The (Truly) Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

By Spencer Coile 

The year is 1958, and Miriam "Midge" Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) lives on the Upper West Side with her wealthy husband (Michael Zegen) and two children. Her parents (Tony Shaloub and Marin Hinkle) live in the same apartment complex to watch the kids for her. She is dressed to the nines for all occasions, supports her husband's (flailing) career in stand-up comedy, and still has time to whip up a mean brisket. Why would she ever want her life to change? 

Which is to say, of course, that it will and does.

When her husband leaves her for his secretary, Midge angrily (and drunkenly) takes to the stage of the Gaslight, a downtown bar her husband frequently played at, to rant to her audience about this sudden shift. Her improvised venting, though, has the crowd in stitches. And it soon becomes clear that not only is she performing a stand-up routine, she is also quite good at it... 

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Tweetweek: Grapefruit, Given Names, Wisdom

Three truths.

We were grossly misusing the phrase “Our long national nightmare is over” before this

— Chase Mitchell (@ChaseMit) December 1, 2017

Thinking about movies right now feels terribly frivolous and also one of the few things keeping me sane.

— Scott Renshaw (@scottrenshaw) December 2, 2017

This Tiffany Haddish backlash is weird proof that people love Oscar bait more than they want to admit.

— Sam Coffey (@SamCoffey72) December 1, 2017

so sad but all true observations. The latter I've noticed in social discussions so many times. Okay on to funnier or at least less depressing things after the jump including more Tiffany Haddish, Captain America's beard, Lady Bird, Ava DuVernay being inspiring (what else is new), and so on...

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Linksmith

New York Social Diary RIP gossip columnist Liz Smith. I grew up reading her syndicated column *sniffle* This link is a remembrance of her by Denis Ferrara who was a very close friend and collaborator on her column
Esquire the ten best comedies of the year including Ingrid Goes West, Thor Ragnarok, Girls Trip, and Lady Bird
Independent Firing Kevin Spacey from House of Cards might be more difficult than Netflix thought, legally speaking
Awards Daily the case for Michelle Pfeiffer. Give her her damn Oscar already
Variety Zendaya is doing a film about the first African-American woman to graduate from Vassar (who passed as white to do so). It's called A White Lie

Deadline Wonder Woman 2 has moved to a November 1st 2019 release and Gal Gadot, contrary to reports over the weekend, is already locked in to star. Patty Jenkins will direct again. We hope there's no sophomore slump because the first one was so damn enjoyable/inspiring
Variety keeps us updated with what's going on with Martin Scorsese's The Irishman which Netflix will stream. Variety, perhaps for click-bait purposes, acts like the theatrical release is in doubt but it is surely not; Scorsese would never sign a contract that doesn't give him at least some theatrical distribution so expect the usual limited release that no one goes to in theaters because its' also streaming for free on Netflix situation (upcoming with Mudbound)
IndieWire Denis Villeneuve might direct Bond 25 but right now a relaunch of Dune is still his priority
YouTube new trailer for The Greatest Showman. It's basically the old trailer with a couple more dialogue clips thrown in and some less tuneful than "This Is Me" song that Jackman is talk/singing. I'm still dying to see it because musicals for life, don'cha know
/Film Quentin Tarantino's next movie is about the year of 1969 rather than the Charles Manson murders as previously reported. Let's hope it's better than that 1988 film 1969 which starred Winona Ryder and Robert Downey Jr

Off Screen
Damn Joan a Barbie doll funeral
Vulture every Taylor Swift song ever, ranked. Fun read even though i think it's silly and click-baity to claim "Look What You Made Me Do" is the worst song she ever wrote
Theater Mania 11 Asian-American shows on stages this season across the country
Playbill Lin-Manuel Miranda's ongoing effort to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurrican Maria

Exit Videos
If only more directors could find a way to harness Kate Beckinsale's natural wit in movies. This video made me LOL so much. Watch every second of it, please. Below that is a Justice League if it were made in the 80s "opening credits" sequence. Cute and weirdly plausible which I'm not sure is a compliment to the movie which is about to open.

❤️ @lily_sheen 😘

A post shared by Kate Beckinsale (@katebeckinsale) on Nov 11, 2017 at 9:30pm PST

Honorary Oscars: Owen Roizman and "Tootsie"

We're revisiting work from this year's Honorary Oscar winners. Here's Eric Blume on cinematography Owen Roizman

Sydney Pollack’s 1982 movie Tootsie is one of my all-time favorite films. It's a perfect treat to revisit when you need to feel like there’s hope in the world.  Despite many viewings, I’ve never truly contemplated the cinematography by one of this year’s Honorary Oscar recipients, Owen Roizman.

Tootsie marked Roizman’s fourth of five Academy Award nomination (the others are The French Connection, The Exorcist, Wyatt Earp and Network).  It’s not the kind of work that typically generates an Oscar nomination. Indeed, the competition that year (Gandhi, Das Boot, E.T., and Sophie’s Choice) were the more magical, lyrical, expansive sort of films that are usually recognized in that category.

But Roizman’s contribution to Tootsie is gigantic, key to the film’s tone and success. It's also an excellent example of how many careful, intelligent decisions go into a more typical, mainstream film and the difference they can make...

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Blueprints: "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"

This week on Blueprints, Jorge Molina takes a drive to the pride of the inland empire to talk about musical numbers in screenplays, only two hours from the beach. 

Fundamentally, scripts serve as a blueprint for what has to appear on screen, hence the name of this series. A blueprint that some people choose to follow more closely than others. However, there are instances where following a script meticulously is vital not only for the benefit of the story, but for the costs and efficiency of an entire production. There are times when a script is a literal choreographed dance, gigantic pretzel and all.

So let’s take a look into the idyllic suburban fantasy of the The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, where if every location, note, and twirl hadn’t been precisely mentioned in the script, there may have never been a show...

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