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Someone's been paying attention to every single media firestorm in Hollywood this past year from ageism to equal pay to diversity. Gracing this year's cover of Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue is political showbiz icon Jane Fonda (2 Oscars), the inspirational crusading awesomeness of Viola Davis (1 phantom Oscar -- well, everyone knows she deserved it!), "the world is round people" diva Cate Blanchett (2 Oscars), and equal-pay-demander Jennifer Lawrence (1 Oscar).
VF's "Hollywood Issue" tradition is one of the key attractions in the showbiz circus of Oscar season. Though the covers aren't tied thematically to the Oscars they usually include current nominees. The primary form is a "predict the future superstars" covers in which they lean into the young in-demand crop who are having good years. The less common form is a survey of A listers and legends and a few people that scream "now" and that's the type we got this year. And girl, it's a beauty.
The only real gripe is that even when the media is actually trying to express diversity (presumably to "help" Hollywood though the media, including this Vanity Fair cover tradition, has its own problems in that arena) they are still thinking in binaries of black and white. Why not include an Asian or Latina actress or let Ellen Page have a place on the cover again since she's still headlining films and working hard to stay in the game after coming out?
This article originally appeared yesterday in Nathaniel's column on Towleroad. It is reprinted here in a slightly longer version
[Please read with the John Williams Star Wars theme blaring in your head…]
In the first trailer for The Force Awakens (aka Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens but we’ll go with the shorter title). Han Solo famously announced…
Chewie we’re home.
You’ll be happy to learn that it wasn’t just a well placed trailer byte but a promise to audiences that the film actually delivers on. I can state unequivocably that the The Force Awakens is the best Star Wars film in 32 years. That might sound like a backhanded compliment — for what could be worse than the 1999-2005 prequels? — but it’s meant with great affection just like the film in question...
Manuel here to give you a glimpse into a Disney Live Action Phase 2 teaser trailer.
Yes, Maleficent paved the way ($758 worldwide) and Cinderella was a modest hit ($542 million worldwide), so Disney will continue remaking their own animated classics until… well, until they run out of them I’m sure. Next year brings another one: Jon Favreau’s take on The Jungle Book (not to be confused with Jungle Book: Origins which will come out in 2017 and be directed by Andy Serkis).
You would be easily confused seeing as how this trailer’s most chilling moment comes courtesy of a Planet of the Apes-looking ape...
Vox has an article on how binge-watching is changing television -- and not just on Netflix. Some interesting thoughts if too repetitive Variety Lupita Nyong'o headed for an Off Broadway play called "Eclipsed" - I'm still stunned and disappointed that her film docket isn't full through 2018. Hollywood is so f***ed up. Vulture it's somehow fitting that the news that Tom Holland has already shot his first Spider-Man appearance in Captain America: Civil War broke in an interview about Chris Hemsworth's huge prosthetic penis in Vacation. The world is a horny voyeur for all of Marvel Studios's masturbatory impulses
/Film oh noooo a Robin Hood origin story in the works? I hate origin stories so much. Hate them hate them. When will our global obsession with "origins" of characters we already know end? Just tell a story about them! Broadway BlogBent, the powerful play about gay men in the Holocaust is getting its first major revival in some time. Plays through August in LA. Go and report back! Jake Shears from the Scissor Sisters is even in it! Anyone remember the film version with Clive Owen? Variety finally Ryan Kwanten books another series (I was wondering why he wasn't highly in-demand post True Blood). He'll play one of two leads in Amazon's new Western series Edge. I forsee a problem: People in westerns tend to keep their clothes on. /Film Both of David Fincher's "straight to series" shows for HBO are apparently in trouble The Guardian celebrates Jeremy Renner's five best performances. Well someone had too... he may be infinitely more famous now but his respectability as an actor seems to have taken a serious plunge once he attempted four different franchises leaving tough drama far behind Kenneth in the (212) rewatches the great LGBT flick Edge of Seventeen, which relates to a recent study on sexuality and friendshipe
Peculiar WTFs? Pajiba on The Shroud of Cruise in a pop-up church in Florida Boy Culture does Guy Ritchie require all his wives to be branded? NPR here's a weird one. A 80 year old much decorated tough guy Marine looks back on his secret: he was the voice of Disney's wee fawn Bambi
Oscar Season Cometh Variety Student Academy Award finalists in animation, documentary and more. One of them is actually from BYU this year (my alma mater) and thats... "Ram's Horn" by Jenna Hamzawi TOH! reports that Cary Fukunaga's Beasts of No Nation is getting a short theatrical release after all, presumably for Oscar play. Which is too bad for me because only heavy Oscar talk could convince me to sit through something this unpleasant/brutal. Here's the teaser
Awards DailyTruth, the true story about Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) and Dan Rather (Robert Redford) and a story about George W Bush that nearly ended their careers, arrives in October. (I'm actually a bit surprised by this announcement since Cate already has a leading role in the mix this year.) Speaking of release dates... David Poland resets the field with departures and arrivals. This is the part that interested me most on account of 'you never know'. Some movies always get pushed back and losing two or three of these would be impactful to say the least in the communal speculation.
My best guess, based on past histories of the directors and companies and/or absence of promo materials is that 2015 loses three of these four: Silence, Concussion, Snowden, and I Saw the Light.
Anne Marie here, delivering the latest Comic Con news.
And the word of day two was: Star Wars! Any other events that may have taken place Friday were completely overshadowed by the evening Star Wars: The Force Awakens panel, for which fans camped in line over 24 hrs. (Adorably, JJ Abrams bought the Hall H line donuts.)
The panel was a blend of tradition and technology designed to quell fears and excite fan hearts. New castmembers (not Lupita, alas) made appearances on the panel shoulder-to-shoulder with animatronic puppets AND the original trio: Mark Hammill, Carrie Fisher, and (surprise) Harrison Ford himself. Instead of a trailer, Abrams brought a behind-the-scenes look at the The Force Awakens, which stresses even further the blending of old and new. Watch for a first glimpse of Leia, a lot of practical effects, and Lupita Nyong'o (who appears briefly at roughly the 1 minute mark).
So, Star Wars fans: does this video awaken the force within you? Or do you still fear the film's fall into the dark side?
Monday, February 1, 2016 at 7:30PM 
Someone's been paying attention to every single media firestorm in Hollywood this past year from ageism to equal pay to diversity. Gracing this year's cover of Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue is political showbiz icon Jane Fonda (2 Oscars), the inspirational crusading awesomeness of Viola Davis (1 phantom Oscar -- well, everyone knows she deserved it!), "the world is round people" diva Cate Blanchett (2 Oscars), and equal-pay-demander Jennifer Lawrence (1 Oscar).
