Feud: Bette and Joan "And the Winner Is" (Part 2)

Previously... And the Winner Is (Pt 1)

-Wait up for me boys. Tonight I'm bringing you home a baby brother.

by Nathaniel R

Picking up where we left off... and, to quote, Mamacita (the delightfully dry Jackie Hoffman) "pick up the pace, it's Oscar day!"

In the second half of Feud's best episode, after watching Joan & Hedda swaying voters away from Bette Davis and arranging for Joan to both present (Best Director) and accept (Best Actress should Bancroft or Page win), it's time for Oscar night. A whole army of hair and makeup people swam Chez Crawford...

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Feud: Bette and Joan "And the Winner Is" (Part 1)

Previously on Feud: Bette and Joan
1 "Pilot" 2 "The Other Woman"  3 "Mommie Dearest"  4 "More or Less" 

-Do you have any comment on your co-star Joan Crawford being snubbed?

-Define "snub"! 

by Nathaniel R

If you had told me at any point before Feud: Bette and Joan was announced to the world that there would one day be a TV show that spent a full hour recreating the drama of a single Oscar night, I would never have believed you. If that imaginative hurtle was cleared I would then preemptively call it the single greatest TV hour in the history of television. But here we are with Feud and the reality is, if not the fantasy, still the best hour of Feud as a series. The concept of the series has so far outpaced the reality of it that it's lapped by several times already. Which is to say that if you've been reading along you know that I don't love the show. So I'll turn over the finale 3 episodes to team members who are maybe enjoying it a bit more (with one last Feud-related post from me after the season has wrapped). Still, I can't not review this Oscar-themed episode.  "And the Winner Is..." was entirely riveting even though all Oscar buffs had spoiler alerts in their DNA!

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And the Link Goes To...

Daily Mail Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman reunite... but for an interview series, not a film
The Muse Rich Juzwiak talks to Anne Hathaway about Colossal and the very tired subject of 'Hathahaters'... as I've always said: their loss, she's awesome.
Deadline omg Toni Collette has a lead role again (opposite Thomas Haden Church)
Criterion Director Amy Heckerling (Clueless) visits the Criterion Closet. She loves Federico Fellini, the story of Billy Wilder and Tokyo Story

Coming Soon Director Sam Mendes is considering a movie based on the graphic novel My Favorite Thing is Monsters  about a little girl trying to solve her neighbors murder
Towleroad there's a new documentary about Heath Ledger
This is Not Porn and speaking of... polaroids from the set of Brokeback Mountain
Hollywood Reporter 4 Japanese actresses discuss Ghost in the Shell. This is a fun conversation but I wish they'd engaged more with the central twist of the Scarlett Johansson character because that's something I would love to hear people discuss apart from the white-washing issue. It is a separate thorny issue actually and not entirely unlike Get Out's existential horror about race relations and bodies at odds with souls... or "ghosts" in this film's parlance.

Oscar Dates 
I'm not sure why the internet treated the news that the next Oscars would be held on March 4th, 2018 as "news" today but they did. The Academy announced the date two or three years ago (they normally announce multiple dates at once). For example: in the latest press release they've added the next four Oscar ceremony dates. It's the other dates (nominations, luncheon, etcetera) that we never know until we're in the film year

Next Four Oscar Nights

• 90th Academy Awards - March 4th, 2018 (nominations on January 23rd)
• 91st Academy Awards - February 24th, 2019
• 92nd Academy Awards - February 23rd, 2020
• 93rd Academy Awards - February 28th, 2021  

Off Cinema
MNPP on the subtle importance of Zachary Quinto's public romances
Variety the Lucille Lortel nominations (Off Broadway)
Theater Mania I've been so bored that NYC's free summer theater tradition Shakespeare in the Park has been strictly Shakespeare for a few years now. Despite the name they used to mix in non-Shakespeare stuff which made it less basic. But they get good casts. This summer: A Midsummer Night's Dream with two of Broadway's very best performers (Danny Burstein & Annaleigh Ashford) and Julius Caesar with Corey Stoll, Nikki M James, Elizabeth Marvel and more
Vox interesting piece on Sanrio's most popular character since Hello Kitty
Mic new study suggests cats like humans more than food. Great article punchline.
EW Lots of online furor when Marvel VP suggests that their recent diversity push has hurt comics sales. Oh Marvel. That is not the problem. You have so many of them but that ain't it. 

89th Academy Awards. That's a Wrap

Another Oscar season wraps up. It's all over but the memories and the future debates. Here is a complete guide to our coverage in case you missed any of these pieces...

• New Facts & Trivia Interesting developments
• Twist Ending & The Winners List Surreal but fascinating
• Jimmy Kimmel  How'd he do as host?
• Emma Stone ♥︎s Moonlight In the press room
• Pic / Director Split Is this the new normal? 

• Moonlight's Missing Speech What we lost in the snafu
• Oscar Packages they really biffed the craft presentations this year!
• Viola's Speech Great or too much?
• Best Oscar Tweets Fun 140 character reactions
• Oscar Stage Design They're obsessed with art deco

• Warren vs Faye Reader poll - VOTE
• Only one "Woke" at a time - Oscar = always problematic
• Faces in the Crowd  So much variety in the surprise looks
• 5 Most Handsome Men Chris, Riz, Mahershala, Ryan, Dev
• Kevin O'Connell Wins! It only took 21 nominations

• 13 Fav Photos Celebrity beauty & randomness
• Random Leftovers Screengrab thoughts
• 10 Best Gowns from our fashion guru Jose 
• Podcast The Season Finale 
• The Oscar Charts in all categories 

and yet another set to add to our imaginary doll collection

AND OSCAR WINNER INTERVIEWS

• Asghar Farhadi merging theater and film for The Salesman
• Krystof Deak preps for a big career with the little Sing
• Robert Legato putting exotic animals out of business with The Jungle Book
• Rich Moore on the global resonance of Zootopia 

UP NEXT
Don't go away! We're more creative off season when we don't have so many golden statue deadlines. Pleaes like us on Facebook, sign up for a newsletter (it'll start going out weekly in March), and consider being a patron saint so that we can keep doing this.

Coming in March, the 1963 Supporting Actress Smackdown, Michelle Pfeiffer and the costumes of Scarface, Logan and King Kong and Belle and Gaston all return to the movies (so much nostalgia at the multiplex), thoughts on Big Little Lies, Jake Gyllenhaal in Life, and the 50th anniversary of Thoroughly Modern Millie... "Rasberries!". And on April 1st, new predictions for the 2017 Oscars (yes, the 2017 Oscars. Don't get it twisted like the rest of the internet)

Random Leftover Thoughts from Oscar Night...

by Nathaniel R

Yes, I'm trying to stave off the annual Post Oscar Depression. It's a real thing even if the medical community doesn't yet recognize it. So herewith some random final screengrabs from Oscar night and accompanying thoughts on topics we haven't totally covered yet over the past 3 days of Oscar reactions, recapping, post-mortem. (I promise we'll quit with Oscar 2016 by tonight and move on to other topics for those of you who've already moved on)

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