At the Linkies

It's been ages since I had a moment for a link & news roundup so here you go. If you've already read some of these I apologize for my tardiness. If not, enjoy them.

Big Screen
Huffington Post I have to give Peggy Siegal's Oscar Diary pride of place because if you haven't yet read it -- it debuted a few days ago -- you must. Peggy is fabulous and after which movie stars show at her parties here in NYC the thing I'm always most intrigued to see is what she'll be wearing. 
MovieLine a sequel to The Host is now more than a little unlikely and it won't be the next Twilight. That's OK because we didn't want Saoirse tied up with a franchise for aeons. 
NPR Saoirse Ronan loves Clueless. See, she's just a regular teenager. (as if!)

Encore's World a fun appreciation of Anne Baxter in The Ten Commandments 
In Contention rule changes for the documentaries at the Oscars 
MNPP Gregory Peck Or... His Grandson? 
Deadline Sally Hawkins joins the cast of Godzilla in an apparently big role.
/Film ...reports the same news but oddly calls Sally Hawkins an Oscar Nominee. IF ONLY! 
Cinema Blend and a million other sites are breathlessly excited about the photo of Beast that Bryan Singer tweeted for X-Men Days of Future Past. Everyone is all "which actor is it????" but it seems pretty clear to me that that's a concept drawing and not Kelsey Grammar or Nicolas Hoult.
Nerd Approved Disney Princesses as Sith Lords?
Guardian can Josh Trank (Chronicle) save Fox's Fantastic Four franchise?
Empire Allison Janney may play Melissa McCarthy's mom in the comedy Tammy 

Miscellania
/Film alerted us to this Prada Candy commercial from Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola.

It's always nice to see Léa Seydoux -- love the shot of her munching on popcorn so cheekily -- and for directors to have a little fun paying homage to the classics. In this case that's Jules et Jim. 
i09 the 20 most epic beards and moustaches in the multiverse... a fun list given that hairy Game of Thrones has returned 
Gawker "what the hell is going on with Amanda Bynes: A treatise" 

Small Screen
PopWatch who will replace Matt Lauer and what was his television crime? Great piece by Mark Harris 
Variety TV's Hannibal didn't take much of a bite out of the ratings. But time will tell whether the latest movie to series effort becomes a hit. 
E.T.  Teen Wolf Season 3 Details. No Colton Hayne?
Uproxx Elisabeth Moss plays "fuck, marry, kill" with the men of Sterling Cooper and makes the correct choices with those Mad Men 

Ebert RIPs
Movie City News David Poland remembers his friends hosting passion and group nights out at Ebertfest
Press Play has a video tribute to Siskel & Ebert's sparring chemistry 

Roger's widow Chaz released a statement today which read in part:

I am devastated by the loss of my love, Roger -- my husband, my friend, my confidante and oh-so-brilliant partner of over 20 years. He fought a courageous fight. I've lost the love of my life and the world has lost a visionary and a creative and generous spirit who touched so many people all over the world. We had a lovely, lovely life together, more beautiful and epic than a movie. It had its highs and the lows, but was always experienced with good humor, grace and a deep abiding love for each other."

I love that line "more beautiful and epic than a movie" because I've always been curious what it was like for Chaz to be married to the movies; Roger Ebert had to have been a package deal since he was so synonymous with the cinema.

Burning Questions: Can a Bad Sequel Diminish a Classic?

Michael C here. When you tune in to the movie chatter frequency one of unavoidable refrains you hear is that such and such sequel has spoiled a classic film. You know the drill. Part III forever tarnished The Godfather, turning a perfect two-part saga into a disappointing, lopsided trilogy. Oliver Stone ruined Gordon Gekko by dragging him out for a belated encore.  “Blah blah Jim Carrey blah blah The Grinch blah blah blah MY CHILDHOOD!”  

And so on.

This chorus was most recently heard lamenting the way Oz the Great and Powerful helped itself to a box office bonanza by trampling the sterling legacy of the Judy Garland classic. Next it will be Evil Dead’s turn to besmirch the memory of a cult classic. Amid all outraged accusations of violence towards film history shouldn’t we stop to consider if the basic idea has merit? Can an inferior sequel actually diminish the standing of a classic? 

Let me state right up front my answer is a firm “No, it can’t.” Except when it can. Let me back up...

Click to read more ...

Are You Excited For "Bates Motel" or "Hannibal"?

Alfred Hitchcock is getting as much attention this year as 007, what with Vertigo topping the Sight & Sound poll and the new Hitchcock biopic that references Hitchcockian mythology from 1958 through 1962 but focuses mostly on Psycho (1960). All that plus a new TV show that will look at the life of Young Norman (Freddie Highmore) and the infamous Mrs. Bates (Vera Farmiga) long before she was a dead woman rotting away in the fruit cellar. 

The first official image released inspires hope. It didn't go for something obviously CREEPY. Instead, counterintuitively, it's calm and painterly ...very Wyeth... and if you knew nothing of Psycho you might not even think of blood...blood... oh god mother the blood!

As a general rule I hate Hollywood's fascination with prequels, an obvious example of their creative bankruptcy but also, more dangerously, a key contributor to the dearth of imagination in audiences. It trains people to be passive viewers as if it's anathema to participate in what you're watching and create your own narratives to align with particularly gripping stories you're told. This is a strange dichotomous development considering that the easy access to art and technology these days seems to have actually inspired more participation... so why do people still want inspiration-killing backstories... the worst examples ever being the Star Wars prequels which just robbed the originals of their mythological potency. THIS IS WHAT CAUSED THAT. THIS BECAME THAT. REMEMBER THAT BIT? IT'S BECAUSE OF THIS. LET ME HOLD YOUR HAND AND OVER EXPLAIN EVERYTHING.

So I'm confused that I'm so excited for this. It must be the resilience of Psycho. It's already withstood several sequels, countless ripoffs and parodies and one recreation, and the kind of marrow deep cultural impact that you'd think would make it feel redundant to watch. Nope. It still terrifies and intrigues. The casting of the prequel series is also compelling. Freddie seems ideal, right? And Farmiga is one of the big screen's most compelling actresses, even if Hollywood isn't really helping her deliver on her potential -- even after her Departed / Up in the Air hit Oscar films breakthrough. What gives?

Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) enjoys his meal. Not vegeratian.

Still, with Dexter long overstaying his welcome on Showtime (this season started strong but quickly devolved and last season was just bad bad television... and there's still one more to go!) and Hannibal (yes, The Silence of the Lambs' Hannibal) about to get his own prequel series, doesn't TV already have enough 'life inside the head of a serial killer' drama? Serial killers are to television now what they were to the movies in the mid to late 90s.

Have you had enough or do you still enjoy the genre?

Which TV Shows Do You Watch and Read About?

It's Emmy Week so the small screen is naturally on my mind. This time of year I'll usually try out a show or two and roll my eyes in disgust. Revolution was SO terrible: generic actors, pandering action sequences, and terrible authenticity problems. I should elaborate so here's just one example. If there's no electricity and there hasn't been for 15 years why have men's hairstyles not evolved into something manageable that doesn't require the weekly use of electric razors or blowdryers or what have you to maintain??? All the actors looked so freshly scrubbed clean, perfectly coiffed, and flawlessly made-up like they've never spent even one minute away from their huge hair and makeup team in a nearby trailer, let alone been without luxury beautification for 15 years! 

Despite the easy-to-ignore mediocrity of the TV landscape (easy to ignore given that the highs are so very high and you're reminded of them weekly while the dross you only have to see once!) I do watch my share of TV.

Click to read more ...