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Two Must Reads @ Vulture In this moment I really must bow down. Vulture just slayed all this week. I'm sure it helps to have a huge budget and access to hundreds of talented writers but still. I am regularly in awe. Particularly of these two pieces:
"The 30 Best Broadway Songs of the Past 40 Years" insightful fun writeups in shows stretching from Annie in 1977 through Hamilton in 2015 with a ton of Stephen Sondheim near the top (as well they should be)
Must See EW has new images from Mary Poppins Returns. Oh please let this be good. Please let it be good.
Linkage Decider the 50 most important LGBT characters in tv history - they'll be doing essays on the top 10. Two of our contributors were included in their polling. The Guardian thinks Tom Cruise should ditch the heroics and play an unsavory character again. We heartily agree. He seemed to lose all his artistic ambition (if not his general ambition) right around the time of the Kidman divorce. It's been almost a two decade stretch of franchise heroes only now with rare exceptions like Rock of Ages and Collateral. Deadline Donald Glover talks Atlanta and taking on the famous role of Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise Guardian Remember Blue is the Warmest Color? Director Abdellatif Kechiche is auctioning off his Palme d'Or and other memorabilia to pay for his next movie Variety on the common thread that unites the shows that Netflix has recently cancelled. Guys, I'm so sad about Sense8. It wasn't perfect in any way but it was so earnest and original and sexually inclusive (sigh)
Coming Soon Ryan Coogler and Michael B Jordan are fast becoming a fiercely committed director/muse duo. They're going to make a school cheating drama Wrong Answer after Black Panther. It will already be their fourth movie together and they only made their first one, Fruitvale Station, four years ago. MNPP Jason uncovers a mystery about the naked hustler in Six Degrees of Separation (1993) Interview Matthew McConaughey interviews his screen son from Interstellar Timothée Chalamet, reportedly about to breakthrough to the big leagues with Call Me By Your Name
She's a Wonder... Wonder Woman VarietyWonder Woman banned or delayed in a few countries The New Yorker an intriguing review of Wonder Woman focusing on its restraint and the style of "no style" as well as the claim that it's not just a superhero movie but "an entry in the genre of wisdom literature" THR Patty Jenkins not yet signed on for Wonder Woman 2. The internet at large seems convinced WB/DC will throw money at her. Was the internet not paying attention when other female directors were dumped after launching big grossing franchises (think 50 Shades of Grey and The Twilight Saga)? I'm not saying this will happen again. There's more pressure and scrutiny now on this topic. I'm just saying it's more of a possibility than people are admitting given Hollywood's history of treating female directors much differently than their male counterparts.
Theater Season Time Out NY Tony Award predictions including potential surprises Playbill Molly Pope is starring in a new one person musical Second to Nun -readers near Virginia Beach should definitely seek this out. She is an amazing talent Variety looks at how an Oregon theater in a small town has become a major player in prestigious American theater
Exit Video Rachel Bloom won't be campaigning for an Emmy *wink wink*
Today's Must Read "Male Stars Are Too Buff Now," a great funny true read from E Alex Jung about Zac Efron in Baywatch and other visually alarming superhuman specimens.
Linkage Daily Actor Corey Hawkins on the Juilliard audition he almost failed Charlene's (Mostly) Classic Movies a "Medicine in the Movies" Blogathon - articles on Contagion, Night Nurse, Reversal of Fortune, The Fountain, and many more Cartoon Brew Nigeria hopes to train 'an army of animation professionals' with the market for thoe films exploding
The Guardian Guy Lodge's latest DVD column on Toni Erdmann, The Salesman and more Variety more 'sequels we don't need!' news. Boss Baby is getting one for 2021. Sigh. I actually thought that movie was unexpectedly good but most movies don't actually need sequels. Stop trying to make movies into big TV shows with multiple episodes! TV is great but Movies are not TV!
I Wouldn't Normally Link This But... Life Site, which appears to be some sort of Christian Fundamentalist Anti-Choice website, has a piece on the Alien franchise that I found gripping and nutjob funny (Satan is the screenwriter of Alien Covenant !) and also kinda justified on a couple of intriguing points. Thanks to IndieWire for pointing it out.
Cannes Mania Film Comment Pt 1 of Nick Davis's 'Cannes Staycation' looking back at 1987 in which Nick talks Under the Sun of Satan, I've Heard the Mermaid's Singing, and many more... Film Comment Pt 2 in which Nick talks Wish You Were Here, Shy People, Matewan, and Babette's Feast. Part 3 is coming in a few days. Vulture How Jane Campion feels about her status as the only woman to win Cannes in its 70 year history IndieWire 10 Best of Cannes IndieWire Eric Kohn on what it's like to be a jury member of the sidebar "Critic's Week" at Cannes
Off Cinema Films for Action "What makes 'call-out' culture so toxic?" Broadway World a timeline look at Tony nominee Andy Karl's career. (I know he's not likely to win this year but someday! -- such a great performer)
It's impossible to keep up these days. So herewith a bunch of news we haven't covered and other enjoyable places to go on the web today...
News Baz Lurhmann has written a letter to fans about the cancellation of The Get Down, his Netflix series. My favorite bit because I like having him on the big screen in 2 hour doses:
All sorts of things have been thrown around for the future... even a stage show (can you imagine that? I can, concert version anyone? Next summer? Just saying.) But the simple truth is, I make movies. And the thing with movies is, that when you direct them, there can be nothing else in your life. Since The Get Down stopped, I have actually been spending the last few months preparing my new cinematic work...
Variety IFC is on a buying spree at Cannes, including Lars Von Trier's latest, a serial killer drama named The House That Jack Built starring Matt Dillon and Uma Thurman BBC Star Wars' John Boyega hits the London stage in Woyzeck. Reviews are a bit mixed but everyone seems to love that he challenged himself to such an extent post stardom Cartoon Brew Pixar has a new experimental shorts division without executive oversight. This sounds like a great idea for the company, fostering new creative visions without much investment or interference Kenneth in the (212) Jeffrey Schwarz, who specializes in documentaries about gay or gay-interest historical figures (I Am Divine, Vito, etcetera) has a new documentary on Producer Allan Car (Grease 2, Can't Stop the Music) Broadway World Glenn Close stops a performance of Sunset Blvd to address a rude audience member:
We can have a show or we can have a photo shoot
Variety Kirsten Dunst gets emotional at The Beguiled premiere Variety Gina Prince-Blythewood (Beyond the Lights) tapped to direct Spider-Man spinoff Silver and Black about the characters Silver Sable and Black Cat. Angry Asian Man there's a Joy Luck Club tv series in the work and they're looking for Chinese American women
Good Reads Vanity Fair on that new unforgivably hideous Spider-Man Homecoming poster Jezebel on the terrible Dirty Dancing TV remake. (I have to ask though, why do people keep watching TV remakes of movies. They're all just t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e... remember that trainwreck that was Beaches recently?)
For Fun Gay Comic Geek [nsfw site] Wonder Woman cosplay... by men The New Yorker Joe Dator draws a comic about his fortieth anniversary with Star Wars. Cute.
Exit Video Dynasty is getting a reboot.
I object that Krystle isn't a blonde and doesn't look that much different than Fallon (why does the CW have such trouble varying haircolors/styles and overall looks in their casts in all their shows?) but otherwise some of the changes are fun. The most potentially interesting touch being that trashy golddigger Sammy Joe (the Heather Locklear role) is a gay man this time but still after the same mark, Steven Carrington (the family's gay son). But, is this really the right era to idolize the super wealthy? Not sure it will sit as well in 2017 as it did in the 80s when people were more naive about the 1%'s havoc-wreaking on the economy of everyone else.
Cartoon Brew utterly savage (but 100% correct) on the Emoji Movie trailer LA Review of Books on Netflix's Sense8 as metaphor for Netflix is. (I have no idea why a book site is reviewing this but the piece is absolutely terrific) LA Times talks to Robin Swicord, only now with a second feature (Wakefield) long after the success of The Jane Austen Book Club. Her debut was profitable (always Hollywood's end goal) but Hollywood wouldn't hire her to direct? We've heard this story all too often!
Screen Daily in terrible terrible news they're still not going to let the once genius but totally played out Terminator franchise die and Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron plan to be involved in the next one. Doesn't anyone in Hollywood want to do something original even more? It's not like Cameron couldn't get funding for literally ANYTHING he wanted to do. (sigh) Film School Rejects on Disney's self cannabilization and the particular folly of trying it with Fantasia Variety TV is invading Cannes with many auteurs now doing both Vulture Tilda Swinton and Steven Yeun on making art in the new impossible-to-avoid-politics era AV Club Janelle Monáe and Leslie Mann are joining Steve Carell in Robert Zemeckis's next film MNPP Tom Hardy to play Spider-Man villain Venom in a standalone film Jezebel the only reporting on the Roseanne revival which includes Luis Buñuel asides Cinematic Corner visual parallels between Logan and Mad Max: Fury Road Hugh Jackman 'see you soon Japan' - he's still on his Logan promo tour! Out people are still shook about that shocking Drag Race elimination. (I rewatched it and it's astonishing how furious you can tell RuPaul is at Valentina for making her job so difficult)
Just For Fun My Giant Nerd Boyfriend "Horror Movies" (I'm absolutely in love with this webcomic about this Asian girl with a super tall boyfriend) Cards Against Humanity - cool story from the Emerald City comic con floor
Sage Advice Daily Actor "18 Ways to Self-Tape Like a Pro" - smart ideas here about self-taped auditions (which are increasingly popular
Twin Peaks is here! Twin Peaks Season 3 begins today so it's probably a good idea to reacquaint yourself with the previous two seasons and Fire Walk With Me. If you don't have time to rewatch them (*raises own hand in solidarity*) there are articles around to jog your memory. Unicorn Booty recaps where several storylines left off at the end of Season 2, and K Austin Allen of The Ringer takes a deep dive into the movie prequel that was honestly kind of reviled back in 1992 but has since grown rather beloved amongst Lynch fans and cinephiles. Perfect anecdotal evidence from my own life: my best friend who was an absolute Twin Peaks nut in the 90s and then hated Fire Walk With Me which we saw together in 1992. I saw him yesterday -- he had just rewatched it was like 'Have you ever watched Fire Walk With Me again? I remember hating it, somehow, but it's incredible!'
Saturday, June 10, 2017 at 7:00PM 
Two Must Reads @ Vulture
