Magic Mike's Last Link

• Stabroek News "Not a King but a Queenmaker" interesting take on King Richard
• Thrillist Esther Zuckerman talks to Paul Thomas Anderson about shooting a key scene in Licorice Pizza inside her childhood home
• Deadline Penelope Cruz teaming with Pedro's production company for a four-part documentary series on the global problem of child marriages
• Vulture on that impossible tracking shot in The French Dispatch
• InStyle Rita Moreno looks back on her career before hitting the big 9-0

More after the jump including Zendaya, Sondheim and New York City, C'mon C'mon, and the return of Magic Mike... 

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Streaming Roulette, Oct: The Manor, Black Widow, 'Just a Girl' and more...

New month and a... oops, we're approaching the halfway mark. How did that happen? It's past time for another round of Streaming Roulette where we point out a handful or two of random titles that are streaming and just for fun, freeze frame them at totally random places in the scroll bar...

I brought a little something to get the party started...

THE MANOR on Prime
Barbara Hershey stars in this new horror film about a woman convinced that residents of a nursing home are being killed. Bruce Davison co-stars so you get two 1990s Oscar nominees in this new film from a director named Axelle Carolyn...

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Oscar Charts: Will we have a "double" again in Best Supporting Actress?

by Nathaniel R

Ann Dowd and Martha Plimpton star in "Mass"

We may have gotten a little carried away with wishful thinking in (some) of our Supporting Actress chart building this time around. You see, so many actresses we love that have never or only once been in the Oscar race have what sound like amazing parts this year. But it's early enough in the year that optimistic guesses are as good as pessimistic guesses. At least that's true in the supporting categories where less is usually known this early about the roles themselves.

But what we found most interesting while thinking through the first predictions of the year was how many films have the potential for a double nomination in Best Supporting Actress...

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And the Best Presenter Oscar goes to... Rita Moreno (with a peak at West Side Story)

Nathaniel R

In the matter of one of the "smaller awards" (haha) like Best Picture, the Oscars chose to go very big and noteworthy indeed. Screen star and EGOT legend Rita Moreno (whose classics include The King and I, Singin' in the Rain, West Side Story, and Carnal Knowledge... though Hollywood obviously never did right by her denying her the lead roles she clearly would have aced) did the honors. She was a perfect choice both for her all-generations appeal, and her estimable comic gift. In introducing the Best Picture category she memorably joked that the most important award was "Best Supporting Actress" and her winning role came in a movie that won some other 'smaller awards,' too. She remains a reliable energetic funny delight at 89. Sadly, this great great moment didn't come at the end of the broadcast (argh!) but a couple of prizes too early. To understand how big a deal it is that Rita Moreno presented you have to also understand the history a bit...  

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What went right and what went wrong at the 93rd Oscars.

by Nathaniel R

Which Steven Soderbergh film begins with a ton of promise before getting bogged down in the middle due to its relentless seriouness? Which of his films comes chaotically lurching back to messy life near the climax but still can't stick to the landing? I don't have an answer for this question except to say "The 93rd Academy Awards if it counts!"  And should it?

The Soderbergh produced ceremony made good on its intentions to not be like every other Oscar ceremony. Not that that was ever in doubt given the worldwide pandemic that put such a dampening slog on awards season (among other admittedly more serious effects). More satisfying than the arbitrary changes in presentation or category order -- thrilling even -- was the pre-show buzz that this would feel more like a movie which the "opening scene" bore out...

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