Showbiz History: With a Song in My Heart instead of 'in the Rain'. Plus a shocking Oscar moment.

5 random things that happened on this day, February 26th, in showbiz history...

Somehow both the Oscars and the Globes preferred With a Song in My Heart to masterpiece Singin' in the Rain.

1953 The 10th annual Golden Globes are held with The Greatest Show on Earth (Drama) and With a Song in My Heart (Comedy/Musical) winning Best Picture. In today's world, With a Song in My Heart would not be eligible as it was a biopic of a musician, which the HFPA almost always places in Drama now. It's a pity because it's a dull movie and it was up against... wait for it... Singin' in the Rain...

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Showbiz History: Casper, Martha Plimpton, Pete Davison, and Silver Linings Playbook

11 random things that happened on this day, November 16th, in showbiz history...

1934 The White Parade about a nursing school starring Loretta Young opens in theaters. Later it's nominated for Best Picture.

1945 Happy 75th Anniversary to both the Best Picture nominee The Lost Weekend and the animated short "The Friendly Ghost" which introduced Casper to the world. The whole short is available on YouTube and it's much darker than you might remember it if you ever saw it as a kid. Poor Casper really needs a hug and or friends...

Psycho, The Sound of Music and celebrity birthday suits after the jump...

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Night of the Linker

• Los Angeles Times Thoughtful terrific interview with Merrit Wever on HBO's Run and Netflix's Unbelieveable
• Vanity Fair Brad Pitt teamed up with the Property Bros? What?
• Florence Pugh has a message for all the toxic "fans" out there -- it's not your place to comment to bully celebrities about who they love! Hear hear.

Roger Deakins, Broadway woes, Natalie Wood, Disney furloughs, Beetlejuice, Missi Pyle in Ma, and more after the jump...

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CONSIDER - Actresses of 2019, First Half

Here's our penultimate 'halfway mark, year in review' post for you. The 19 performances by actresses we treasured most at the movies thus far this year. 

We hope you'll sound off on these and share your own favourites in the comments... and we hope this list serves as a reminder to Oscar and Globe and SAG voters to keep lists of things that impress you all year so that at the end of the year you aren't just voting for the 5 things you just saw. Before we begin I should note that I sadly missed the three following female-led films and will catch up with them when given the chance later in the year: Her Smell, Little, and The Souvenir. Okay here we go...

7 LEADING ACTRESSES
(Jan 1st - June 28th releases)  

Jessie Buckley as "Rose-Lynn" in Wild Rose
Yes, the movie basically hands her the "star-making" reviews on a platter. It's ALL about watching her sing and emote. But the performance has lovely nuances, lived-in feeling, and own-worst-enemy fire. And that voice. Good god.  

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Review: Octavia Spencer lets loose with "Ma"

by Sean Donovan

In an age where critics praise a generation of thoughtful, innovative, and dazzlingly styled horror films, a deceptively basic package like Ma --unconcerned with winning good reviews, elevating the genre, or acquiring a fancy boutique label like A24 -- is uniquely refreshing. Ma’s jump scares are familiar, its plotting is predictably iffy, its logic and emotional contexts for its supporting characters even more so- but goddamn it, it’s fun.

The ‘fun’ comes from feeding off the joy of Octavia Spencer inhabiting domestic horror-thriller, Hand That Rocks the Cradle realness. No longer is Spencer smiling on a gilded stage, frozen while Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga accept prizes for socially regressive trash to which she’s somehow attached. Octavia’s back baby, and this time she’s got hell to raise and teens to terrify....

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