Linking

The Stir Laura Linney had a baby despite none of us knowing she was pregnant
The Wire Joe Reid plans to see all 58 Oscar nominated movies from 2013 
LA Times George Clooney pretends to be pissed about Tina Fey's Golden Globes joke 
Gawker loves the idea of Detroit getting a bronze Robocop statue. It needs a hero! 

Film School Rejects as I predicted Margot Robbie is wracking up the roles in the wake of Wolf of Wall St
Interview Magazine Kanye West interviewed by Steve McQueen. Expect quotables 

tv
/Film what's going on with Nicolas Winding Refn's Barbarella TV series? 
previouslytv "your crotch is not that interesting" on HBO's Looking 
Vulture on the new and improved Lady Edith on Downton Abbey 
Coming Soon Jason Isaacs is joining the Rosemary's Baby tv miniseries as Roman Castavet (good part!) ... and word is that Zoe Saldana may get the famous pixie cut for it

Looking premiered and I missed it. But more when i catch up with it

a chain reaction
NY Times has a piece about why it might be better for the cinema if there were less movies each year. It's an interesting article that I mostly agree with though I wholeheartedly wish that Manohla hadn't felt the need to diss Iron Man 3 which is hardly the best example of junk blockbusters out there -- at least it was trying something vaguely new, making a Tony Stark movie rather than an Iron Man movie essentially. But let's not get distracted. Her piece was provocative asking for curation over consumption for programmers and money people. 
The New Yorker disagrees, arguing that we only get the great discoveries because so many indie films are made. You can't predict which new artists will actually deliver. 
The Front Row takes this as an opportunity to talk about what the purpose of film criticism is in the internet era and then
Mark Harris comments, too
...all of which gives us plenty to think about. 

HBO: The "B" Stands For Bening

JA from MNPP here - while it's still quite a ways off from being a thing sitting in front of our eyeballs, if indeed it ever does, I figure this is the sort of news that the TFE readership wouldn't want to miss: Annette Bening might be headlining a series for HBO. Deadline's reporting that The Bening, as she's known round these parts, is looking at a series called The Third Coast, about "a larger than life casting director in New Mexico," that would be directed by Jay Roach and was written by Paul Rudnick.

Roach got his start with the Austin Powers movies before moving on to the Fockers series and then more recently making that memorable back-to-back pair of political powerhouses for HBO, Recount and Game Change. Meanwhile Paul Rudnick wrote Addams Family Values, and that is everything. (Seriously though, Rudnick's "Libby Gelman-Waxner" character for Premiere Magazine back in the Nineties was formative for this writer.)

If we're not already past the tipping point in mourning the flight of serious actors to the smaller screen I think we ought to be - an opportunity to check in with The Bening on a weekly basis, doing her thing, doesn't sound too shabby to these ears.

Agent of L.I.N.K.

RogerEbert.com Cannes video essay the films of 1960
Reverse Shot 20 shots to be henceforth retired from film vocabulary

2. It starts off in a long shot and a guy's all far away and walking toward the camera and you're all “Uh-oh am I going to have to watch him walk the whole way?” and you do and it takes three minutes or more. “Ooh, look at me, I'm sculpting with time!” Fuck you.

Vanity Fair a great photo of Elizabeth Debicki (the new Jordan Baker from The Great Gatsby)
Reuters Cannes may ditch austerity for glitzy Gatsby opening. Stay tuned
In Contention Will Smith eyeing remake of The Wild Bunch. Although he's not fond of "bunches" since he turned down Django because the part wasn't big enough. At least Will Smith understands that Christoph Waltz wasn't a "Supporting Actor" 

Film Doctor 11 questions about The Great Gatsby 
Guardian RIP Aubrey Woods, the character actor from films like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and 
i09 first images from The Wachowski Siblings Jupiter Ascending suggest that it will be even worse than Cloud Atlas! 
i09 beautiful concept art from Iron Man Three
Playbill Potentially great news. HBO picked up a series starring the underused Jonathan Groff, one of a group of gay friends in San Francisco. I hope they randomly let him sing in it.
Empire Hailee Steinfeld to star in For the Dogs, which sounds plagiaristically much like The Professional with Natalie Portman. Sam Worthington costars
MNPP Who Wore it Best: Henry Cavill vs. Hugh Jackman 
Cinema Blend Rebel Wilson headlining a TV series? Not what I was expecting on the heels of two hit movies I must say 

And here's the trailer to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. from Joss Whedon and Marvel.

I can't say that trailer sells me on it at all but Whedon has yet to make bad television, so I will definitely be their for the premiere. Whether or not it holds me, who can say? (Angel is the only Whedon series I didn't get religious about watching). You?

Link Be a Lady Tonight

Film.com Excellent piece on the online coverage of Lynne Ramsay's no-show on Jane Got a Gun. There's just so much default anti-woman rhetoric online. Crazy that this rarely ever improves.
Slant Magazine Our friend Kurt recently visited Las Vegas and its glorious gawdy movie memories came with
AV Club Might HBO let people buy HBO Go without a cable subscription? That's such a good idea. A ton of people I know have dropped cable (too expensive) altogether since they use their computers more than their TVs. I would if I could, too.
Film.com strong list of 50 best opening sequences in movies ever. Love the inclusion of Cabaret, La Dolce Vita, and Manhattan. Bonus points: you don't have to click 50 times or even 5 to see the whole list.

MovieLine the opening credits of Oz: The Great and Powerful. I knew these would show up soon. Best part of the movie, easily showcasing charm, creativity, and wit.
CHUD "Hey girl... NO GIRL, PUT DOWN THE GUN!" Ryan Gosling is quitting acting for awhile
Empire Robert Redford could join the Marvel Universe starting with Captain America 2. (He would'a made such a great Captain America back in the 60s)
Timothy Brayton adss another toughtful thumbs up review to No's increasingly large critical pile. Seriously, what are you waiting for? Best movie of 2013 thus far. 
Coming Soon Wentworth Miller conitnues on as a screenwriter post Stoker. He'll adapt the thriller novel Scare Me. 

Art & Toons
Wimp.com a really amazing video about early animation process at Fleischer Studios. It's so crazy how much factory like manpower and technical innovation went in to things that are so computerized now.
i09 a neat very short animated cartoon on Marvel iconography from X-Men to Captain America

And... How webcomix make money, illustrated with 8 bit animation - thanks to Drawn for pointing it out

With Regards to Lena Dunham

Hello, lovelies. Beau here, discussing a unique talent whose first foray into television just released on DVD and Blu-Ray for all the sorry souls deprived of the best network on television.

Lena Dunham might be the most divisive director of her generation. Self-deprecating, incisive, witty, aware to a fault, she’s what would happen if Diane Keaton and Miranda July met and had tea using Amy Heckerling as a footstool. But at the same time, her characters and their individual dilemmas are direct reflections of their generation, behaviors indicative of a group of twenty-somethings who devoured Palahniuk and shit out Klosterman. They Know What They’re Doing And They Are Smarter Than You. Hipsters cum Proselytizers. Join us or be deemed irrelevant.

I’ve talked with several co-workers, friends, relatives who’ve watched either Tiny Furniture or Girls (or both) and find her writing and her characterizations insufferable. Others still find it remarkable and on-the-nose, a young woman (or girl, if you will) entirely aware of her faults and vices and dealing with them through humor and observation.

The question then is: is that something we want to watch?

Click to read more ...