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Tim Brayton here again. With the cinephile world still reeling from the passing of irreplaceable film critic Roger Ebert a few days before, and The Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher’s death the same day sucking up every available scrap of oxygen in the news cycle, the loss of Annette Funicello on 4 April to the MS that had forced her into retirement over two decades ago was generally reported as a sort of afterthought. A sad thing, but not remotely surprising, and not of particular importance in the grand scheme of things.
While it is true that Funicello’s death doesn’t represent the end of an epoch in quite the same as Ebert’s, it’s still worth stopping and reflecting on her career and what it represents.
It's been ages since I had a moment for a link & news roundup so here you go. If you've already read some of these I apologize for my tardiness. If not, enjoy them.
Big Screen Huffington Post I have to give Peggy Siegal's Oscar Diary pride of place because if you haven't yet read it -- it debuted a few days ago -- you must. Peggy is fabulous and after which movie stars show at her parties here in NYC the thing I'm always most intrigued to see is what she'll be wearing. MovieLine a sequel to The Host is now more than a little unlikely and it won't be the next Twilight. That's OK because we didn't want Saoirse tied up with a franchise for aeons. NPR Saoirse Ronan loves Clueless. See, she's just a regular teenager. (as if!)
Encore's World a fun appreciation of Anne Baxter in The Ten Commandments In Contention rule changes for the documentaries at the Oscars MNPP Gregory Peck Or... His Grandson? Deadline Sally Hawkins joins the cast of Godzilla in an apparently big role. /Film ...reports the same news but oddly calls Sally Hawkins an Oscar Nominee. IF ONLY! Cinema Blend and a million other sites are breathlessly excited about the photo of Beast that Bryan Singer tweeted for X-Men Days of Future Past. Everyone is all "which actor is it????" but it seems pretty clear to me that that's a concept drawing and not Kelsey Grammar or Nicolas Hoult. Nerd Approved Disney Princesses as Sith Lords? Guardian can Josh Trank (Chronicle) save Fox's Fantastic Four franchise? Empire Allison Janney may play Melissa McCarthy's mom in the comedy Tammy
Miscellania /Film alerted us to this Prada Candy commercial from Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola.
It's always nice to see Léa Seydoux -- love the shot of her munching on popcorn so cheekily -- and for directors to have a little fun paying homage to the classics. In this case that's Jules et Jim. i09 the 20 most epic beards and moustaches in the multiverse... a fun list given that hairy Game of Thrones has returned Gawker "what the hell is going on with Amanda Bynes: A treatise"
Small Screen PopWatch who will replace Matt Lauer and what was his television crime? Great piece by Mark Harris Variety TV's Hannibal didn't take much of a bite out of the ratings. But time will tell whether the latest movie to series effort becomes a hit. E.T. Teen Wolf Season 3 Details. No Colton Hayne? Uproxx Elisabeth Moss plays "fuck, marry, kill" with the men of Sterling Cooper and makes the correct choices with those Mad Men
Ebert RIPs Movie City News David Poland remembers his friends hosting passion and group nights out at Ebertfest Press Play has a video tribute to Siskel & Ebert's sparring chemistry
I am devastated by the loss of my love, Roger -- my husband, my friend, my confidante and oh-so-brilliant partner of over 20 years. He fought a courageous fight. I've lost the love of my life and the world has lost a visionary and a creative and generous spirit who touched so many people all over the world. We had a lovely, lovely life together, more beautiful and epic than a movie. It had its highs and the lows, but was always experienced with good humor, grace and a deep abiding love for each other."
I love that line "more beautiful and epic than a movie" because I've always been curious what it was like for Chaz to be married to the movies; Roger Ebert had to have been a package deal since he was so synonymous with the cinema.
Hard to put into words exactly how much this means to the film community in general. Suffice it to say, one of the great film critics, one of the kindest, most influential, most humane since the birth of cinema is going to be deeply, deeply missed.
Please share in the comments any thoughts or feelings or memories you may have about his writings, his musings, his blogs, his bantering with Siskel and/or Roeper.
The Guilds Have Spoken! Or rather, they're beginning to speak. We've just heard from the producers and now the art directors. This time AMPAS will cut the guilds off mid-sentence since Oscar nominations are but a week away. But here are the nominations from the Art Directors Guild which includes production designers, art directors and set decorators. Production Designers are the bosses of this field and when it comes to Oscar only the production designers and set decorators and not the art directors share the Oscar nominations which is why it's a bit odd that it's always called "Art Direction" but AMPAS has finally changed the name of the category so it'll now be 'Production Design'
Anna Karenina may be dressed for grief but her bedroom sure is lusty.
Expect that the five nominated films for Oscar will be (mostly) culled from these three groups. And obviously, given that Oscar is Oscar and "Best" = "Most" the bulk of the eventual Oscar shortlist will come from Period & Fantasy. TFE's favorite thing about the guild awards is that you can see what the craftsmen and women like best in contemporary work... which sadly rarely goes on to Oscar glory despite being difficult and creatively challenging in its own right.
Some notes on their nominees... and their nominee's past filmography glories after the jump
As you've undoubtedly heard, director Tony Scott, youngest brother of Ridley, died Sunday after throwing himself off a bridge at the age of 68 just two years after his latest huge hit (Unstoppable). The internet was awash with morbid rumors about why (an inoperable brain cancer diagnosis chief among them) but when it comes to private struggles of the soul, you never can expect to know so we stick to the facts. Facts: A lot of people saw and liked his movies; His feature career as a director spanned from 1971's Loving Memory (not the type of movie you'd associate with his filmmaking persona) through 2010's Unstoppable (exactly the type of you'd associate with his filmmaking persona).
Tony Scott with his preferred leading man Denzel Washington. They made five films together.
Somewhere along the line I decided I wasn't interested in him as a filmmaker but not every filmmaker is for ever moviegoer (nor should they be). My disinterest was partially spurred on by a me-imposed sibling rivalry with his older brother Ridley Scott -- rather silly since Ridley and Tony worked together often and no love was ever lost. But Ridley already had two indisputable classics under his belt (Alien and Blade Runner) by the time Tony Scott was making his Hollywood debut so the die was cast. If Tony had continued making movies like The Hunger chances are I would never have tuned him out but his bread and butter... in fact his entire diet... was the kinetic multiplex-ready A list male-driven shoot em up. Not enough actresses! But looking back through his filmography brought back more memories than I expected.
How many Tony Scott pictures have you seen?
Loving Memory (1971) | The Hunger (1983) | Top Gun (1986)
The Hunger is the Scott films I've seen the most often, a favorite of my best friend's and thus in regular rotation on VHS for the first decade of its life. Bonus Points: Deneuve & Sarandon making sexploitative vampire love long before True Blood repopularized vampires as sex gods....er, devils. It was also impossible to live through the 1980s without absorbing Top Gun into your very pores (my oldest brother loved it).
Thursday, April 11, 2013 at 7:49PM 
Tim Brayton here again. With the cinephile world still reeling from the passing of irreplaceable film critic Roger Ebert a few days before, and The Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher’s death the same day sucking up every available scrap of oxygen in the news cycle, the loss of Annette Funicello on 4 April to the MS that had forced her into retirement over two decades ago was generally reported as a sort of afterthought. A sad thing, but not remotely surprising, and not of particular importance in the grand scheme of things.
