Showbiz History: Betty Boop, Bob Aldrich, and the Muscles from Brussels

We're still so terribly depressed about the Academy's foolhardy new decisions, that we're looking for ANYTHING else to think about today as distraction. Herewith...

12 random things that happened on this very day (Aug 9th) in history...

1918 HAPPY ROBERT ALDRICH CENTENNIAL! The director was born 100 years ago today in Rhode Island. Among his best known films: The Big Knife, The Dirty Dozen, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Autumn Leaves, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, and The Longest Yard. Alfred Molina was recently Emmy-nominated for playing him in the TV series Feud: Bette and Joan...

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On this day: Joan Allen, JCVD Movies, and Jacqueline Susann

On this day as it relates to showbiz history...

1858 Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution. That one that caused Spencer Tracy so much trouble in Inherit the Wind.
1882 Tchaikovsky debuts his "Overture of 1812". It's still used in movies two centuries later in a truly diverse range of movies including The Iron Lady, Laurence Anyways, V For Vendetta and The Blind Side
1918 Novelist Jacqueline Susann is born. Her trashy best-sellers become hit movies and even turn Oscar heads: Valley of the Dolls (1967 best score nomination)  and Jacqueline Susann's Once is Not Enough (1975, best supporting actress nomination)
1931 Fright haired boxing promoter Don King is born. Sixty-six and a ½ years later Ving Rhames wins the Golden Globe playing him in a TV movie. Remember that sweet but odd moment when Ving Rhames invited Jack Lemmon on stage with him to share the award he had just lost for 12 Angry Men? King's been played by other actors too including Mykelti Williamson (Ali), Tim Meadows (SNL), and in forthcoming movies he'll be played by Reg E Cathey (Hands of Stone) and Keith David (The Last Punch)

I promise you there's incredible actressy stuff after the jump including a must-see clip...

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Splink!

In Contention the Stephen Hawking biopic Theory of Everything starring Eddie Redmayne is getting an Oscar prime November release. Best Actor is going to be tight this year, people
Telegraph interviewed Winona Ryder last month. Not sure how I missed this one but it's a good interview with smart comments on her career and age.
Shadowplay "things I read off the screen in In The Heat of the Night" interesting piece on 1967's Best Picture

Playbill has a history of Cabaret's journey from the pages of "Goodbye to Berlin" to the stage and screen
Cinema Blend I hadn't heard about this but there's a Twilight related lawsuit going on about profit sharing. Apparently Robert Pattinson made $25 million from Breaking Dawn. Wow.
Pajiba on Rob Lowe's "awesome" Reddit AMA
The Playlist Denis Villeneuve's career is heating up post Prisoners/Enemy and he's prepping a sci-fi thriller called The Story of Your Life which might star Amy Adams. It sounds vaguely Contact-esque to me.
Towleroad X-Men Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy do great impressions of Sir Ian McKellen and more. Adorable.
AV Club on "the return of the consumptive heroine" via The Wind Rises and Winter's Tale 

Today's Watch
It's a new Batman short in the style of his animated adventures in the 90s to celebrate his 75th anniversary (which is actually in but people are excited so they're starting early)

Creative Tributes
Cinema Blend Jackie Chan, who turned 60 this year, has been immortalized with a portrait in chopsticks
i09 2001: A Space Odyssey gets an homage via fruits and vegetables in this commercial 
Chaz Ebert her late husband Roger Ebert is getting a statue during EbertFest 

An Actor's Director
Guardian Sean Penn is returning to the director's chair for a South African romantic drama starring his new squeeze Charlize Theron (originally from South Africa so that's kind of cool) and Javier Bardem. My main concern with Penn as a director is that he's just so heavy/grim. I hope he finds a way for a range of tones here. This will also be Adele Exarchopoulos follow up to Blue is the Warmest Colour as she's playing a journalist

And finally...

AV Club let's us now the remake of Time Cop (1994) is back on. I don't care about this but I will take any excuse to post Jean Claude Van Damme's infamous kitchen counter split. It's one of my most vivid memories of 1990s moviegoing. What?

Linkboy

MTV News hilarious bit w/ Julia Roberts and Josh Horowitz talking Jennifer Lawrence
Juan Luis Garcia writes an open letter to Spike Lee about Oldboy poster designs that are being used without the designer's permission. Horrifying story of freelancer abuse
Gawker collected the key floats and Roker silliness for Thanksgiving Day Parade ICYMI 
Variety Evan Rachel Wood vs the MPAA over a recent sex scene 

List Mania
Gurus of Gold we list nominations we'd be thankful for and update our charts
THR Feinberg's Forecast. It's exhausting to read all the stuff that happened this week. Once campaigning starts it's just impossible to keep up, right?
The Playlist on the Breakout directors of 2013 from Destin Cretton (Short Term 12) to Sebastian Lelio (Gloria)
Variety also reviewed the week from Jean Claude Van Damme's epic split stunt to Frozen on your phone
Vulture all the times Peeta messes up in Hunger Games: Catching Fire. LOL. Get it together, Josh Hutcherson! 

Links: Vocal Mimicry, Fearless Reprises, and Kick Lines

Web Slinging hear Tom Hiddleston's impressions of Samuel L Jackson, Owen Wilson and Chris Evans. He's a talented mimic. And funny, too.
My New Plaid Pants gratuitous Byung-hun Lee
Pajiba acknowledging the nameless lineless secretaries on Mad Men. Hey, at least they get to wear the insanely great costumes of Janie Bryant.
LoveFilm asks which Brad Pitt film haircut is the most iconic? How to choose? Surely the best male follicles in Hollywood.

Monkey See on long term investments in TV shows and whether or not they pay off (via New Girl and Smash) 
Boy Culture has the rumored set list for Madonna's MDNA tour. Sad I'm not going but it'll be fun to read about and see clips from
Rope of Silicon Care to see a sneak peak of The Lizard from The Amazing Spider-Man? I'm avoiding spoilers which is frankly silly since we're in reboot territory but whatevs. I love Spider-Man, easily my favorite superhero film franchise. Though I'm still not excited about this one. 
Daily Musto The Avengers when they were young
Cinema Blend release date shuffling strikes. No Gravity in 2012. Sniffle. Guess I have to update my Oscar charts asap 

Playbill Yes, Julianne Moore accepted the Piper Laurie "Margaret White" part in the new film version of Carrie. She's brave that one, but stepping into another actor's iconic shoes (slippers in this case?) is tough work. See also Julianne Moore in Hannibal. I'm not sure she shoulda done it but now I have to see the movie. Damn you Juli, you fearless minx!
The Film Experience <--- yes, we already discussed this.
 Movie|Line has a candid interview with 90s teen star Devon Sawa... hadn't heard that name in awhile
The Incredible Suit 'is it just me or...' (seeing double) 
Empire Channing Tatum may star in Roland Emmerich's next noisy action picture (oh dear) White House Down 
The Wrap Hollywood learned nothing about Taylor Lautner's lack of film-carrying talent from Abduction (oy) and he's getting another action picture called  Tracers.
The Film Experience <--- yes, I actually wrote about Abduction. I am a masochist. 

Finally via SuperPunch, which always finds neat things to share, a supercut of just the kicking from Jean Claude Van Damme's Kickboxer...