Podcast: My Cousin Wonder Woman, The Beguiled

Well, that was quite a hiatus. The podcast is back though we might be a bit slow to rev up to weekly again and please excuse all our airconditioners and fans running in the background. We're melting here in NYC.

In this episode Nathaniel reunites with Joe and Nick to catch up and talk five newish movies.

Index (40 minutes)
00:01 "What's this lady for?" (Part 1)
02:20 The Beguiled
08:25 My Cousin Rachel
13:50 Wonder Woman
29:30 Beatriz at Dinner
33:30 It Comes at Night (*spoilers*)
37:45 "What's this lady for?" (Part 2)

Best Question I've ever been asked by a 3 1/2 year-old: "What's this lady for?" Where to even begin? #nicolekidman #babysitting #guncle

A post shared by Nathaniel R (@nathaniel_tfe) on Jun 24, 2017 at 9:14pm PDT

 

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. 

Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

My Cousin Wonder Woman

Q&A: "Strong Female Characters" and Future AFI Honors

Okay last round of reader questions before we have to ask for a new batch. These are culled from the last "Ask Nathaniel" column as well as the open thread. Let's talk Wonder Woman and Oscar, "Strong Roles for Women," and more.

MARIE: Who are the next 3 women that should win the AFI Life Achievement Award?

NATHANIEL: A timely question since Diane Keaton just won hers. But I had to look back at who has previously been nominated to come up with an answer. Living female winners number only five: Diane Keaton (2017), Jane Fonda (2014), Shirley Maclaine (2012), Meryl Streep (2004), and Barbra Streisand (2000) with the other twelve winners in this new century being men (both actors and directors have won). It's actually a tough question because they have to be alive and *really* famous to get this honor and also elderly (though Streep was young for this honor taking it when she was 54ish I think). They also have to be American (for the most part) so I looked only at people who are almost 60 or older and this is what I came up with...

 

I would probably choose from among these five next:

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Wonder Winner

Congrat to "catbaskets" who won the Wonder Woman jacket contest! The hoodie (pictured left) will be on its way to you shortly, Cat. If you didn't win or if you missed the original post, check out Film Jackets for lots of hoodies and tees you can own.

I asked readers interested in their own Wonder Woman hoodie to send me a brief note on what they love most about either the new Wonder Woman or Wonder Woman in general, so let's share a few of the comments from contest entries after the jump, shall we...

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Top Ten: Best Moments in "Wonder Woman"

by Nathaniel R

I've spent a bit of time this summer reconnecting with friends, many of whom are only casual moviegoers rather than cinephiles. Everyone has wanted to see or been talking about Wonder Woman. I think it's fair to say, after a second viewing and hearing similar enthusiasms repeated again and again, that it's a better cultural object than a  movie. It's shocking to realize that there just aren't any movies like it even though it's not very original. That's proof that a little (big) thing like a female lead and a female director can make an enormous difference. While the cinema has given us many strong female icons (to pretend otherwise, as some voices seem to be doing, is to be supremely ungenerous to the artform and/or to reveal either one's extreme ignorance of movies made prior to, say, 2004 or a very limited taste in film genres).

But, yes, the superhero genre has been shockingly non-representative of the real world where women make up half of all humanity. Nevertheless you can't be a great cultural object as a movie without having some true pizazz as a film so let's give Wonder Woman its due after the jump...

TEN BEST MOMENTS IN WONDER WOMAN

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Emmy FYC: Aubrey Plaza's multiplicity in "Legion"

We're sharing our dream Emmy nominations as balloting is in progress. Here's Ben Miller...

TV creator Noah Hawley broke onto the scene quickly with the first season of Fargo.  After delivering a stellar superior second season, he was given the freedom to develop whatever he wanted at FX.  Born from that freedom was Legion.  Borrowing from its X-Men source material, Legion crafted its own little niche in prestige television.  No other series, save The Leftovers, was weirder and more divisive in its execution. 

Legion follows David (Dan Stevens), a mutant with telepathic abilities stuck in an insane asylum who finds love and conspiracy as he discovers he might (or might not) be insane.  His best friend in the asylum is Lenny, played by Aubrey Plaza.  Following a series of mind-bending events, Lenny is killed.  This isn’t much of a spoiler as it happens in the first episode.

After Lenny dies, Plaza comes to life...

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