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5 random things that happened on this day, January 12th, in history...
1966 Beloved but shortlived Batman TV series premieres on ABC. The first episode "Hi Diddle Riddle" introduced Frank Gorshin as The Riddler (my personal favourite, this side of Catwoman, as a child watching in syndication years later). He would appear in 10 episodes across the three seasons. The movies have preferred the other key villains for some reason. Listen, it's not like The Penguin and The Joker are any less ridiculous conceptually!
1981Dynasty premieres on ABC in a three hour event with its first two episodes "Oil" running back-to-back...
We're having a little 1981 party for the first week of May so let's give the year some overall context before the Supporting Actress Smackdown hits on the weekend of May 8th.
The year's two biggest blockbusters competed for Best Picture
Great Big Box Office Hits: Raiders of the Lost Ark was the year's true behemoth, grossing twice as much as its nearest rival On Golden Pond. The Best Picture winner Chariots of Fire was a sleeper hit and that year's James Bond picture For Your Eyes Onlywas also hugely popular (though that's no surprise with 007). But otherwise audiences were mostly drawn to comedies in 1981: Arthur (with Dudley Moore), Stripes (with Bill Murray) The Four Seasons (with Carol Burnett) and Cannonball Run (with Burt Reynolds) were all the rage.
Oscar favourites / theories and other cultural touchstones of 1981 after the jump...
• Deadline we didn't believe this would ever actually happen but supposedly James Cameron starts shooting today on his FOUR consecutive Avatar sequels with an estimated budget of over 1 billion dollars • Cartoon Brew this year continues to be weak for animated features but next year's trailers are already popping up. Peter Rabbit anyone? And, in case you missed it... • TFEIsle of Dogs trailer • Cinematic Corner Sati always keeps us up to date on what Hugh Jackman is doing. Apparently he's making a movie called The Front Runner but, alas, it is NOT an adaptation of that famous gay novel that has never managed to get a movie made despite numerous rumors that it would become a movie over the decades. Instead it's a movie about the politician Gary Hart.
• Out how's this for an odd sounding project. Moonlight's writer Tarrell Alvin McCraney is going to script a musical for David Oyelowo and Disney that is a cross between Othello and Cyrano. What the what now? • Coming Soon Julianne Hough and Tyler Hoechlin among the cast of the new biopic about the fitness pioneer family the Weiders called Bigger • Deadline potentially big news for anyone hoping for a Sharon Stone comeback. The actress, previously with Gersh, has now signed with CAA for representation in all areas • The Atlanticmother! as a descendant of Antonin Artaud’s 'Theater of Cruelty' • my new plaid pants Luke Evans new film Professor Marsden will be part of New Fest, the LGBT film festival. That's potentially awkward given his history!
tv
• The Ellen Show Sterling K Brown strips down and drives a tractor (?) for Ellen DeGeneres • The Daily BeastDynasty's Gordon Thompson comes out in his 70s. But he didn't play the often victimized gay character Steven Carrington on that 1980s blockbuster TV show but his evil half brother Adam. • Vulture some fun comic nuggets about the new season of Will & Grace
randomness
• Londonist body art of famous painting on five models walking around Britain. The text keeps saying they're naked but they're not. They're all wearing pasties and underwear but it's still a neat art project if not cool "body painting". Give me Keith Haring in the 80s or Demi Moore in the 90s in their altogether. That was awesome body painting!
exit video
• Here's a cool video essay on the scoring of Wonder Woman
It's impossible to keep up these days. So herewith a bunch of news we haven't covered and other enjoyable places to go on the web today...
News Baz Lurhmann has written a letter to fans about the cancellation of The Get Down, his Netflix series. My favorite bit because I like having him on the big screen in 2 hour doses:
All sorts of things have been thrown around for the future... even a stage show (can you imagine that? I can, concert version anyone? Next summer? Just saying.) But the simple truth is, I make movies. And the thing with movies is, that when you direct them, there can be nothing else in your life. Since The Get Down stopped, I have actually been spending the last few months preparing my new cinematic work...
Variety IFC is on a buying spree at Cannes, including Lars Von Trier's latest, a serial killer drama named The House That Jack Built starring Matt Dillon and Uma Thurman BBC Star Wars' John Boyega hits the London stage in Woyzeck. Reviews are a bit mixed but everyone seems to love that he challenged himself to such an extent post stardom Cartoon Brew Pixar has a new experimental shorts division without executive oversight. This sounds like a great idea for the company, fostering new creative visions without much investment or interference Kenneth in the (212) Jeffrey Schwarz, who specializes in documentaries about gay or gay-interest historical figures (I Am Divine, Vito, etcetera) has a new documentary on Producer Allan Car (Grease 2, Can't Stop the Music) Broadway World Glenn Close stops a performance of Sunset Blvd to address a rude audience member:
We can have a show or we can have a photo shoot
Variety Kirsten Dunst gets emotional at The Beguiled premiere Variety Gina Prince-Blythewood (Beyond the Lights) tapped to direct Spider-Man spinoff Silver and Black about the characters Silver Sable and Black Cat. Angry Asian Man there's a Joy Luck Club tv series in the work and they're looking for Chinese American women
Good Reads Vanity Fair on that new unforgivably hideous Spider-Man Homecoming poster Jezebel on the terrible Dirty Dancing TV remake. (I have to ask though, why do people keep watching TV remakes of movies. They're all just t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e... remember that trainwreck that was Beaches recently?)
For Fun Gay Comic Geek [nsfw site] Wonder Woman cosplay... by men The New Yorker Joe Dator draws a comic about his fortieth anniversary with Star Wars. Cute.
Exit Video Dynasty is getting a reboot.
I object that Krystle isn't a blonde and doesn't look that much different than Fallon (why does the CW have such trouble varying haircolors/styles and overall looks in their casts in all their shows?) but otherwise some of the changes are fun. The most potentially interesting touch being that trashy golddigger Sammy Joe (the Heather Locklear role) is a gay man this time but still after the same mark, Steven Carrington (the family's gay son). But, is this really the right era to idolize the super wealthy? Not sure it will sit as well in 2017 as it did in the 80s when people were more naive about the 1%'s havoc-wreaking on the economy of everyone else.
Five Life-hacking / mood-boosting / homework assignments -- whatever you want to call them -- pulled from showbiz history each day. Here are your assignments for May 11th!
2007 It's the tenth anniversary of Georgia Rule, which featured Lindsay Lohan as the wayward granddaughter of strict religious Jane Fonda, the last time Lindsay would lead a reputable mainstream film (whatever one may think of its actual quality). She was just 20 years old...
Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 9:00AM 
