Links: Banderas, Cho, Parsons, Jones, Holtzmann, and More

TV
Vulture provides an A-Z glossary of all of Stranger Things mad sci-fi referencing  from Alien (1979) toVideodrome (1983)
Comics Alliance American Gods, Bryan Fuller's adaptation of the Neil Gaiman book, gets its first logo and a promotional image 
EW Impromptu Smash reunion. Katharine McPhee invited Megan Hilty on stage with her Sunday night at a LA jazz club - and yes they sang Smash songs.

Movies
Playbill Fences sets its release date for December 16th
Antagony & Ecstasy looks back at His Girl Friday - the Rosalind Russell role was a male role in the source material.

The Root Leslie Jones of SNL & Ghostbusters fame was hounded by racists on twitter - they're feeling so bold these days thanks to the GOP -- fans rallied behind her
Salon "Free Jillian Holtzmann" on why Sony isn't saying that the most popular new Ghostbuster character is a lesbian
AV Club talks to John Cho about Star Trek, gay sulu, and Asian representation in cinema
The Guardian Antonio Banderas to play Gianni Versace in a biopic. The Versace estate is not pleased calling it "fiction" 
Coming Soon Fifty Shades Darker set photos
The Guardian on film franchises with the most episodes: Jungle Jim, Godzilla, and a few more
Awards Daily wonders if the political turmoil will turn the Oscars nostalgic rather than brave (see also 1968 Best Picture winner Oliver!) 
Towleroad Twenty year-old actor Ross Lynch is going from Disney Channel fame to serial killing? He'll play Jeffrey Dahmer, pre-murders, as a troubled teen in a new film.
Variety Sigourney Weaver will be honored for her career as this September's San Sebastian film festival 

...and Anton Yelchin's parents sent a beautiful message to friends and fans and the industry...

Beautiful. Anton Yelchin's parents thank Hollywood in ad @THR: 'Grateful for your unconditional love of our son' pic.twitter.com/01yn7owcL5

— Janice Min (@janicemin) July 18, 2016

Theater
Playbill Jake Gyllenhaal to headline the revival of Burn This. The original hit production in 87/88, which went from Off-Broadway to Broadway for a year-plus long run, won praise for Eric Roberts (Theater World award), John Malkovich (Drama Desk Nomination) and Joan Allen (Tony win)
NYT Estelle Parsons health scare prompts closing of her new play. Send healing vibes her way. She's a national treasure. If you haven't yet seen Season 2 of Grace & Frankie it closes beautifully with an arc about her guest starring role as "Babe," a larger than life friend of the pair who's throwing herself a big going away party. Parsons has done a lot of work on TV but weirdly despite being a highly esteemed actor with an Oscar win and 5 Tony nominations, she's never received an Emmy nomination. 

Miscellania
Huffington Post Jennifer Aniston tears into the media for their obsession with women's bodies and whether or not she's pregnant 
Wicked Gay Blog Dolly Parton working on a dance album with a track called "I'm a Wee Bit Gay" 
The New Yorker "Donald Trump's Ghostwriter Tells All" a harrowing profile 
Logo My Way hosted a contest to redesign the embarassing Trump Pence logo - Love some of these entries
Pajiba on the shitshow that was the RNC's first night with its plagiarized First Lady speech 

Lukewarm Off the Presses: Woolf, Winona, and La Pfeiffer

Things we forgot to talk about but it's never too late.

Do You Love She Loves Me?
Did any of you manage to catch the Broadway livestream of She Loves Me June 30th? It was the first ever of its kind though I've heard no details on how well it performed (i.e. if we'll see more of them). They've extended the availability to rent it until July 10th on Broadway HD. 

The Hours 2: The Return of Virginia Woof
Okay not really. Basically everybody committed suicide or got old in The Hours. But recently we got word that Virginia Woolf is coming back to the big screen  in the adaptation of the play Vita & Virginia which is about Woolf's friendship and affair with another female writer. The most delightful part of this news may be that the play and its screenplay adaptation were both written by the actress Dame Eileen Atkins who was in The Hours (she worked in the flower shop in the Streep section). No word on casting but allow me to have a brief fantasy about Nicole Kidman reprising her Oscar-winning role before we hear who got the plum gig. 

Winona is Back
Time Magazine recently published a solid interview with Winona Ryder on the eve of yet another comeback. This time via Stranger Things on Netflix. Of interest is a lengthy response when she's asked about the recent allegations against Johnny Depp. It's definitely the most levelheaded response we've read on any celebrity weighing in on the matter. But then we tend to like levelheaded responses and people who realize that they don't know what happened whatever their assumptions. That kind of response is almost impossible to find online from normal folks and it's also increasingly rare with celebrities.

But the best part of the interview was a question about the current nostalgia rage.

I get asked a lot, ‘What does it feel like to be a ’90s icon?’ And I’m like, ‘You think I sit around and think of myself like that?’ You can’t think about yourself in those ways, because who does that?

...I think because I started so young, I secretly wanted to be older all the time.

The interview is good but even better is that Stranger Things is getting really strong advanced buzz... especially for Winona herself who hasn't had anything work out that well for her showbiz-wise in aeons with the exception of that brief dark flash of Noni fever via her bit part in Oscar favorite Black Swan (2010).

Finally in confusing rumor alerts...
I don't normally share rumors (the internet is way too hung up on speculation when dialogue about things that actually exist is way more healthy/substantial) but I can't let this go without a mention. Remember the news that Jennifer Lawrence's Darren Aronofsky picture (working title Day 6) would co-star Javier Bardem, Domhnall Gleeson, and Michelle Pfeiffer? The story's logline is:

A couple whose relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.

Most of the speculation on the internet was that Michelle Pfeiffer was playing Jennifer Lawrence's mother which seemed like a leap in logic -- why would they be related given that logline? A new rumor recently sprung up that the film would be titled Mother. Pass the fainting salts could this mean Pfeiffer was the actual lead -- but no, then that rumor was debunked by Paramount. It's all very confusing and typical internet (shut up everyone!) but any news of a Pfeiffer movie actually making it into production without her bolting is thrilling. And we are apparently getting three of them in relatively short succession, which all sound way more promising than that misfire The Family (2013) which was her last time before cameras. Two are already filmed - HBO's Wizard of Lies, and the indie drama Beat-Up Little Seagull (both due later this year though specific dates aren't announced) and Day 6 the following year unless she bolts from the set mid-production.