Wish You Were Linked

Pajiba on the staggering popularity of Adam Sandler movies on Netflix
EW super cute unseen photos from the production of La La Land (it's on DVD very soon)
THR a Richard Gere profile on the new indie phase of his career and why he isn't in the big studio pictures anymore
i09 a tour of Marvel Studios with peeks at all six movies in various stages of production
The Guardian on the making of the wonderful British comedy Wish You Were Here (1987) for its 30th anniversary. God, Emily Lloyd was sensational in that. Remember her? The '87 Oscar Actress lineup was special but I still missed her there.

Tracking Board Bill Condon who did the James Whale biopic Gods and Monsters is in talks to direct Universal's remake of Whale's Bride of Frankenstein. Shouldn't he feel queasy about this as a fan? 
Awards Daily on the TV Drama Series Actress race. Will it be Claire Foy, Keri Russell, or...? 
Variety Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will feature five, yes five post-credit scenes. Are we really still counting these in the running time? It's probably time to acknowledge them for what they are: commercials. 
The Guardian they're still planning a sequel to Labyrinth (1986)? What is the point? (sigh) 
Coming Soon. Is King Kong in the public domain all of a sudden or something. Hot on the heels of Kong Skull Island there's an unrelated TV series in the works on the big ape and his home island
Coming Soon Taraji P Henson is now trying her hand as an action lead. Proud Mary about a hitwoman with a job gone wrong is now filming 

Theatahhh People
Theater Mania Tony/Oscar winner Kevin Spacey will host the Tony Awards, claiming he was "their 15th choice"
Playbill Sutton Foster is a new mom!
Playbill The complete cast recording of Groundhog Day starring Andy Karl (Rocky, Twentieth Century). He's headed for another Tony nod for sure. I attended opening night and he was terrific. I wish I got invited to more opening nights because it was jampacked w/ celebs: Anna Wintour, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kate Burton, Hope Davis, lots of people I half recognized (as my friend StinkyLulu who I went with would say "30% famous")... and in my row Christian Slater! 
Broadway Blog If you're near St Louis, you should check out The Tennessee Williams Festival May 3rd-7th. It sounds amazing 

I'm so glad we had this link together

Decider Joe Reid on the repetitive lie that Oscar shuns popular movies
Interview shared a Winona Ryder interview from 1990. I can't tell you how formative this was for me. I had the photoshoot plastered all over my bedroom. I was obsessed with her quotables.
Playbill Broadway aimed Moulin Rouge! will be trying to cast its Satine (!!!), or at least a temporary Satine for readings and such, on February 17th at an Equity-only audition
MNPP Great Moments in Movie Shelves visits The Royal Tenenbaums game closet 
AV Club IMDb is shutting down its message boards 

 

Deadline file this under "it's about time" - Sarah Paulson is finally getting lead roles in features! She'll headline Lost Girls, a serial killer drama in which she plays a mother searching for her daughter
i09 revisits Suspiria before the remake by Luca Guadagnino
The Guardian we need to be listening to Middle Eastern cinema right now 
Variety Leslie Mann and John Cho to host this year's Sci-Tech awards for the Academy 
Tracking Board Whoa. Carol Burnett, who is 83, might be coming back with a new sitcom. Come on Octogenarians! (See also: Rita Moreno, who is 85 and great on One Day at a Time)
Variety Oh, this is so sad. Sunday in the Park with George won't be eligible for the Tonys so no Jake Gyllenhaal for Best Actor despite the raves 
Boy Culture Patrick Wilson didnt get paid for this advertisement
Variety The Weinstein Co will distribute a new Diane Keaton / Brendan Gleeson drama Hampstead from the director of Last Chance Harvey
The Guardian "why I love Emma Stone" 

Jessica's Long Journey to that Triple Crown

With only three performances remaining in Broadway's Long Day's Journey Into Night which closes this Sunday, here's Eric to talk Jessica Lange's long and awards-full career.

Jessica Lange recently became the 22nd actor to complete the official Triple Crown of Acting (performers who have won competitive Oscar, Tony, and Emmy Awards - full list prior to Jessica).  It’s an exciting moment in time, as winning the big three isn’t easy. 

Ten of her Triple Crown peers are still alive and all working to one degree or another:  Rita Moreno, Jeremy Irons, Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith, Al Pacino, Geoffrey Rush, Ellen Burstyn, Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren, and Frances McDormand.  All of these actors have had decades-long success and still get enough offers for splashy roles that it’s not inconceivable that almost any of them could win another late-career major award.

As it stands, of all the 22 current Triple Crown winners, nobody has amassed more than six total competitive awards across the three fields of film, television, and theater.  The folks with six are Ingrid Bergman (3 Oscars, 2 Emmys; 1 Tony); Shirley Booth (1 Oscar, 2 Emmys, 3 Tonys); Maggie Smith (2 Oscars, 3 Emmys, 1 Tony); Helen Mirren (1 Oscar, 4 Emmys, 1 Tony), and now Jessica Lange (2 Oscars, 3 Emmys, 1 Tony like Dame Maggie).  At this point, Mirren and Lange, only three years apart (they’re 70 and 67, respectively) would break this (granted silly) awards record if they were to win one more of the Big Three prizes.   

Now, on to Jessica's own 'Long Journey' to this triumph...

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Keep your Swiddlestons and Hiddleswifts...

Despite whichever exotic beach you may find yourself on, it’s simply impossible for anything remotely I Saw The Light-adjacent to win the crown for hottest celeb couple snapshot this week. Compare yourself to Rose Byrne – studio comedy’s reigning queen of deadpan and broad gesture alike – and her hammy man Bobby Cannavale, exuding effortless shimmer at Sunday’s Tony Awards, and you can’t help but look like someone’s demented aunts on vacation – no matter who you are. Behold.

A Post-Script Thank You for Broadway's Diversity

I'm finally seeing Hamilton tonight so allow me this theater diversion before we get back to the Emmys and summer movies!

Though the Tony Awards were celebrated for their diversity Sunday night, I knew this sort of thing would crop up afterwards. A site called The Conversation wonders if the diversity of Broadway is overstated. It's an interesting piece with valuable stats even if it seems odd to pursue that impulse in such a strong year for theatrical diversity. Leading up to the Tony Awards I saw a few other articles suggesting that Hamilton was distorting the public perspective about this as well. It's true that Shuffle Along, Hamilton, The Color Purple, and Eclipsed, all nominated popular shows featuring all black casts (and in Hamilton's case latina, black, and asian actors), happened to fall in the same season which is not entirely usual. And, as with cinema, we still have the issue of people thinking of diversity in a binary way (black & white) which is a problem.

But before we give in to negative thoughts (wayyyy too easy), let's give Broadway its due. It is far more diverse than other showbiz mediums and not just this season. Let's take Best Actress in a Play/Musical as an example. One leading actress winner in the 89 year history of the Oscars has been a woman of color - Halle Berry in Monster's Ball (2001) and three leading actress winners in the 67 year history of the Emmys (regular series awards): Viola Davis in How To Get Away with Murder (drama), Isabel Sanford for The Jeffersons (comedy) and America Ferrera in Ugly Betty (comedy).

more after the jump...

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