• Filmotomy - I guest starred on a podcast there this week about Oscar punditry and Oscar hosting if you'd like to listen in. Thelma Adams was also in the mix. • Slate -they may have avoided mentioning him on Globe night but Bryan Singer celebrated his Bohemian Rhapsody win on Instagram • Next Best Picture - interesting play-by-play of the Visual Effects Oscar "bake-off" and how that might affect the impending nominations • New York Times Billy Porter wanted to wear a dress to the Globes but fashion houses weren't having it. Boo! • Washington Post - a profile of Karyn Kusama's 'dark times' in Hollywood and her latest, Destroyer
We recorded this one just before Christmas so apologize on the delay at delivering it to you!
Index (57 minutes) 00:01 Felicity Jones underwhelming RBG in On the Basis of Sex 06:50 Mixed takes on Karyn Kusama's Destroyer with Nicole Kidman 12:52 "Festive" Christmas movies like Vice, Shoplifters, Destroyer, Capernaum,Beale Street... so many depressing films scheduled for the holidays 18:30 Oscar shortlists for Score, Visual Effects, and Makeup 28:00 The Documentary Finals and the short films 35:00 Will Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite) be nominated for Best Director? Will Green Book controversies derail its expected screenplay nomination? 46:22 Leave No Trace and A Quiet Place might be peaking at the right time for big nominations 56:00 The Wrap Up
One of the screenwriters of the sun-blasted crime thriller Destroyer, describes the movie as "a detective investigating herself." Allowing a screenwriter rather than the reviewer to pigeonhole their movie may be an abdication of duty, but an appropriate one; Destroyer has long gone rogue, flashing its badge but totally off the clock. Even the LAPD, which we all know has behavioral trouble of its own, wouldn't approve of Detective Erin Bell's (Nicole Kidman) "police work" in the real world.
You can't imagine that she'd still be allowed that badge given her AWOL behavior and frequent intoxication but realism isn't what Destroyer is after. Director Karyn Kusama, introducing the movie at TIFF told us to "enjoy" it, providing her own finger quotes around the word, betraying a welcome sense of humor which is unfortunately little seen within the film. But again, levity is not what this relentless film is after...
We've seen set photos but this is the first official image from Annapurna of Nicole Kidman in Destroyer, her LAPD drama and suspected second Oscar bid. She plays Erin Bell, a woman haunted by her past when she was undercover with a criminal gang...
• The Cut "I'm rooting for the Lannisters" fun piece on Game of Thrones (which I still read about on occasion even though I haven't watched since season 2) • /Film Guillermo del Toro's official tequila looks like it's from one of his movies • Vulture every Charlize Theron performance ranked. Interesting list though I quibble with the order (as they seem to equate the quality of the movies with the quality of her performance and Theron is precisely the star she is because she is often able to be good even in terrible pictures). Also Young Adult should be #1
• Playbill all star cast lined up for Steve Martin's next Broadway show (after his musical Bright Star), this one's a comedy called Meteor Shower • Browbeat the internet goes wild for old Russ Tamblyn dancing clip from 1956 • Tracking Board Nicole Kidman is in talks to headline a crime thriller called Destroyer directed by Karyn Kusama. Kusama is promising that though it's a genre film it's also "a beautiful character study of an incredible female" • Variety we were wondering when Ruth Negga would start lining up big roles after Loving. She'll star opposite Brad Pitt in the sci-fi movie Ad Astra • Awards DailyThis is Us has lost one of its Emmy nominations, costume design. • The Wrap this piece about Marvel's plans for Spider-Man got a lot of internet pass-around but it really doesn't tell you much other than they're going to make Spidey a thing in all the crossover movies
Two pieces about criticism/discussion of racial politics in movies/theaters right now
• American Theater a thoughtful piece on the counterproductive assault on Broadway's Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. (We haven't yet heard if the show is actually closing following it's poorly handled casting changes but it might... but the producers were apparently considering it) • Birth Movies Death a very navel gazing piece about being an ally and trying to navigate pop culture criticism in the current political climate and intersectional age
Exit Video Handsome talented Aaron Tveit is taking on the classic role of Bobby in another production of Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece (one of them, at least) Company. This one starts in a couple of days in Massachusetts so go if you live near there and report back. Here he is rehearsing...
Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 9:17AM 
