Oscar Can You Link Me?

Big Screen 
The Advocate Barbra Streisand to sing at the Oscars for the first time in 36 years - she'll do "The Way We Were" over the in memoriam segment. There sure are going to be a lot of musical performances on Oscar night. 
Variety Jessica Chastain to star in new screen version of Miss Julie. Chastain being cast is something isn't exactly news (she's everywhere) but LIV ULLMAN is directing this oft-filmed Strindbergh tale.
Gawker Rich Juzwiack on the mainstream appropriation of "shade" and Paris is Burning (That documentary on NYC's ball culture is still one of the largest blights on Oscar's documentary branch. It was critically raved at the time and is still must-see viewing 20+ years later but Oscar ignored it)

The New York Times  on the still heated atmosphere of all Les Miz conversations. Stanley Fish wonders if it's the film's lack of irony that so enrages people?
Empire Will our dream of seeing Viola Davis & Denzel Washington reprise their Tony roles in Fences onscreen come true? It turns out Denzel is planning to direct a film version. If he doesn't bring Viola along, I'm going to freak.
CHUD The Muppets... Again is already shooting. Here's a synopsis and cast list
The Carpetbagger on Spielberg's ACE prize from the editors in Hollywood 
Guardian Charlize Theron will co-star in the Seth McFarlane comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West which is said to be an homage to Blazing Saddles.
The Playlist first pic of Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston (god, what a pairing) in Only Lovers Left Alive  

Hey Look.... Jodie Foster in Elysium

Coming Soon ...the movie's title refers to a pristine space station. She plays a government official out to protect the wealthiest citizens from their dirty Earth-bound counterparts who wish to emigrate. (The last time Jodie did sci-fi it turned out well, I think, don't you? Love Contact.) 

Small Screen 
A Blog Next Door says goodbye to 30 Rock with an encyclopedic memory of the show. What will we do on Thursdays now? I always want to go to there.
BuzzFeed 'How Smash became TV's biggest train wreck.' If you're a Smash obsessive this is a must-read... though it's more than a shade shady. The biggest shocker for me was hearing that Steven Spielberg wanted to replace Megan Hilty!!! Good God, are his eyes and ears working? She's the single best thing on the show by an embarrassing margin.

You Link Me. You Really Link Me!

The Wrap Sally Field (Lincoln) is the talk of the Palm Springs festival with her lively speech.
The Playlist has a clip of the new Pixar short The Blue Umbrella but be forewarned. It's really not much bigger than a new film still it's so short.
EW in another break with tradition Seth MacFarlane rather than an AMPAS official will be announcing the Oscar nominations on Thursday morning with the requisite actress (this year: Emma Stone)

Letterbox'd Vadim Rizov isn't terribly impressed with Zero Dark Thirty
Pajiba has amusing standards when it comes to red band trailers. (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters)
The Advocate promises that actress Busy Phillips is as awesome as she appears to be. (Michelle Williams has always had such good taste!)
Slate's movie club beginswith Dana Stevens, Wesley Morris, Stephanie Zachareck and Keith Phipps talking up Zero Dark Thirty and Django and moral ambiguity in film
The Carpetbagger talks to Baltasar Kormakur about The Deep

It turns out that there is a reason most directors don’t film shipwrecks in the open water”

Ha.

Smash!
29 DAYS UNTIL "SMASH" RETURNS!'

I'll be recapping as I did last year. I'm not crazy about this sneak peek which sadistically continues to pretend that Megan Hilty is NOT the true star of Smash (LIES. ALL LIES). She's not even #2 anymore according to this trailer which seems to suggest a season all about American Idols Jennifer Hudson  and Katharine McPhee. Meanwhile the cast album of "Bombshell", the stage musical within the tv musical series, will be out in mid February. If Hilty doesn't get the Marilyn solo numbers on the "cast album" than they shan't have my moneys! 

Smash Season 2 Now Filming

If it were January instead of July we'd be tuning in to Season 2 of Smash right this second. Mondays at 10:00 PM on NBC, don'cha know. Only six months to go. Ugh!

Here is Katharine McPhee as "Karen" (who won the Marilyn Monroe role on Season 1) bowing down to Jack Davenport as "Derek" her director. As well she should since Davenport runs circles around her as an actor and convincingly sells us on his Karen-fixation which goes at least a little bit of the way towards understanding Karen's otherwise invisible charms as a leading lady.

I kid. I kid.

About the bowing down part (I meant everything else). I have no idea what McPhee is doing in this photo?Adjusting her marks maybe -- but doesn't she have people for that?

I am so excited for Season 2 of Smash and I have no idea why since there might be less Megan Hilty (the MVP) since she didn't get the Marilyn part. But a new show runner, new song writers (for a competing musical in the Season 2 plotline), and new cast members including Jennifer Judson in a multiple episode arc (a la Emmy nominated Uma Thurman last year), and rising stage star Jeremy Jordan of Broadway's Bonnie & Clyde and Newsies (and the Dolly/Latifah musical Joyful Noise) could mean a better show but it could also mean a lot of change for the sake of change and that's not always helpful either.  

Right about now or 5 minutes ago, you're like "Why is Nathaniel talking about Smash in July?". It's only because I'm suffering withdrawal and seeking solace in my Smash-patch (i.e. playlists. I recommend listening to Hilty tearing into "Let's Be Bad" at least once a week to stave off the cold sweats and palpitations).

Smash was the target of much internet and media ire last season (musicals always have big bullseyes on their chests just visible underneath the sequins) so I was happy to read recently in Variety that its fate wasn't as dire as armchair and professional TV pundits originally suggested which could bode well for a Season 3 unless Season 2 is disastrous. Apparently Smash commands a very high CPM for an in house drama and it's also popular in high income households which is a big deal to massive corporations like NBC. 

Are you hopeful or un about Smash S2? Will you join us on Tuesdays in the winter for weekly recaps like we did this year?

Smash: That "Bombshell" Finale

True story. When I pressed play on the DVR to write up this last Smash post of the season, the TV "resumed play" in the middle of the episode somehow though I'd already watched the whole thing through. The mute button was on. Chorus girl Ivy (Megan Hilty) was pulling a ring box from her purse. The ring wasn't hers but fellow chorus girl Karen's (Katharine McPhee) whose fiance had left the ring in Ivy's hotel room after a drunken one night stand. At the exact moment that Ivy opened the ring box, the unmistakably familiar siren song of the ice cream truck sounded outside my apartment. 

I'm not sure where I'm going with this so let it suffice to say that this final episode of Smash's first season was nothing at all like a refreshing creamy treat. The only similarity was that I felt sick to my stomach after devouring it. I don't mean to be a drama queen but at episode's end when Ivy reached for a bottle of pills in her last vain attempt to commune with Marilyn Monroe, that dream role long since torn from her, I knew where she was coming from. I too felt robbed. 

This is not to say that I ever expected Ivy to get the Marilyn role in this fictional soap opera about the creation of a Broadway musical. NBC's peacock of choice from the beginning was the creamy lovely generic American Idol alum Katharine McPhee. The "who will get the role?" drama always felt a little forced since all the marketing was built around McPhee and the show took frequent awkard pains to insist that Katharine McPhee/Karen had "it" while Megan Hilty/Ivy was merely a competent seasoned performer but not a star. I've spent a lot of time shaking my head about the show's absolute inability to notice that the show doesn't play like that at all and they should have rethought their game plan. Megan Hilty has IT in so much bold all caps that it's like she's carting around her own spotlight and orchestra. Every time she performs the show lifts off to a higher level and every time the show tells us she doesn't have charisma, the show becomes as far-fetched as "Bombshell's" narrative that you can rejigger an entire show, rehearse a new lead, refit all the costumes and write a new song and everything will go off without a hitch mere hours later! 

It occurred to me afterwards and somewhat perversely that perhaps Katharine McPhee's generic charms are not the problem but it's Megan Hilty who is miscast. If Smash is not secretly a show about an otherwise talented director (Jack Davenport's Derek) who is terrible at casting --McPhee is beautiful and talented but sounds and moves nothing like Marilyn while Ivy is beautiful and talented and makes a very convincing musical Monroe -- than it is failing terribly. 

...sadly I was hoping she would.Set List: Standards - none; Contemporary - none; Originals -"Don't Forget Me" which is the second worst original song in a generally sensational musical score 
<--- B♡bby & Dennis: This one goes to Dennis (Phillip Spaeth) who is, as ever, adorable. And he always looks so happy!
Anjelica Awesomeness: "Wonderful!" Eileen's what now? exasperation that her ex-husband bought a ticket to the show. 
Best Moment: Sadly, the best moment by far was the little flashback inserts of Megan Hilty doing "Wolf" and Megan Hilty doing the epic "Let's Be Bad" the two best numbers ever seen on the show. But I also loved the sudden change in the title card. It was no longer "Smash" with an orchestra tuning up but "Smash" with an overture. Nice touch now that the show is playing (albeit in out of town tryouts).

Curtain Call: Skinny Katharine McPhee belting the anthemic ballad "Don't Forget Me" a weak song that sounds suspiciously like one of those interchangeable anthemic ballads that they always end American Idol with. In short, "Bombshell"'s finale was 100% Marilyn Monroe free; no blonde wig on McPhee could ever bridge that infinitesimal gap.
Grade: C-
Season as a Whole: B/B- though the first half of the season, particularly episodes four through six suggest that this could be an A level show. Here's to next season. Break a leg!

American Idol Katharine McPhee as American Idolesque American Icon Marilyn Monroe

Previously on Smash
1.1 "Pilot" |  1.2-1.3 "The Callback" & "Enter Joe DiMaggio" |  1.4-1.6 "The Cost of Art", "Let's Be Bad" & "Chemistry" |  1.7 "The Workshop" with Bernadette Peters! |  1.8 "The Coup"...the worst episode |  1.9-1.10 "Hell on Earth", "Understudy" |  1.11-1.12 "The Movie Star", "Publicity" with Uma! |  1.13-1.14 "Tech" & "Previews" with Uma!

Season Awards
Best Episode - The Cost of Art | Best Actress - Debra Messing (and yes I'm surprised by this) | Best Actor - Jack Davenport | Best McPhee Number - "Rumor Has It" from The Cost of Art | Best Hilty Number - "Let's Be Bad from Let's Be Bad | Best Production Number - "Let's Be Bad" in Let's Be Bad | Best Number Not Staged -  "Wolf" in The Cost of Art | Best Number That Doesn't Feature Hilty or McPhee - "Say Yes" with Christian Borle from Understudy | Best Anjelica Huston - Anjelica Huston | Amount of Joy I Suspect I Would Feel If They Staged the Entire "Bombshell" on Broadway with Megan Hilty in the Lead Role - ∞

Smash 1.1 "Pilot"

NBC's new musical drama "Smash", a behind the scenes showbiz drama about Broadway musical theater and our enduring Marilyn Monroe obsession, premieres tonight. If pilot quality and series promise equal ratings, the show will make good on its title. The internet has had a good laugh about its relentless ad campaign and the absurd "Introducing... Katharine McPhee" angle (American Idol being underground experimental television that only 5 people have ever seen, don'cha know) but the show is smartly written enough to use McPhee's familiarity as an opening gambit to throw you into an unfamiliar world.

Reintroducing... McPhee's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is long since the most oversung song in the popular canon and a song McPhee was already known for from her original introduction years ago.  But this cozy dreamy showtune reverie is interrupted by a cel phone, snapping us back to plainclothes everyday New York where McPhee's "Karen" is auditioning for god knows what. The casting director is decidedly unmoved and takes the call. 

Dreamy musical outbursts screeching to a halt for reality-check comic purposes is as familiar a cliché as Somewhere Over the Rainbow but "Smash", as it turns out, isn't actually going to coddle us. Continued after the jump.

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