Link Overload: Busy Actors, Deleted Scenes, Movie Spoofs

AV Club there's finally a Whiplash spoof starring The Muppets' Animal. "Animalllll!"
Boy Culture remembering a great poem "Lana Turner Has Collapsed"
EW the DVD of Into the Woods will include the new Sondheim song sung by Meryl Streep cut from the movie - you can see a minute of it here. I like it. Could listen to Meryl sing all day
Pajiba all the crazy shit that's gone down at 50 Shades of Grey screenings
THR Lovely profile of Kyle Chandler's careful career moves. If you missed my review of the pilot of his new series Bloodline it's here. Love this actor. I'm totally curious about what he'll do in Carol with Cate Blanchett

Coming Soon first image and synopsis from Jem & The Holograms
Movie City News David Poland says very smart things about the Academy's lack of confidence in themselves as evidenced on Oscar night. I've often felt this and don't get why they don't embrace their power? They're always worrying about audiences they don't have and not concentrating on delivering for the huge audience they do have.
Variety Brit Joe Alwyn lands the lead in Ang Lee's next project Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk about a 19 year old US soldier home briefly between tours in Iraq. It's Alwyn's first motion picture though he's done stage work.
Amazon I haven't watched this yet but they're streaming the pilot to Sutton Foster's new show Younger for free
THR Blade Runner's sequel will be directed by the talented Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners) though I still don't get why something that perfect in original form needs a sequel (sigh). You're just asking for trouble!
Variety Joan Allen doing a dramatic thriller pilot co-starring Zach Gilford from Friday Night Lights
HitFix Louis Virtel reminds us that The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) was actually hilarious.

Wait, there's still more links? 
i09 bringing comic book characters to life with a really unique take on makeup transformations 
Empire Rosamund Pike lining up lots of projects including The Deep Blue Good-By with Christian Bale which is meant to be a franchise
A Fistful of Films gives out 1939 prizes. I keep thinking of doing this with older film years but I'm such a completist and those big projects undo me! Still giving best actress to anyone but Vivien Leigh that year? I won't hear it!
Stage Buddy talking to The Last Five Years producer. Who came up with that Russell Crowe joke?
Uproxx Neill Blomkamp is refreshingly honest about how he failed Elysium

EXIT VIDEO
Julie Andrews goes Death Metal in this awesome Mary Poppins video

13 Days Til Oscar: Matthew McConaughey... And the 2000 Best Actress Race?

[The Oscar countdown continues with new contributor Matthew Eng - he wrote that popular Jennifer Lawrence piece! -- making a fascinating cross gender lines comparison to 13 years back]

Thirteen years ago, the only acting prize Matthew McConaughey seemed likely to ever win was a Razzie*. Or, you know, at least a Teen Choice Award. And yet, here we are, thirteen years later, all those Wedding Planners and Failure to Launches gone (but not forgotten), and Matthew McConaughey just so happens to be:

1. an Oscar nominee
2. the indisputable frontrunner of the Best Actor race, and
3. a presumable Oscar winner.

It’s the Second Coming of McConaughey, a shockingly successful, rule-breaking career reversal that approximately zero people saw coming. But can you really blame us, especially considering that pre-Magic Mike McConaughey seemed pretty intent on solidifying his status as a Hopeless Hollywood Himbo, continually submerging his skills behind a pair of wide-eyed peepers, a self-satisfied smirk, and a notorious, Southern-fried catchphrase that may have made for one great Matt Damon impression but which can still send even some of the more willing McConaughey converts up the wall?

It’s always nice to see a performer sizably step up their game, to start choosing roles for the challenge, rather than the check. Maybe it’s the nature of the Dallas Buyers Club role or maybe it’s the inconsistent reputation of the genre he spent the better part of the past decade residing in, but McConaughey’s performance and subsequent awards trajectory have been giving me major flashbacks to Julia Roberts and the 2000 Best Actress Race, which culminated with Roberts’ inevitable coronation nearly thirteen years ago. [More...]

Click to read more ...

Tues Top Ten: Stars Without (Competitive) Oscars

Do you miss Oscar season or are you glad it's over? I'm feeling a little bit of both right now, which is why this image that a reader sent me is so great. It's Glenn Close & Michelle Pfeiffer on Oscar night in 1989, when they both lost for their roles in Dangerous Liaisons (1988). Michelle did take the stage as a presenter that night (alongside Dennis Quaid).

Who knew that the Merquise de Merteuil and Madame Tourvel could exhibit any such tenderness for each other? (Or maybe the Merquise is just looking for the softest spot on Tourvel's neck in which to sink her fangs?)

So the picture got me to thinking about stars who've never won Oscars despite multiple nods. (Of course the most egregiously mistreated stars in Hollywood are the great actors who've never even been nominated... but that's a different list.) For this Tuesday Top Ten, I thought we'd do things a little differently and the rank will be determined not by my opinion but by Oscar's through the number of nominations. I determine the order if stars have the same number of losing nominations.

TOP TEN WORKING FILMS STARS
WITH MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS WHO'VE
NEVER WON A COMPETITIVE OSCAR

Honorable Mentions: Mickey Rooney, Eleanor Parker, Kirk Douglas (yes, they're all still alive), Jane Alexander, Debra Winger, Diane Ladd and Marsha Mason each won three-to-four nominations but since none of these famous actors are working much or at all in features anymore, I decided to make this a list of top “working” stars instead. As for the bottom third of the top ten list, since there are a lot of stars who’ve earned three nominations without ever winning, I had to make judgement calls as to who to include. So my apologies to: Laura Linney, Joaquin Phoenix and Sigourney Weaver (and others with 3 nominations) who just-missed here.

Johnny Depp, The Dangerous Liaisons girls and more after the jump...

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My Link, My Fate, My Fortune... Chanel No. 5

Studio Exec visits the set of Darren Aronofsky's Noah
The New Yorker interviews screenwriter Melissa Matheson for the 30th anniversary of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
Movie|Line first tease of Carrie. Hmmm, looks very BIG for such an intimate horror story
Yahoo on the internal wars for each character on Homeland. Such a good season 2 thus far, yes?
Nicks Flick Picks spends an evening with Joan Allen at the Chicago Film Festival 

Chanel No. 5 Joe Wright directs Brad Pitt as the first male spokesperson for Chanel No. 5. Joe is the new Baz. Discuss.
Acidemic suggests streaming Netflix options you might not have thought of that are Halloween appropriate.

Today's Very Best News
Tina Fey & Amy Poehler will co-host the Golden Globes. YES. But can they switch show duties with Seth MacFarlane please? Now I have to look forward to the Golden Globes even more than usual and I'd rather be THAT excited for Oscar.

Awwww
Barbra Streisand singing with her son Jason Gould this past week in Philly. The family that sings together...

Finally, for you readers who are also writers... Nail Your Novel has tips on how to prepare for National Novel- Writing Month. I tried to do this once (a sci-fi novel actually) and I liked the exercize but it's hard to do when you're also writing a daily blog. But if you've been stuck in your own writing, I highly recommend.

Actress a Day: Joan Allen

My fingers were itchy for some sketching. So let's get back to Actress a Day...

Why Joan Allen today? 
Two reasons...

1) She finally nabbed a new leading role! She'll headline A Good Marriage which is based on a Stephen King short story about a woman named Darcy who discovers her husband and the father of her children has been leading a gruesome secret life. No word yet on who will play the evil husband but apparently the wife's role is juicy. Yay! We need some Joan back in our lives, don't we? [src]

2) In my failed rush toward Toronto I forgot to mention that I was a special guest on the Award Circuit Power Hour this week where we discussed festival buzz, the Best Actress and the Best Supporting Actress races. One of the things they do on the Podcast is a game called "Give Them an Oscar" and the holy name of Joan Allen was invoked. You can listen here.

So... what would you give Joan an Oscar for? Do tell in the comments.