Somewhere That's Link

Defamer Elizabeth Berkley finally coming to terms with the love out there for Showgirls -- like Faye Dunaway with Mommie Dearest this has been difficult for her
Towleroad ...and there's video of the event, too!
Theater Mania to say that I am excited to see Ellen Green reprise her Audrey Little Shop of Horrors role this week (I bought tickets the day they went on sale, long before Jake Gyllenhaal nabbed the Seymour part) would be the understatement of the summer. I'm more excited for it than any upcoming movie. Yes, even Magic Mike XXL. She talks about returning to the role.
Awards Daily Kathryn Bigelow (our filmmaker of the month for Anne Marie's "Women's Pictures" series, every Thursday) pens an op-ed on endangered elephants

Birth.Movies.Death New Spider-Man movie will have a "John Hughes Vibe" and they're not going back to the Goblin again for a villain. Wow... you mean they realized that three times as villain in 12 years was enough?
Hayley Atwell continues to ace her social media game 
VF Meryl Streep asking Congress to revive the Equal Rights Amendment 
EW why Inside Out kept "Bing Bong" a secret (would that more films would keep em)
Nicole Kidman just celebrated 9 years with Keith Urban 
Interview Kyle Maclachlan talks about returning to Agent Dale Cooper for Twin Peaks
Dissolve upcoming movies for EuropaCorp including a sequel to Lucy... even though Scarlett Johansson morphed into an entirely digital entity by the end? well, ok!
The Movie Scene on all this talk of gender equality in "objectification" for the cinema which is usually lusting after only women
Ant-Man gets a "meet the crew" tv spot so finally David Dastmalchian, T.I., and especially the always wonderful Michael Peña show up in the promotional material

Oscar Talk
Hot Blog setting the Best Picture field -is Carol the only possibility thus far that's been seen
THR on the more inclusive more foreign Academy invites 

Must Read
Vulture's TV Awards series has been fairly cool, including entries from actual TV artists, but they ended incredibly strong with this piece by Matt Zoller Seitz on Mad Men as TV's Best Show overall. Frankly, it might well be the best essay on Matthew Weiner's masterful achievement that I've ever read and I've read a lot of them! Love this 'graph near the opening:

All of the episodes, even the ones I don’t especially like, are inexhaustibly detailed: packed with comic and dramatic moments; period-accurate clothing and hairstyles and music; imaginative, hilarious, and often deeply moving performances; and screenwriting that depicts the complexities and contradictions of the human personality with more insight and empathy than any American series in recent memory. It’s a historical drama about how individuals are and are not affected by the local, national, and international history that’s constantly unfolding around them. It’s a psychodrama about how our personalities are shaped by our parents, our lovers, our friends, our bosses, and everyone else we know, as well as by people we’ve never met but feel as though we know: the politicians, civil-rights leaders, athletes, movie stars, musicians, and other icons who inspire, entertain, confound, and sometimes anger us as we muddle through our daily lives. It’s also a series with an unusually strong affinity for mythology, spirituality, religion, psychoanalysis, pop psychology, literature, poetry, cinema, and all the other means by which human experience is transformed into narrative. And at every level — the scene, the episode, the season, and in total — it is a masterpiece of construction, filled with major and minor bits of foreshadowing and recollection, lines and images that seem to answer each other across time.

Read it! And hope along with us that it pulls off a historic fifth win at the Emmys in September. Mad Men (2008-2011 wins) is currently tied with Hill Street Blues (1981-1984 wins), LA Law (1987,1989-1991 wins), and The West Wing (2000-2003 wins) for the most Drama Series wins (4 each). The leader for nominations is Law & Order which was nominated 11 times, far outdistancing its nearest rivals (The Sopranos, Mad Men, ER, Studio One, and The West Wing)

P.S. on the TV Front:  I just watched my first episode of Fresh Off the Boat since y'all were complaining about Constance Wu not making our Best Actress list. It's really funny. They won "best couple" at Vulture 

PRIDE WEEKEND - SHOWTUNE TO GO...
I was feeling so much love for heroes of the past (and present -- it used to be that only Broadway had multiple out stars but now every medium does) but I was especially pleased that I wasn't the only one singing Madonna's praises... she supported the LGBT community long before it was par for the course with celebrities but gays can be fickle and though her iconic status will never be undone, sometimes people are assholes about her what with all the ageism and so on. 

All in all it was a good weekend. And all the marriage equality will eventually lead us into a less homophobic world as there are endless examples of people being less prejudiced once they are familiar with the "other" (any kind of prejudice applies). On this note, Variety is wondering when film is going to catch up with TV when it comes to comfort with the gays?  

Sirs Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi were the Grand Marshalls of the NYC parade. And anyway, gay geniuses of the past and out talents of the present should both be celebrated. And not only on Pride Weekend. So how about some Cole Porter via John Barrowman in the movie De-Lovely as we move into a new week. (That movie is kind of a mess -- anyone remember it? -- but this seen is lovely) 

Team Experience: Collective Emmy Ballot, Drama

Part 1 of 2... DRAMA!
Part 2 -- Comedy 

Eleven members of our team* turned in full Emmy ballots. I've compiled the results for you here. This is a very limited pool versus the thousands from the Television Academy who will vote on the actual Emmys but I thought it might be interesting for readers who are invested in this 'new golden age' of television. 

REMINDER: THESE ARE NOT PREDICTIONS

What follows is what we communally hope for when the nominations are announced. Voting on the nominations for the real Emmys ends this Friday, June 26th. The nominations will be announced on July 16th (what takes them so long to tally it?) and the ceremony happens on September 20th. It's a ridiculously wide spread of time -- nearly double the Oscar voting spread.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

• The Americans (FX)
• Empire (FOX)
• Game of Thrones (HBO)
• The Leftovers (HBO)
• Mad Men (AMC)
• Masters of Sex (SHO)
• Orange is the New Black (NETFLIX)

Twenty-two different series received at least one vote but there were no votes at all for two Emmy regulars in this category (Downton Abbey & House of Cards). No series made every ballot though Mad Men and Masters of Sex were out front together in that regard. I forgot to hold a tiebreaker vote between The Leftovers and The Fall for the final slot so I made the choice myself, and erred on the side of way more ambition though The Fall was arguably more consistent. The nearest misses were The Affair and Agent Carter. The Agent Carter contingency surprised me even though I adore the show but then we're friendlier to non-prestige genre shows here (The Flash, Orphan Black and Daredevil also received votes). We shouldn't bring up the painful years of snubs for Battlestar Galactica and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, two of the finest shows TV ever produced. Neither of which could get arrested by Emmy voters in major categories. (sigh)

Acting Categories after the jump...

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Ant Man Teaser via Agent Peggy Carter

Agent Carter premiered tonight. I actually thought it was quite good with Hayley Atwell a surprisingly strong presence as the lead. Perhaps she's better suited for TV given that she's never been that exciting on the big screen.

In addition to being top notch at the straight-faced espionage scenes, she was quite willingly winking with camp affection to "spy" shows in her undercover scenes. A good sense of humor all around and bonus points for including Dollhouse's excellent Enver Gjokaj in the supporting cast and for passing the Bechdel Test within, like, the first four minutes. See, it's EASY to do. Much appreciated.

I know I'm not supposed to be talking about actresses but I can't help myself! The subject of this post is the Ant Man teaser. We'll wait for the trailer for a full "Yes No Maybe So" but for now random thoughts...

 after the jump, please enjoy the teaser and my 8 favorite shots from the trailer. 

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Day 2 at SDCC: Marvel-ous TV & Fox-y Filmmakers

Anne Marie cowering before GodzillaHello again! Anne Marie here, beaming to your computer screens direct from San Diego Comic Con. Though I thought it wasn't possible, it seems as though the convention got bigger and more crowded. So I learned my lesson and stayed far from the exhibition hall today. Instead, I wandered the Gaslamp District, saw some panels, and did some interviews. (More on those later.) But most of all, I waited in line. In a fun way!

Here are 6 new things I that learned today.

1) Marvel TV won't tell us anything about its Netflix shows. This despite the fact that Daredevil is already filming. Either they're saving that for the Marvel panel tomorrow afternoon (which seems unlikely), or Netflix hasn't yet gotten SDCC-friendly. Netflix has been absent from Comic Con this year, which was suddenly more conspicuous when fully five of Marvel's new shows were absent from the discussion: Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, and The Defenders.

2) Marvel TV is throwing all of its weight behind Agent Carter. After Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s rocky first season (do any non-geeks still watch that show?), Marvel is determined to see its new ABC fledgling soar, so the first episode will be directed by Marvel president Louis d'Esposito, while the fourth will be helmed by Captain America director Joe Johnson. Agent Carter will start right where Captain America: The First Avenger left off, with Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) navigating super spydom (and eventually creating S.H.I.E.L.D.) in 1940s America. I have to say, it's pretty cool watching a major studio put so much faith in a female-led show with two lady showrunners, Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters. (Butters and Fazekas share the title with Steve McFeely & Christopher Marcus.) Speaking of female-led shows, Lucy Lawless is joining Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., although even Xena won't be enough to coax me back to it.

3) Comic Con lines are really, really long. People have been lining up for Hall H's Saturday panels since noon on Friday! It's insane. To wit, here's an exchange I overheard (while waiting in line):

Lady dressed like Wonder Woman: Comic Con is just like Disneyland! Big lines, lots of colorful costumes, crappy food!
Gent with a Top Hat: Then where are the rides?
Lady: I guess the line is the ride!

4) 20th Century Fox couldn't quite top last year. In 2013, Fox assembled the entire star-studded cast of Xmen: Days of Future Past to talk about Xmen past and present. This year, the films on the whole could not deliver the same mania. Let's Be Cops gave folks a quick chuckle but little more. Zachary Quinto admitted that he did not play videogames while attempting to promote Hitman: Agent 47, which is based on a videogame. The Kingsmen got more applause on the wait out than the way in, mostly because con favorite Samuel L. Jackson joined new-to-SDCC Colin Firth in an Odd Couple-like pairing. Even Book of Life, despite a beautiful trailer, generated the most applause when Channing Tatum walked in doing the robot. (As they left, executive producer Guillermo del Toro was once again greeted by a chant of "Hellboy 3! Hellboy 3!)"

5) The most buzz came for The Maze Runner. It's based on the YA novel by James Dashner. When star Dylan O'Brien (Teen Wolf) was asked who would win in a fight, Thomas (his character) or Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, O'Brien caused a gasp and a laugh when he admitted that Katniss would win. "He'd run away, but she'd shoot him with an arrow." Comic Con pro-tip: Always reference The Hunger Games or Harry Potter for immediate buzz.

5) Evangelists look a little different at SDCC.

 

Tomorrow I'll be in Hall H all day covering Legendary, Warner Bros, Marvel, and more! Follow me on Twitter for instant updates, and check back here for in-depth news as each panel ends!

Stage Door: "The Pride" and "The Explorers Club"

In 'Stage Door' we share our live theater adventures... 

Hugh Dancy & Ben Whishaw in "The Pride" back in 2011

If you noticed the blog was far from fruitful this past week in the posting it's because I was in Chicago visiting Nick and Tim. Nick and I took in the play "The Pride" on its closing weekend in the Windy City. His partner had worked on it as dramaturg and Nick thought I'd like it. He was right...

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