Link what you made me do

Cartoon Brew it turns out the new animated film Leap is actually a previously internationally released animated film named Ballerina, reworked by the Weinsteins for the US with a new voice cast. The difference: the reviews are terrible this time
Variety Orland Bloom to star in and produce an urban fantasy series called Carnival Row which has humans and mythological species interacting (sounds a smidge like the new Will Smith project Bright)
The Guardian James Cameron interview on Terminator 2. But the part that's getting quoted is his dismissal of Wonder Woman (though he says he enjoyed it)
Variety... but naturally Patty Jenkins has fired back

IndieWire lots of female directors hitting the festivals this year. Here's a list of 20
Nerdist we haven't heard anything about that ill-advised movie remake of The Birds (1963) in a while. But now there's news that another adaptation of the source novella is aiming to be a dramatic BBC miniseries
Mental Floss extensive piece on the costumes of Game of Thrones
Boy Culture Jay Thomas of Mork and Mindy and Murphy Brown fame has died of cancer
/Film casting for the live action version of Teen Titans (which will just be called Titans) has begun with Anna Diop nabbing the Firestar role.
/Film The best recent Asian action movies you probably haven't seen
Like Hacker Movie Pass is suddenly seeing a huge influx of subscribers. You guys I love the service so much. If you don't have it you really should get it. It saves you so much money if you like seeing movies regularly.

OffScreen
The Atlantic interesting piece on Taylor Swift's persona-shifting new single "Look What You Made Me Do"
The Stage Stephen Sondheim on what directors should and shouldn't do when restaging musicals
The New Yorker read this brilliant piece, please... "Louise Linton isn't mad. You're mad."

Exit Video
Ever wonder what it would be like to hang out with Madonna for a whole day on your birthday? Dennis Hensley enlisted his comedienne friend Nadya Ginsburg to play her all day and find out. "C'mon" hit play. Ginsburg is a brilliant Madonna impersonator and proves it again.

TIFF Launches $3m Campaign for Female Filmmakers

by Seán McGovern

Connie Nielsen on set with "Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins.

Instead of just lamenting the lack of female filmmakers helming projects today, TIFF is spearheading a $3m campaign to put more female talent behind the camera. Female directors accounted for just 7% of the highest grossing films worldwide in 2016. And that figure is down on the equally dismal 9% in 2015.

Dubbed "Share Her Journey", the campaign will include a three-month residency for female filmmakers, educational resources and gender diversity panels that aim to guide new and talented filmmakers into the industry...

Click to read more ...

Q&A: "Strong Female Characters" and Future AFI Honors

Okay last round of reader questions before we have to ask for a new batch. These are culled from the last "Ask Nathaniel" column as well as the open thread. Let's talk Wonder Woman and Oscar, "Strong Roles for Women," and more.

MARIE: Who are the next 3 women that should win the AFI Life Achievement Award?

NATHANIEL: A timely question since Diane Keaton just won hers. But I had to look back at who has previously been nominated to come up with an answer. Living female winners number only five: Diane Keaton (2017), Jane Fonda (2014), Shirley Maclaine (2012), Meryl Streep (2004), and Barbra Streisand (2000) with the other twelve winners in this new century being men (both actors and directors have won). It's actually a tough question because they have to be alive and *really* famous to get this honor and also elderly (though Streep was young for this honor taking it when she was 54ish I think). They also have to be American (for the most part) so I looked only at people who are almost 60 or older and this is what I came up with...

 

I would probably choose from among these five next:

Click to read more ...

Interlinker

Must See
EW has new images from Mary Poppins Returns. Oh please let this be good. Please let it be good.

Linkage
Decider the 50 most important LGBT characters in tv history - they'll be doing essays on the top 10. Two of our contributors were included in their polling.
The Guardian thinks Tom Cruise should ditch the heroics and play an unsavory character again. We heartily agree. He seemed to lose all his artistic ambition (if not his general ambition) right around the time of the Kidman divorce. It's been almost a two decade stretch of franchise heroes only now with rare exceptions like Rock of Ages and Collateral.
Deadline Donald Glover talks Atlanta and taking on the famous role of Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise
Guardian Remember Blue is the Warmest Color? Director Abdellatif Kechiche is auctioning off his Palme d'Or and other memorabilia to pay for his next movie
Variety on the common thread that unites the shows that Netflix has recently cancelled. Guys, I'm so sad about Sense8. It wasn't perfect in any way but it was so earnest and original and sexually inclusive (sigh)

Coming Soon Ryan Coogler and Michael B Jordan are fast becoming a fiercely committed director/muse duo. They're going to make a school cheating drama Wrong Answer after Black Panther. It will already be their fourth movie together and they only made their first one, Fruitvale Station, four years ago.
MNPP Jason uncovers a mystery about the naked hustler in Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Interview Matthew McConaughey interviews his screen son from Interstellar Timothée Chalamet, reportedly about to breakthrough to the big leagues with Call Me By Your Name

She's a Wonder... Wonder Woman
Variety Wonder Woman banned or delayed in a few countries
The New Yorker an intriguing review of Wonder Woman focusing on its restraint and the style of "no style" as well as the claim that it's not just a superhero movie but "an entry in the genre of wisdom literature"
THR Patty Jenkins not yet signed on for Wonder Woman 2. The internet at large seems convinced WB/DC will throw money at her. Was the internet not paying attention when other female directors were dumped after launching big grossing franchises (think 50 Shades of Grey and The Twilight Saga)? I'm not saying this will happen again. There's more pressure and scrutiny now on this topic. I'm just saying it's more of a possibility than people are admitting given Hollywood's history of treating female directors much differently than their male counterparts.

Theater Season
Time Out NY Tony Award predictions including potential surprises
Playbill Molly Pope is starring in a new one person musical Second to Nun -readers near Virginia Beach should definitely seek this out. She is an amazing talent
Variety looks at how an Oregon theater in a small town has become a major player in prestigious American theater 

Exit Video
Rachel Bloom won't be campaigning for an Emmy *wink wink*

Wonder Woman at The Alamo Drafthouse

Please welcome guest contributor Shannon Fox with a report from the all female screening of Wonder Woman at the Alamo Drafthouse.

Photo Credit: Proma Khosla/Mashable (Right to left: Stephanie Barnes, Annemarie Mancino, Shannon Fox)

Be careful.”  

This was the general response by friends and family, both male and female, upon learning that I had secured tickets to the women-only Wonder Woman screening at my local Alamo Drafthouse.  And, I mean, sure, we live in a scary world nowadays-- crazy things happen.  But it’s a pretty atypical response to catching a flick, you know?  I mean, I don’t know about you, but I usually hear “let me know if it’s any good” rather than “please don’t get murdered” when it comes to going to the movies.

But if that isn’t telling of the female experience in today’s society, I’m not sure what is.  

Alamo’s women-only screenings have garnered quite a bit of press over the past week, thanks to the multitude of mostly-male detractors on the internet.  There have been lawsuits, threats of storming the theater, and demands of men-only screenings in the future (for the female-led The Last Jedi, inexplicably) to name a few. Because of that, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect this past Sunday...

Click to read more ...