Merch Madness: Actress Edition

Seán here with a little bit of fun. Cynthia Nixon was blessed to be a called an "unqualified lesbian" last week, and is now dropping some of this dank dope cool merch to raise money for her campaign for Governer of New York.

And while Miranda was swapping brunch for nutritious lunches in our public schools - I couldn't help but wonder: what is some of the best and truly worst actress-centred merchandise out there in the swamp we lovingly know as Etsy? From the brilliant Girls on Tops to something a little bit more, um... interesting.

I never had to google "Meryl Streep merchandise" before, but I'm glad I did. Share your finds in the comments.

Doc Corner: 'The Most Dangerous Man in America' Goes Where 'The Post' Doesn't

By Glenn Dunks

If The Post gave you a hankering for the truth behind the Pentagon Papers, then the 2010 documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers will prove uncommonly fulfilling. In fact, watching this Academy Award-nominated doc (it lost to The Cove), you would be hard-pressed to believe that it's about the same events as portrayed in the Steven Spielberg movie.

Last week we looked at The Price of Gold and how closedly I, Tonya mimicked it, so it's actually quite amusing to see that this week's Best Picture / Documentary cross-over is the complete opposite. Sure, they overlap here and cross-over there, but The Most Dangerous Man in America goes longer, deeper, wider, and somehow all but completely ignores The Washington Post and the personalities within the 2017 film...

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Review: The 15:17 To Paris

by Eric Blume

Has Clint Eastwood lost his mind?  That’s the thought that swirled through my mind for the first hour of 15:17 To Paris, because every choice is so shockingly wrong-headed that it feels unfathomable. Say what you will about Eastwood’s films, but even his detractors would need to admit that his movies are generally well-acted and sure-footed.  I had to stay through the end credits not to see the name of the cinematographer, but to ensure that there actually was one.  In fact, it’s Tom Stern, who has shot most of Eastwood’s films.  Out of respect for these two gentlemen and their intelligent work together in the past, let's assume that on this film they were attempting to take Eastwood’s infamously brisk, limited-takes directorial and shooting style to its ultimate breakneck limit.  Their new film looks uglier and less artful than your average TV procedural...

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Doc Corner: 'The Price of Gold' Brings Clarity to 'I, Tonya'

By Glenn Dunks

The defining trait of I, Tonya that has separated it from a glut of biopics is that darkly comedic tone achieved significantly through fake direct-to-camera interviews by an assortment of ghoulish villains and anti-heroes. One could argue that with its cast of monstrous characters and flamboyant yet true-to-life costumes and wig-work, the film’s mock documentary device was entirely unnecessary at achieving its desired laughs.

Yet while I saw the value of its method as a sort of short-hand directorial device used to wrangle the story’s many real life contradictions and he-said-she-said-he-said-she-said-he-said narrative, having watched Nanette Burstein’s sublime The Price of Gold, it comes off as actually just lazy...

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Link Trip

• Boy Culture took on a massive and fascinating project: A "brief" (haha) history of LGBTQ moments on television starting from TV's beginnings! (I Love Lucy might contain the first actual gay joke on TV... but things really pick up in the 1970s). It's a must-read if you care about these things
• The Grio Get Out takes four prizes at the AAFCAS while Girls Trip and Detroit both take home two
• Deadline reports on the Sci-Tech award where there was a an impassioned speech and a transgender winner
• IndieWire MoviePass is driving its subscriber base to Oscar-nominated movies

Lots more after the jump including Oscar news, Sarah Jessica Parker making headlines, Quentin Tarantino's response to Uma Thurman's story, and three memorable actors passing away...

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