All That Link

• A24 virtual two week engagment of Minari starts 2/12. Tickets now on sale!
• Vanity Fair's awesome annual Oscar special -- you'll remember I wrote a piece on Parasite last year for it! -- is arriving for subscribers. The cover story on Chadwick Boseman is available now even if you don't subscribe
• HuffPost on Michelle Pfeiffer's underrated skill as a comic actress
• AV Club a review of Mark Harris' new film biography book Mike Nichols A Life

More after the jump including Britney Spears, Pleasure, Olivia Newton-John, Borderlands, and still more showbiz obituaries (what is happening lately?)

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Christopher Plummer (1929-2021)

by Nathaniel R

I thought Christopher Plummer would never die. Which is to say, I thought he wouldn't die for a long time yet. The last act of his career, running roughly from the one-two punch of his second Tony win in Barrymore (1997) and his much-praised Oscar-snubbed Mike Wallace in The Insider (1999) through his mischievously pleasing star turn as Harlam Thrombley the manipulative patriarch in the surprise hit Knives Out (2019), was like a gauntlet thrown down; dare to imagine the movies without me!

We'd rather not, thank you very much. But now we sadly must with the actor's death at 91 years of age...

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Hal Holbrook (1925-2021)

by Nathaniel R

Do you occassionally think of Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild (2007) and just tear up? It's a common completely understandable affliction! Here's another reason to tear up. The Oscar nominated and Emmy and Tony-winning actor passed away just a few weeks shy of his 96th birthday. (He actually died before Cloris Leachman and Cicely Tyson but the news has only recently arrived; we lost three beloved acting legends in just a five-day stretch). Holbrook had become a widower 11 years ago when his wife of 26 years, Dixie Carter (Designing Women) passed away.

But what a long life and enduring career this man had. Born and raised in Ohio, a project in college (still in Ohio) led him to his greatest role:  Mark Twain. He first played the famous writer/wit when he was in his twenties and began developing his famous solo show Hal Holbrook: Mark Twain Tonight! by the age of 30. What's your favourite Holbrook performance? Twain and a dozen other key roles are after the jump... 

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Goodbye, Cicely Tyson (1924-2021)

by Cláudio Alves

Cicely Tyson, who died earlier this afternoon at the age of 96, was one of a kind. "Legend" doesn't even come close to describing her grandiose wonder, her legacy, her impact. No words I can scrounge up are enough to summarize the greatness of this model turned acting sensation, icon, pioneer. Her career spanned more than half a century and Tyson made sure to leave her mark on the big and on the small screen, on stage too, earning countless golden accolades, much-deserved acclaim, and the adoration of millions across generations.

She was an inspiration to many, a woman who made sure to immortalize and celebrate Black History in her roles and embody Black excellence in her exquisite craft. I still remember the first time I ever saw her…

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Cloris Leachman, "The Actress"

We're still thinking about Cloris Leachman (RIP) and we are thrilled to have been pointed at one of her Emmy wins last night (thanks StinkyLulu!) that we hadn't seen. Her fifth (of eight) Emmy wins came in the now defunct category of "Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program" The occassion was the Screen Actors Guild 50th Anniversary Celebration in 1984 and Cloris performs a mini-musical/play called "The Actress". It is very much worth your 10 minutes...

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