Podcast: Two Transatlantic Conversations

This new unconventional episode of the podcast features two guests and two conversations. First Nathaniel calls Australia to check in with Glenn Dunks to see what he's been up to cinematically since leaving NYC. And then a conversation with Guy Lodge in London about his experience at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Contents

• 00:01 - 02:30 Intro: Nathaniel (feat. Annie Lennox)
• 02:26 - 19:15  Glenn From Australia: Mad Max Fury Road, The English Patient, Nicole Kidman in Strangerland, 54 The Director's Cut, Film Preservation
• 19:16 - Guy from London: Loving Arabian Nights, The Lobster and Todd Haynes' Carol, Cannes Jury Prizes, The Assassin, Son of Saul and the Foreign Film race, Maryland, and hating Paolo Sorrentino's Youth

Please to enjoy and continue the conversation in the comments. You can listen at the bottom of this post or download from iTunes tomorrow.  

Cannes, London, and Australia

Linktown

NY Times Juliette Binoche & Kristen Stewart make beautiful movie together in Clouds of Sils Maria (more on this film tomorrow)
Awards Daily talks to Kristen Stewart about the movie
The Dissolve says goodbye to character actor Geoffrey Lewis, daddy to our beloved Juliette
Comic Alliance all the EW Avengers covers - featuring your first look at The Vision (there really not leaving ANYTHING for a surprise in movie theaters are they?)
Lainey Gossip John Travolta responds to that Going Clear documentary on HBO

FIAF Important news for fashion-loving movie buffs in NYC. The French institute has an amazing lineup of movies on Tuesday nights for the next two months from Bay of Angels through Gloria and on to Belle de Jour
IndieWire explains what's going on with Twin Peaks Season 3 via recent David Lynch and cast comments
imgur cat with paper drawn expressions (aka the reason the internet -- hell, cameras even -- was invented) 
I Want to Believe 'Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan's Banana' 
Towleroad George Takei's new reality show 
In Contention thinks you should believe the hype about Sundance winner Me and Earl and the Dying Girl which now has a trailer... but I'm hearing a lot of negativity from critics at the moment. We'll see what happens when it actually opens in June 

RuPaul's Drag Race Doldrums
Previously TV has good recap - hi Mark!
Regan Write is a hoot as per usual recasting the drag contestants as scream queens from famous horror flicks
Unicorn Booty shares an uncomfortable truth about RuPaul's Drag Race. We agree word for word. They've really made terrible decisions this season both in casting and who keeps getting sent home... though we're finally rid of Kandy Ho. My favorite is still Katya and the shark leg costume this week was to die for. 

Manly Men and the Film Buffs Who Love Them
Movie Mezzanine looks at the parallels and divergence in the careers of Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood 
MNPP Jason and Jai Courtney's muscles alert us to an important cause 
Fistful of Film will celebrate Russell Crowe even if no one else will 

The Perfect Response to the Grace of Monaco Premiering on Lifetime News
Courtesy of our friend and fellow Oscar obsessive Erik Anderson...  

Hey, at least we'll get to see it now in the US since it was never actually released. I remain convinced that it can't possibly be as bad as people say. And this wise article which you absolutely should read if you haven't suggest that maybe it isn't.

Oh my...
This should please some of you. Seems that Ryan Murphy has picked his future Jessica Lange, with an internal promotion on American Horror Story

Kathy Bates is running the Hotel. #AHSSeason5

— Ryan Murphy (@MrRPMurphy) April 8, 2015

This will be the one season that doesn't unravel as it goes along!

The Secret in Julia & Nicole's Eyes

Manuel here, still giddy about all the Julia press blitz given the 25th Anniversary of Pretty Woman and thus unable to think about much else.

Oh how I hate watermarked stills; maybe it's to distract from Julia's ugly sweater?

Thankfully, we can begin salivating over her next project, the English-language adaptation of Academy Award winning film, The Secret in Their Eyes (remember how it beat The White Ribbon and The Prophet for the Best Foreign Language Film prize in 2010?). Thanks to Stan for bringing the above pic to our attention which confirms the fact that the film will feature scenes between Julia and fellow Best Actress winner Nicole Kidman. I for one, cannot wait. Their acting styles are so far apart I’m curious what they’ll bring out in each other. The film also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor who is allegedly joining the Marvel family for their upcoming Doctor Strange (though really, until that film starts shooting I won’t believe any “rumored casting”).

The plot, for those of us who haven’t seen the original film centers on “a retired legal counselor who writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his past unresolved homicide cases and for his unreciprocated love with his superior - both of which still haunt him decades later.” The film will be released in October, following, it seems, the same release pattern as Billy Ray’s last scripted film, Captain Phillips. May this one strike gold as well?

Oh, I almost forgot to share these on-set pics. Look at those bangs! and those ill-fitting pants! and that basket!

Are you as excited about continuing to see what Julia can do with these darker dramatic parts? Might this bring her coveted nomination number 5, nudging her up Nathaniel’s Oscar’s most beloved ladies list? (it really is silly to think Julia has one more nomination than Nicole, isn't it?)

Red Carpet Lineup: Lead Actresses & The Aussie Invasion

It's the final poll of the 87th Oscars and our last red carpet lineup for awhile *sniffle*. In addition to those things this is your daily reminder that Julianne Moore won an Oscar. Because it needs to be repeated often as healing balm for our beleaguered actressexuality.

Who was best dressed on Oscar night? 

poll by twiigs.com

NATHANIEL: Please welcome back Anne Marie and Margaret to discuss these ladies (and five more, too). 

ANNE MARIE: Best Actress! Obviously, we must start by repeating the best news, which is that JULIANNE MOORE IS NOW AN ACADEMY AWARD WINNER. I get tingles when I write it.

MARGARET: BLESSED BE.

NATHANIEL: Thank you. This will serve as our daily reminder (Hee! Are you sick of the daily reminders yet?) But I have to say that beyond Juli as the season ran on I came to love this lineup abundantly. It's the best possible lineup we could have gotten given the media's reticence to admit that there were intersting and worthwhile performances happening all year long in all kinds of films. I even grew to love Felicity Jones in a way (I think she gets an unfair wrap as a coattails nominee when a lot of that movie depends on her emotional fluidity and stubborness. But I hate this dress. It's so off color and pale as to make her fade away.

MARGARET:  Felicity Jones' supportive-wife staple aside, how few 'types' there are! A really great array of characters, only improved by their great performances.

NATHANIEL: I even grew to love Felicity Jones in a way. Yes, it's a type. But I think she gets an unfair wrap as a coattails nominee when a lot of that movie depends on her emotional fluidity and romantic willfulness. But I hate this dress. It's burying her. It's so off color and pale as to make her fade away.

Reese & Rosamund & Aussie goddesses after the jump...

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The lost films of January

Tim here. For such a slow, snowbound month, January sure is busy: talking about Sundance, talking about the Oscars, talking about the political ramifications of not recognizing Selma vs. the blockbuster box office of American Sniper. And with all that talk about films that have been and films that will be, it's a bit too easy to lose track of the actual films that are actually sitting right there waiting to be watched.

So I'd like to ask you to take this moment with me, just before we enter the second month of 2015, to reflect on the movie year that has been. All 28 days of it. Sure, January is a dumping ground, but that doesn't mean that there can's be secret gems hiding in the junk, and before it's too late, I'd like to call your attention to some of these midwinter presents that, if we go by the snoozy box office for all films that don't involve shooting Iraqis, you probably haven't seen yet.

Paddington and more January diamonds in the rough below the jump

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