Have Link Will Travel

New York Times on Paul Thomas Anderson's secretive new movie The Master. It's about... something.
MNPP Charlize Theron and Alexander Skarsgård are dating? The Mayans were right about 2012 
Your Movie Buddy interviews The Hunter's storied leading man Willem Dafoe 
Draw Adrian Draw isn't happy about Anne Hathaway as Catwoman but is sketching her anyway
Michael Musto "who's your favorite Taylor?" fun question except there's only one appropriate answer. La Liz! Not that I don't appreciate Taylor Mac...

The Incredible Suit unexpectedly loves The Avengers ... even the Hulk part.
Awards Daily Sasha Stone loves HBO's Girls and Lena Dunham in particular
Stale Popcorn meet the Cannes class of 2012. Serious Thespians (lol) 
Flavorwire always finds interesting things. Did you know that crazy auteur Werner Herzog didn't realize that crazy auteur John Waters was gay for 30+ years. lol
Gold Derby who will Laura Dern (Enlightened) knock out of the Emmy Best Comedy Actress race this season? 

Today's Most Oscary Discussable:
Stranger Than Most looks at the oddest Best Picture snubs of all time. i.e. films that were nominated in the always Best Picture related fields (Dir+ Editing + Screenplay + Acting) and still missed out. Incidentally I love every single one of the "top five" that weren't actually top five (They Shoot Horses Don't They, Hud, Thelma & Louise, Bullets Over Broadway, and My Man Godfrey)  Like crazy 'would run away with them for lost sex-weekend' kind of love. That's how much!

Hud (1963), for example, is a movie I continuously feel guilty about not forcing upon people at every opportunity -- we should totes do it for "Hit Me" but I keep forgetting to put it in the schedule. It's just a freaking masterpiece. And it's weirdly underdiscussed given how many of Paul Newman's films endured.

House at the End of the Link

Untapped New York "My Day as a Paparazzo" how New Yorkers react to celebrity sightings and how it changes when the paparazzi are involved.
Roger Ebert remembers Diary of a Lost Girl one of my very favorite silents starring Louise Brooks.
Geekscape wonders what The Avengers might have looked like had it been made in the 1980s. Michael Biehn for Steve Rogers and Cary Elwes for Tony Stark? I could deal.
Stranger Than Most names the laziest tagline ever. Oh Safe House. Try harder!

In Contention Julian Fellowes to right Cameron's wrong on Titanic. Oh dear. Fellowes has let Downton Abbey go to his head. Aint nothing wrong with Titanic (1997) that isn't so wrong it's right.
Deja View remembers an animated bit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Awards Daily new images from Woody Allen's To Rome With Love. How many title-changes has this one gone through now? 
Animation Mag here's a fun one for Los Angeles based readers. There will be special one-off screenings of Snow White and The Seven Dwarves (1938) and  20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre next month.
Rope of Silicon first image of Jennifer Lawrence in House at the End of the Street. Elisabeth Shue co-stars (yay!) 
Vulture Star Market Jennifer Lawrence 

And speaking of... yeah yeah we'll talk about Hunger Games soon. My review will be up Sunday at some point. Stay tuned.

click to remember this house

Link Is My Signature Color

Wired an archery coach examines Hawkeye's form in The Avengers. Is Jeremy Renner the world's worst archer?
The Wrap Will Hunger Games make Lionsgate a major studio player finally?
Cinema Blend Bruce Willis plays the older version of Joseph Gordon Levitt in the time travel drama Looper. How to make JGL look more like Bruce since they look nothing alike?
Company Town Disney expects $200 million loss on John Carter. Ouch. 

Lawsuits R Us
Little White Lies a pub in Southhampton has apparently been going by the name of The Hobbit for two decades. Hollywood is suing for copyright infringement.
LA Times Finally have you been following this dramatic "wrongful termination" lawsuit from Desperate Housewives? I haven't because I keep wishing the show itself would be terminated. Apparently jurors were so deadlocked over Nicolette Sheridan's claims that a mistrial was called after four days of deliberations. Most of the juror's sided with Sheridan who claimed her suicide death on the show was retaliation from the creator. How long till they make a TV movie of the trial? The actresses should play themselves. At least it'll get Sheridan some work. I grew up watching her on Knot's Landing so I have a soft spot for her rather hard beauty.

Steel Magnolias Redux
And have you heard that Lifetime has announced casting for the Steel Magnolias remake for television? Remember when we tried casting that right here? The all black version will star Queen Latifah as M'Lynn, Phylicia Rashad as Clairee, Alfre Woodard as Ouiser, Jill Scott as Truvy, Condola Rashad as Shelby and Adepere Oduye (who we got so excited about in Pariah) as Annelle.

Which of those do-overs excites you most? Or is the very idea sacriligeous to you, replacing Sally, Olympia, Shirley, Dolly, Julia and Daryl? 

The Link is Doomed

How Are You I'm Fine Thanks has an adorkable crush on Hawkeye from The Avengers but thinks he's going to get Jossed. Yeah, he's evil that way.
Coming Soon Yep, Barbra Streisand is still trying to get Gypsy remade. They've now hired Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park, Downton Abbey) for the screenplay.
Salon hung with Peyman Moadi (A Separation) during his Oscar trip and recounts all the star meetings (Streep, Pitt, etcetera). Note: Salon spells it Payman Maadi.
In Contention Viola Davis settling into leading-lady status. Will she avoid Angela Bassett's fate?

Rope of Silicon listens to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo audio commentary. I love that David Fincher talks about Scotty the cat! The best part of a movie is always the cat...if it has anything to work with, that is.
24 Frames examines the reasons John Carter may have failed and one of them -- too complex for the Transformers crowd -- is way too depressing for me. Yikes.
Stale Popcorn makes a case for the beaten-down Best Original Song category.
My New Plaid Pants smacks our face with "Moments of Awesomeness" in the Golden Trouser awards
Wow Report "my theory about Elizabeth Banks and this dress"
MUBI the SXSW winners

Must Read!
Pajiba our friend Joanna who you've met on a few episodes of "red carpet lineup" right here shares 115 reasons to love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The show just celebrated it's 15th anniversary. Can you believe it?.

I loved this visual countdown so much I almost read it twice in a row. Let me know your favorites of her 115.

Must Vote!
Vanity Fair is hosting a "sexiest animated character" March Madness bracket (i keep wanting to do a tournament and I never settle on one topic. grrrr). You need to go and vote because clearly people are voting not on sexiness but just on which movie they like. I'm sorry but how is Belle (Beauty & The Beast) sexier than Pocahontas (Pocahontas) even if her movie is way better!

Must Watch!
It's only 11 days until MAD MEN returns! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE... it's the only show post-Buffy that we've ever obsessed over as much. Can't wait to see which movies they'll reference this year... and which year they're even in for that matter.

Burning Questions: Are Franchises Hogging All The Talent?

Michael C. here. 

I'm feeling left out because I couldn't share in the excitement over the Avengers teaser which played during the Super Bowl Sunday night. In fact, if I’m being honest, it bummed me out. I never want to be that guy yelling, “Sell out!” when the performer I love hits the big time, but seeing the likes of Downey, Ruffalo, and Renner headlining the comics franchise to top all comics franchises, it’s hard to get pumped about how kick-ass it’s all going to be when all I can think about are the more interesting films these guys passed over to shoot this one.

Now I have no intention of dismissing a movie before it’s released, or to turn up my nose at big budget blockbusters. A franchise with Joss Whedon at the helm is a great bet to have the intelligence and wit the genre so often lacks. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to ask:

Are franchise films monopolizing the talent?

Take the case of Mr. Renner. It feels like no sooner had we been given a taste of just what he was capable of then he was carted off to shoulder no less than three major franchises – Mission Impossible, Avengers and Bourne. On top of which, he dropped out of his most promising project, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master. I don’t deny that all those films have the potential to be good or even great entertainments, but let’s be honest here. It is a rare role in such a mass appeal product that is not broadly simplified with any rough edges sanded off. We are going to be waiting a long time before we get to see Renner tackle another role as riveting as Sgt. William James. 

When will Renner ever do a non-franchise drama again?

MORE AFTER THE JUMP

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