Showbiz History: Room at the Top & The Age of Innocence

5 random things that happened on this day, January 22nd, in showbiz history

1954 The 11th Golden Globes are held. The Robe wins Best Drama but there wasn't a Best Comedy or Musical category for 1953 films. How strange... I mean Kiss Me Kate AND Roman Holiday AND Calamity Jane AND How to Marry a Millionaire AND The Band Wagon were all right there! But really it's true of almost every awards institution that the first decade plus is rife with inconsistencies. The Globe only really settled into the traditional field of nominees and categories we have now later in the 1950s.

1959 Room at the Top premieres in the UK...

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That scene from "Unfaithful"

by Cláudio Alves

Oscar voters aren't the greatest fans of erotic thrillers. Despite that, there are some times when a cinematic achievement is so undeniable that AMPAS' usual prejudices are thrown out the window. One good example is Adrian Lyne's Fatal Attraction, a cultural phenomenon that, in 1987, managed to nab six Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Actress. Years later, another of Lyne's erotic reveries would be honored with an important nod, though this time it was just in the Best Actress category. The picture was 2002's Unfaithful and the actress was Diane Lane delivering one of the most magnificent performances of her career. Her work as Connie Sumner is a masterclass in sexual discovery and abandonment, guilt, and desire.

If for nothing else, Lane earned the nomination for a scene in the middle of the movie, when her adulterous character is returning home by train, after her first tryst with Olivier Martinez's sexy bookdealer…

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Say A Prayer For "Serenity"

by Jason Adams

Although I don't think it's ever spoken in the film it's hard not to have the "Serenity Prayer" -- God grant me the serenity, wisdom, change, courage, check and etc -- echoing in your cavernous, more cavernous by the second, head while watching Serenity, writer-director Steven Knight's nervous-breakdown-put-to-film. Starring Matthew McConaughey as the hard-drinking and hard-sexing good ol' boy in paradise called Baker Dill (and really we all knew it was only a matter of time before Matthew McConaughey played a character called "Baker Dill" right?) watching Serenity is, well, an experience that calls for prayer. Any prayer. An exorcism, even.

I realize at this point, with these balls-deep references to demon possessions and nervous breakdowns, you're probably thinking that Serenity sounds like a miserable experience. It's not...

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Box Office: My "Secretary" Diana and My Cousin Rachel

By Nathaniel R

Universal's attempted monster movie franchise launch didn't go so well. The Mummy met scathing reviews and a disappointing opening weekend. Now, a $32 million launch would be major news for many films but not for a $125 million budgeted feature starring Tom Cruise that is intending to launch a whole "universe". Not everything can be Marvel's Cinematic Universe, Hollywood!

In the absence of a strong competitor and on terrific word of mouth (no small thing), Wonder Woman continued her reign at the box office. Given a relatively small second week drop (43% while DC's usual superhero sophomore frame drop is 67%) the Amazon princess is looking to join the $300 million club stateside which will put her right up there with Supes and Batman. DC's "Big Three" indeed.

Charts and further comments after the jump...

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Liam Neeson is Deep Throat

Add another title to increasingly busy September true life drama release schedule. Joining Battle of the Sexes, Victoria and Abdul and Stronger is The Silent Man. The film is based on the life of Mark Felt, the secret high-ranking FBI informant during the Watergate scandal who is famously known as “Deep Throat.”  That was of course the pseudonym given to the notorious whistleblower of that scandal. His true identity remained a mystery until, in 2005, Mark Felt revealed himself as the tipster.

Liam Neeson is playing Felt while Diane lane takes on the hopefully not thankless role of his wife. The writer and director is Peter Landesman who has shown an avid interest in these true life investigative stories with Concussion (2015) and Parkland (2013). This first released clip gets an added relevance because of the recent revelations of certain memos written by a certain FBI agent.

Do you document your important meetings in secret memos to use when the need arises?