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If you play Clue in a hot tub it becomes a j’accuzzi

— Michael Pielocik (@michaelpielocik) July 30, 2022

LOLOLOLOL. More curated tweets for you after the jump...

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I Have Altered The Auteur, Pray I Do Not Alter It Further

by Salim Garami

What's good? This is opening weekend for Solo: A Star Wars Story, a Disney/Lucasfilm production that saw a bit of behind-the-scenes drama. It's hardly the first production of the space opera franchise to be so contentious: Rogue One had Tony Gilroy take over post-production in lieu of director Gareth Edwards and the still in-production Star Wars Episode IX interrupted its development when Colin Trevorrow stepped down as director to J.J. Abrams, returning from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

After the jump, more on Solo and five films that had survived such a director change to a decent reception after the jump...

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Stage Door: "Prince of Broadway"

by Nathaniel R

Though I don't cherish the form I've seen quite a few jukebox musicals in my day. Sometimes they take the biographical route like Jersey Boys. Often they'll sift through the lyrics of some artist's catalogue hoping to yank out phrases and threads from which they can stitch together a frankenstein story. Mammia Mia is either the apotheosis or the nadir of that latter form, depending on your perspective. But what if the jukebox isn't beholden to one composer? Prince of Broadway, which just opened at the Samuel Friedman in NYC, is devoted to the producer Harold Prince who did not write music. So what you have is a greatest hits of, uh, dozens of different composers from a wide range of musicals. If this were a CD it might be called "Now That's What I Call Broadway, Vol. Whatever"

Prince backed a TON of über famous shows in his illustrious career including Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret... you name it! None of the musicals sound alike so there's little hope of cohesion in the show. Wisely Prince of Broadway  doesn't try to create a "story" from these disparate musicals in a career that stretches all the way back to 1950 (Prince is 89 years old and directed this production).What they've come up with instead is much less intrusive even if it doesn't totally work...

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An "Unbroken" Centennial and more...

Jack O'Connell in Unbroken (2014)On this day in history as it (mostly) relates to showbiz...

1837 Michigan becomes a State. For a long time it was a beauty but recently hit its all time nadir when the GOP controlled government began poisoning the children in Flint. Somehow Michiganders did not vote them out of office. The earth is doomed
1880 WW II's General MacArthur is born in Little Rock. He'll later be played in the movies and on TV by stars as esteemed and beloved as Gregory Peck (MacArthur), Liam Neeson (Operation Chromite), and Henry Fonda (Collision Course: Truman vs MacArthur)
1892 Bessie Coleman is born in Texas. Becomes the first female African American pilot and the first American woman to hold an international pilot licencse. Where's her biopic? Today's Google Doodle is in her honor
1917 Louis Zamperini Centennial today! His WW II story of survival starring Jack O'Connell is told in Angelina Jolie's movie Unbroken (2014)

more after the jump including Paul Newman and the Golden Globes...

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Odd Golden Globe Nominations This Century

by Brian Zitzelman

The Golden Globes take the spotlight again tomorrow night, however briefly. As the Oscars shine with prestige, the Globes remain its bratty little brother; he seems well behaved, but does enough wild things (drinks, watches too much tv, dresses down) that he'll never escape his elder sibling's shadow. And annually he let's strange nominees slip out the gate... 

This is not to say that Oscar doesn’t occasionally include films and performances that are immediately forgotten or unworthy, but nobody beats the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for oddball picks, both deserving and not. So, if you’re curious why the Globes are such an easy punching bag for movie hounds, while nonetheless being a delight for their originality, here are a few of the most peculiar nods of this century. Not all of these are laughably bad -some reveal a daring and interest in films outside the 'prestige' norm, yet in the world of film awards, they are indeed odd... 

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