The Linkover

Vulture whose butts have we seen on Game of Thrones. Funny interactive even if you don't watch the show
LA Times AMPAS just keeps on changing its rule. That board of governors is the fussiest and most bored ever, right? Always tinkering! Members are now no longer required to see foreign film and shorts at Academy screenings in order to vote on them. I personally liked the more restrictive voting in those categories. If I had my way nobody would be able to vote on anything unless they'd seen all the nominees in the category.
Slate wonders where Jay Gatsby's mythical mansion really is/was (The Great Gatsby) 
Pajiba wonders what Marvel Studios could do to make Daredevil work onscreen 
CHUD it's not every day that a movie spoiler comes by way of costume design (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
MNPP Which is hotter George Clooney retro edition
Ender's Game website has gone live in anticipation of the trailer. Messages from the crew asking us to "stay informed" It seems to be mostly informative backstory journals at this point. Until Viola Davis is schooling me, I ain't learning this!

it's Bradley's world
Awards Daily Bradley Cooper might not be done with Oscar yet. He's now set to star for Steven Spielberg in American Sniper, a true story about a Navy SEAL who fell victim to another soldier's PTSD
In Contention Bradley will also star in Chef for August Osage County director John Wells

pretty pictures
imgur '50 greatest matte paintings from the movies.' a fine tribute to a lost art now that CGI fills in where set-construction leaves off
/film new images from Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind is Rising which we were just talking about in our
Animated Oscar Predictions (in case you missed them)
Hyung86 cute illustrations of Disney characters as college students. My favorites here are actually Hercules and Pocahontas

Revolving Links

Gawker "Magneto to Marry Professor X" the headline is actually true! Sir Ian McKellen is the best. 
Slate an excellent piece on American cinema's love affair with serial killers and violence with Terrence Malick's Badlands as centerpiece
Playbill I bet you thought you were done hearing about "Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark"'s production trouble. Ha! The trial which pits director Julie Taymor against the producers starts this May.

i09 on why condensing those sprawling Game of Thrones books is a very good move for HBO. The show won't be running forever. 
Salon interviews Lily Tomlin, a lifelong feminist who sends up feminism in Admission as Tina Fey's mom 
Awards Daily breathless online reactions to an August: Osage County screening. 
ScriptNotes Screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin discuss the Veronica Mars kickstarter on this podcast - two different opposing takes.
My New Plaid Pants on Xavier Dolan and his influences including Julianne Moore and Michelle Pfeiffer scenes. No wonder I love Xavier Dolan!
The Film Doctor 8 notes on Oz: The Great and Powerful 

enter
Playbill Hugh Jackman attached to the adaptation of the novel Six Years. I can't wait to see how he follows up Les Miz and whether he's hungry for future Oscar play.
Guardian Keira Knightley to play Coco Chanel in a short film

Laura Dern's schedule just freed up. Where are you David Lynch?!?

exit
Deadline Lynne Ramsay a no show for Jane Got a Gun on the first day of shooting. What's going on there? I feel like we're only get 1/100th of the story in these reports.
Cinema Blend Christina Ricci leaves Girlfriend in a Coma pilot. She was to be the girlfriend, the one in the coma. 
TVLine Enlightened has been cancelled. Sad day for Laura Dern fans 

because the night belongs to linkers ♩

Serious Film "Masterpiece Down"! Twelve masterpieces that didn't even get a single vote in Sight & Sound's polling of nearly 1,000 critics including (gulp) Network!  
Observations on Film Art takes a long strong look at the praise, criticisms and "innovations" of Christopher Nolan.
Tit for Tat the finalists for Oscar submission from The Philippines. They've yet to be nominated
i09 has a hilarious rundown of this weekend's penultimate True Blood season 5 episode. Yes, I stopped writing about that show immediately after hating the first few episodes... but I haven't quite been able to stop watching it yet. This is why TV is bad for you. 

Movie City News David Poland crunches some numbers on Hollywood's commercially successful directors and what it takes to justify a $200 million budget
Encore's World is doing some sort of bracketed tournament of essential 90s performances. I'm horrified that Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas) lost to Leonardo DiCaprio (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) without a fight. This will not stand! (Actually maybe that's a sophie's choice, both of them being brilliant.) But stand it must. Note to all people, not just Andrew, running polls: leave them open longer! 
Take Out All The Words  has an illuminating piece about approaching tragedies (like The Dark Knight Rises shooting) within a normally "funny" milieu like editorial cartooning
MNPP Jake Gyllenhaal's new role involves gambling like crazy. Gambling addict! Gambling is what actors who aren't boring / predictable do every time they sign on for a movie role, so Jake G probably didn't have to do much research.

Randomness
AV Club Sutton Foster interviewed on her transition from stage to small screen on the delightful Bunheads.
Towleroad Rosie O'Donnell had a heart attack! Get well soon, Rosie.
YouTube The Game of Thrones theme performed by a cat 

Live Music Send-Off
Russell Crowe ♥ Patti Smith. In Iceland no less (on a break from filming Noah perhaps? or burning the candle at both ends?)

Emmy Nominations 2012

Mad Men, The Film Experience's favorite show for five years running, and American Horror Story -- cheating with a "miniseries" categorization (like Downton Abbey in its debut year) -- led the nominations with 17 a piece. 

The Emmys seem to be over genre shows... or perhaps American Horror Story and Game of Thrones hogged too much attention for the wealth to be spread. True Blood and Teen Wolf scored 0 nominations between them (and to think True Blood once was a nominee for "Best Drama Series") and The Walking Dead and Ocne Upon a Time scored only 3 nods apiece. Dexter somehow managed to keep Michael C Hall nominated for a really terrible season despite earning no other nominations.

Best Dramatic Series
 

• Boardwalk Empire 
(not my cuppa)
• Breaking Bad
 (the show I feel guiltiest about missing year after year)
• Downton Abbey 
(bliss. I'd be happy to see this win)
• Game of Thrones
 (wildly overrated)
• Homeland 
(so much better than I expected. a worthy nominee.)
• Mad Men (still the best show on television - my vote)

Snubbed Entirely and Not Just Here: REVENGE. How weird is that given the impact it made as a new show? It's the best nighttime soap since Dynasty. Respect!

Best Comedy Series
 

• The Big Bang Theory
 (laugh track.noooooo)
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
 (still. really?)
• Girls (yay! so individualistic)
• Modern Family
 (still funny. but not as strong as parks & recreation)
• 30 Rock
 (still hilarious. but not as strong as parks & recreation)
• Veep (often funny. but not as strong as parks & recreation which also lampoons government)

Snubbed: You guessed it!

"We demand a recount"

And the rest of the nominations play like those are the only 12 series the voters watch, if you ask me!

MORE after the jump including THREE UNFORGIVABLE SNUBS

Click to read more ...

Linkrise Blogdom

Rex Pickett, the author of Sideways, writes an open letter to Virginia Madsen. As a writer I get why he's pissed but I do think he's undervaluing the depth of her contribution to that movie.
Playbill Peter O'Toole is retiring from acting, on both stage and screen. 
Ginger Haze awesome Spider-Man vs. Lizard cartoon
Variety Chris Cooper has joined the August: Osage County. It's an Adaptation reunion... let's just pray that Mr. Cage doesn't show up. 

Movie|Line Robert Pattinson talks bullshit about playing James Bond. Wouldn't it be so weird if your every wandering train of thought spread all over the internet? 
The Cooler beautiful essay on Wes Anderson's Noah Ark motif in Moonrise Kingdom 
The Film Stage a preview Nathan Johnson's futuristic Looper score.  
Encore Entertainment Clothes Horse. Can you guess where these costumes are from?
Shock Til You Drop displays the Carrie (2013) banner from San Diego's Comic Con. The hashtag the P&A team is pushing is #WhatHappenedToCarrie ... um, well... She got pointlessly dug up from her grave for starters. To be played by the least meek least shy least awkward teenager on the planet.

Oh and yes, I heard about all the Catching Fire casting news and the splitting Mockingjay into two movies and all of that but I do not care.  I was mildly interested in the Hunger Games franchise until today. I mean, I definitely didn't hate it like that other YA franchise. Now I think I'm done. Now it proves, like too many franchises before it, that it has no interest in storytelling, only an interest in feeding Hollywood's gaping maw. I think, no exaggeration, that this split up final books into two movies to make an extra billion even if it means barely anything happens in the movie is the worst thing that's happened to mainstream cinema in the past five years. Even worse than 3D!

Tweet o' the Day: This Games of Thrones funny is from Scott