American Lone Wolf in Linking

YouTube Edgar Wright talks to the cast of American Werewolf in London, one of his favorite films.
Vulture the latest Mad Men episode in 5 gifs - yeah, I know I'm late writing this one up (and there was so much movie business, too)
Guardian great prickly interview with Judy Davis who, rather shockingly, does not like her work in Husbands and Wives (only one of the great supporting actress performances of all time!)

Moviefone interviews Anthony Mackie who will play Falcon in Captain America Winter Soldier. And bless them for asking him about rap battles with Eminem in 8 Mile.
The Ochre has an interactive movie-oriented video. You choose once choices come up. Short and quite random. 
IndieWire film critics and the 20 minute rule 
Slate the purge of Netflix Instant Watch features and queues. I'm so sad about this. Why does Netflix hate us? I don't want to go back to the world pre-Netflix when every movie cost me money and movies were so hard to find.
and
... on Twitter and Facebook we've been we're talking about Kirsten Dunst's best work today on her 31st birthday. You'd know that if you were "following" or "liking" so join us.

Three More Things About The Tony Award Nominations Today Starting With This Tweet That Made Me LOL

NO #TONY NOMINATIONS FOR BOMBSHELL? #snub

— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) April 30, 2013

That's for you "Smash" fans... those of you who remain
The Film Experience I filled out that messy post on the nominations (sorry about that) with a little more commentary and a few photos
The Onion sticks a fork in the Awards with this hilariously titled piece "Loud Desperate Need For Approval Leads Tony Nominations" 

Finally...
Over at Towleroad I've interviewed the director Yen Tan about his new gay drama Pit Stop which has already picked up a couple of prizes at film festivals even before the LGBT film festival season (which starts in May) kicks off.  One of those was from my own jury at Nashville (previously discussed). The film stars Bill Heck and Marcus DeAnda as two gay men who are struggling to extricate themselves from failed relationships in rural Texas. We talked about the trials of "gay panic" when you're casting for LGBT films, realistic sex in movies and authenticity in dialogue when English is your second language. You can see a list of upcoming screenings here (festivals in Boston, Maryland, Oklahoma City, Ann Arbor, and San Diego are next). 

To Woody With (Tough) Love

Dear Woody Allen,

I will always be there for you. Stop punishing me for my loyalty!

Back in 1984 my older brother drove me to see Broadway Danny Rose. I don't remember why. I'll readily admit that much of the movie went over my head but I laughed and laughed at the helium scene. To this day it's the only thing I remember about the movie which I never saw again. (There were always new and old Woody Allens to see so there was little time to rewatch!). My brother laughed, too. The next year I cajoled my entire family into seeing The Purple Rose of Cairo -- even though they kept grumbling about you stealing the Oscar from Star Wars -- because it was about the movies and because you made it.

It was a turning point. I was already heading towards cinephilia but that blissful melancholy miniature classic handed me a map to get there quicker; my destiny was sealed. 

As a reward to you and a treat to myself I go to each and every Woody Allen movie in the theaters. For a good long time this ritual reaped enormous rewards and I rushed out on opening night. I learned to live with the occassional dud and I still rejoice when you have a success --  hello Midnight in Paris! Nice to know ya --  but as the balance began tipping towards the "uhhh" side of the quality scale, I got lazier about it. It's been quite some time since I rushed out on opening night. I still see them but the passion has gone out of the trip ... it's now something mundane, like a favor you'd automatically do for an old friend without ever considering saying "no." You've a lifetime pass.

And so it was when I hit To Rome With Love, your follow up to a resounding success that brought you your third Best Picture nomination! Talk about wasting your post-Midnight advantage...

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Yes, No, Maybe So: "To Rome With Love"

Jose here with a new edition of Yes, No, Maybe So. After the success of the Oscar-winning Midnight in Paris, all eyes were set on Woody Allen's next movie. First the movie caused a tiny outrage because of its "unimaginative" title, later we got a look at an underwhelming poster that had people once more complaining and accusing Woody of "losing his touch".

However, this has become the norm with his work. He's unarguably the most productive artist in moviemaking and people always have very strong reactions towards him and his movies. For all the people who loved Midnight in Paris there were a few who hated it because it wasn't Annie Hall or refused to watch it because they oppose Woody morally.

Here's the first trailer. Help us decide if it's Yes, No or Maybe So...

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Take Three: Judy Davis

Craig here, from Dark Eye Socket, with Take Three. Today: Judy Davis

Judy Davis as "Joan Lee" and Judy Davis as "Joan Frost" in NAKED LUNCH

Take One: Naked Lunch (1991)
The early nineties were extra literary times for Davis. She appeared in an adaptation of E.M. Forster’s Where Angels Fear to Tread, played novelist George Sand in Impromptu, supported John Mahoney’s Faulkner-esque Southern writer in Barton Fink and performed dual role duties in David Cronenberg’s controversial adaptation of William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch. Initially, as Joan Lee, she instigates a curious urgency within Peter Weller’s Burroughs avatar William Lee. She gets a “very literary high – a Kafka high” in a 1950s NY flophouse by injecting bug powder into her right boob. As you do. Then, as Joan Frost, the wife of eloping novelist Ian Holm, she flits and flirts around a North African port town, futilely arousing Weller to stray from his budding homosexual leanings.

Davis’ roles could be entirely different entities or the very same woman or some weirdly unfeasible concoction of both. The sarcastic boredom she expresses as junk-plugged Joan #1 couldn’t be further from the deliciously fruity joie de vivre she exudes as Joan #2; the ever-present look on this Joan’s face suggests she’s either just remembered or recently repeated a particularly saucy joke  -- maybe the kind of thing she feverishly typed in Arabic on her bug-morphed, Burroughs-voiced typewrite? She's all darting eyes and red-lipped pouting under falsely prim attire. Davis lets slip enough sly telling hints that she knows who she is and isn’t playing: do we want one Joan or two? she’s inferring. Whether she’s fingering a fleshy writing implement, re-enacting her doomed part in one of two “William Tell routines” or taking notes on some Interzone agents “feeding” from a mass of strung-up jism-dispensing mugwumps (as you do), Davis yields exemplary acting and exterminates all rational thought.

Take Two: The Ref (1994)
Her comic work doesn’t always get the acclaim it deserves but when she broadens her comic scope even slightly, it’s a treat. 

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