about eye candy today I guess -- here's Jonathan Lipnicki the tiny tot from Jerry Maguire more than all grown up.
Empire Stephen King's bizarre "Rose Madder" novel is coming to the screen with Naomi Sheridan (In America) winning screenplay duties.

Deadline an AbFab movie to follow three television specials. Patsy and Edina will live forever
Rookie Magazine Really really fantastic interview with Joss Whedon on his Shakespeare movie Much Ado About Nothing (see previous post), The Avengers, his fascination with tough and capable teenage girls, and how Wonder Woman was a bit Angelina Jolie-ish.
Twitch Film first stills from Rodrigo Cortes Buried follow up, a thriller called Red Lights with Cillian Murphy. Robert DeNiro, Sigourney Weaver and Elizabeth Olsen co-star. 
i09 has clips from Arthur Christmas, one of our animated feature contenders, and they label it "kind of fun" 

Quote of the Day from Vanity Fair

We’ve finally answered the question, ‘Apples or oranges?’.”

The opening of David Fincher's unused Best Director acceptance speech earlier this year. Ha! Perfection. I didn't think I could love him more but I was wrong. Aaron Sorkin wrote the article that's attached to so, duh, it's a great read.

Links: Shoot Kristen Wiig, Vote Hugo Cabret, Fire Brett Rattner

Deadline is Hugo a serious Best Picture contender. Industry giants are getting behind it's 3D immersiveness and movie love.
Animation Mag ginger tomcats on the rise and it's not just Puss in Boots. Here comes word of a new animated film called Tailchaser's Song. I suspect we won't see this one till 2013 or 2014 because you know how long animated films take.
Empire another new animated film coming our way soon is Hotel Transylvania with Adam Sandler voicing the count who runs a destination for famous monsters and Miley Cyrus voicing his daughter Mavis. That's what she'll look like to your left.
Rope of Silicon revisits David Fincher's Panic Room (2002). How long has it been since you've seen that one? 

In Contention Spielberg's now talking War Horse but not everyone is happy about the screening strategies thus far.
24 Frames reminds us that Tom Cruise is going to be in a musical. We keep forgetting this one, Rock of Ages
AV Club Ebert Presents... At the Movies may be shuttering this season due to cost.
Terry Richardson just had two women we love in his studio: Dakota Fanning and Kristen Wiig. Which reminds me just got my "consider" copy of Bridesmaids. Yay... so eager to rewatch though it will be weird to watch without the hysterically laughing audience we saw it with in the movie theater.  

hate him
Have you heard the latest on new Oscar director Brett Rattner. As if his bad movies weren't enough reason to object to him. Now he goes and says "Rehearsing is for fags." Really, Brett? He's since apologized but really...? That's the kind of thing the would be director of Wicked should really feel. Big epic musicals, after all, are best when improved (lol)... and calling actors fags? Yikes. Awards Daily thinks AMPAS should fire him and The Film Experience seconds. And we all know how well AMPAS listens to our every suggestion like the time we gave them brilliant notes about all the legends who have never presented Best Picture an... oh wait, never mind. They never listen. Whaddya want bet it's Spielberg, Hanks or Nicholson presenting best picture again this year? (sigh)

Christopher Neimann illustrated his NYC marathon run. small screen
Wow Report It's not enough to make me start watching TV's Once Upon a Time again (it make-a my eyes bleed! it got dumped from the DVR) but get this: Greer Garson's genes are in one of the actor... them's world class genes. Greer Garson Genetic Greatness! I guess we should write about her sometime. We love.

offscreen fun
Paper Mag someone live tweeted live illustrated his whole NYC marathon run. Yowza. That's going the extra mile. Although honestly I thought this was illegal. I thought they had very strict rules about no phones and no tweeting while doing it. They only have a limited number of spots in the marathon each year for eager runners. Every year I go outside and clap for them until I am tired. What, that's exercize for me. All that arm movement. More strenuous than typing.

The Linkers Grimm

MUBI James Benning is experimenting with John Cassavetes Faces (1968) for a "remake" installation.
Antenna has valid thoughtful concerns about both of the new fantasy series on TV, Grimm and Once Upon a Time. Many good points are raised but I can't take them completely seriously since Once Upon a Time is one of the single gawdiest and most ham-fisted things mine eyes have ever witnessed whereas Grimm was surprisingly rich in potential and beautifully made (yummy production design) and they imply that Once has more potential? Yikes.

"greens greens and nothing but greens..." Grimm's are alive. Once but dead props.

Towleroad cutest thing Zac Efron has ever done? He did Halloween as a Reno 911 officer
Go Fug Yourself Heidi Klum went as a cadaver! Heidi Klum is the most awesome Halloween party ever. Every single year she turns it out.

Dark Eye Socket this is really cool: 5 Scary Movie Masks in Non-Scary Movies
Ultra Culture the shortest review you will ever read of Tower Heist and also probably the best one; it's a Venn Diagram!
Movie|Line Naomi Watts to star in the most depressing movie indie ever. I guess she didn't read our Red Carpet Convo with Guy Lodge when we worried for the perpetual worry lines of her career.

‪Nathaniel: Naomi most certainly needs to shake off all the dour miserabilism. People have been filming her with grimy 'THIS IS DEPRESSING!' lighting for so long that I have no idea what she'd look like if she was having fun‬!
‪Guy: Well, at least Watts is coming up in J. Edgar. A Clint Eastwood movie is just the kind of fun frisky change of pace she needs.

Socialite Life Leonardo DiCaprio looking dapper on the set of The Great Gatsby. This will possibly be just what he needs after all the aging prosthetics of J. Edgar.
Hollywood Reporter interviews Michael Fassbender about his very sexual year with Cronenberg and McQueen
Cinema Blend Hilary Swank has fired most of her management team over the scandal that erupted when she attended (paid) that birthday party for the Chechnyan President.
South Asian Film Festival, about to kick off here in New York, will open with the  Oscar submission Abu, Son of Adam.
Broadway World Julie Andrews honored tonight in NYC
Threadless "one cookie to rule them all" [see pic below] LOL. I had to share since we were just talking about The Lord of the Rings here.

"cookie ringwraith" © rnlynam

Oscar in Brief
Today is the due date for all Animated Feature contenders to submit their paperwork for the Academy. So soon we'll know just how many nominees we'll get in this category which can range anywhere from 2 to 5 nominees depending on the number of submission. Meanwhile, The Wrap and In Contention both have new pieces up on the Academy's Best Foreign Language Film category. More from us here soon as we screen more entries ourselves.

Finally...  This commerical for The Immortals which I've never seen --and I've seen plenty of advertising for it -- it can't be real can it?

If so, hats off. Tellin' it like it is. I agree with everything Rich at FourFour says "Fucking Poetry"
 

Worst News of New Movie Century? Brett Ratner for "Wicked"

I wish I could tell you that Brett Ratner's recent grab for the director's chair on Wicked (yes, the Wicked) was a perfect gotcha Halloween scare joke but it's actually true according to the New York Times. Ratner calls it his dream project.

Begone Brett Rattner, you have no power here!

But this quote actually upset me more.

I’ve always challenged myself, and whether I failed or not, I didn’t fail in my mind. I went through the experience, and it prepared me for the next time I’m going to do it.”

What many egotists fail to grasp when they attempt non-private things beyond their talents is that there are other people in the world besides them. Whether you fail out or not is an actual issue. It matters. If you fail you ruin other people's dreams. You ruin the dreams of the fans of Wicked. You ruin the dreams of fans of the movie musical genre itself, which is always under attack by lazy thinking, deep ignorance of its functionality and which needs a real Hollywood hero to champion it, not an egotist who'll just move on to the next thing once he fails (but not in his own mind!). Musicals, and this is true of all specialty genres, DESERVE artists who understand and respect their peculiarities and who can bring new inspiration. There's nothing in Brett Rattner's filmography -- at least that I've seen though perhaps his short segment in New York I Love You was amazing? -- that suggest he could handle the extremely complicated task of serving up Wicked's joyful grandiosity with a light touch (a line even the over-produced Broadway show trips on occasionally). How could Rattner, who has only directed very standard forgettable movies imbue it with colorful stylized beauty, and make it soar with girlish melodrama and sweetly corny comedy? 

What has he done to deserve this?

One would assume that if Brett Rattner does make it -- you can never trust these things until movies are actually filming and Movie|Line is right that his future projects list is ever-changing -- that he will be given the job because he could a) talk himself into it and b) his films have generally done well at the box office. But Wicked the musical on stage has already grossed more than all but a few dozen movies in the history of the cinema; it's its own bankability. The producers could completely change the fate of future musicals here by taking a risk (which would pay off) on a director with big vision, a unique skill set and, above all, musical comedy aptitude. Rattner's imagination is too earth-bound to defy gravity. His films don't dance. He even made a parade of bizarrely powered mutants feel as mundane as an everyday crowd queueing up for a sports event.