Cast This: Disney's Live-Action Hercules

by Nathaniel R

Disney still has lots of animated features to get through before they've made animated or live-action remakes or spinoffs of each of 'em. Word is they're now developing Hercules (1997) but then they're developing lots of these things to follow Mulan (2020) and Cruella (2021) into movie theaters.

Hopefully Hercules Redux gets some new songs because there aren't a lot as we recall and there's only so much of a score you can build from "Go the Distance". This will live or die based on how funny it is so we hope they lean heavily into its more camp aspects: bodybuilder lead, five muses, flamboyant villain. 

How would you cast this thing? More after the jump...

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How Had I Never Seen... "Splash"

by Cláudio Alves 

From time to time, there's talk of creating new Oscar categories. Just this year, Brad Pitt spoke about the need to give stunt coordinators some love and appreciation during his acceptance speech. Maybe he's right, maybe there should be a stunts category. Another arguably necessary addition is a casting award that reflects that job's importance in creating the movies we love – it's much more crucial than original songs, for instance. Casting is not just a matter of hiring good actors, but the challenge of getting the right people for the right roles. It's knowing how to capitalize on a star's persona and energy, the performer's fame, the tonal register they bring and the audience's perception of them. In the right circumstances, a limited actor can be a better choice than a consummate thespian with a greater range.

Ron Howard's delightful Splash (available on Disney+) is a pertinent example of the importance of good casting for a movie's success, humor, and dramatic functionality. With different performers, it probably wouldn't work half as well as it does…

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Beauty Break: Breakthrough Performers of the Year

by Nathaniel R

Getting to the fun stuff now in the Film Bitch Awards. New categories are up including Best Juvenile Performances (which gives us the chance to rave about the best working child actor in Hollywood again -- that'd be Noah Jupe), Best Casting (the only time you'll hear Nathaniel praise Uncut Gems), and Best Ensemble acting. Also on that awards page are the nominees for Breakthrough Perfomer of the Year including both of stars of Waves, Taylor Russell and Kelvin Harrison Jr. The basic criteria of that category is that it has to be early in their film career and we ask ourselves the question: how badly do we want to see them again in something else?

After the jump beautiful photographs of this year's nominees as well as a history of who came before them this past decade...

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20:19 with "The Irishman" and "Marriage Story"

Time to play 20:19. We had intended to rank every Best Picture nominees by how intriguing their 20th minute and 19th second was until our DVD player (remember those?) decided to malfunction. Oops. So streaming it is with just two of 'em. Pretend you haven't seen either of these Best Picture nominees. What do you suppose these two movies are about based on these fleeting images?

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What's next for the cast of "Star Wars"?

by Cláudio Alves

For actors, franchises can be a gift and a curse simultaneously. Money is a plus, certainly, and so is the newfound fame and recognizability. However, such treasures often come at the cost of artistic risks and availability to do anything other than the series they're then chained to. Long preproduction, long shoots and even longer reshoots fill the calendar and then there are endless promotional tours. In the end, the victims of the franchises are the performers' fans.

With the "end" of the Skywalker saga, it's a good time to ponder what comes next for the stars of the third Star Wars trilogy. Will these actors be able to ride the wave of popularity into exciting careers or will they forever be tied to these Disney-owned characters? We'll see…

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