The Scarlet Linker

Hollywood Reporter on the highlights from the Gotham Awards. Patton Oswalt and Elizabeth Olsen were apparently big hits.
Tom Shone Best Performances of 2011. Love this fluid quick take annual feature.
I Need My Fix Is Christopher Meloni joining True Blood for Season Five? Could that show possibly contain yet more explosive sexiness?
GQ interviews director Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows) and yes he actually talks about Madonna and the divorce.... which...
Lainey Gossip has an interesting take on what he means when he says "I'm glad I made money" in the interview with which I would totally agree if that's what I was sure he meant. But it seems highly interpretable to me. Maybe that's not what he meant at all. 
Stale Popcorn Glenn speaks out on Meryl Streep's anti-auteur tendencies and what's going on with the quest for that third Oscar. Good piece.

Coming Soon Lizard concept art from The Amazing Spider-Man 
Alt Screen get yourself to Film Forum over the next two months and bone up on the silent film masterpieces they're showing.
Liz Smith shares a funny e-mail from showbiz widow Tita Cahn about J. Edgar.

Worst line ever spoken between two men in a movie -  'will you be my number two?' "

Hee. That's just one piece of it.

Telegraph TFE friend Tim Robey pays tribute to the one and only Ken Russell, remembering their last encounter at a screening of The Devils. 
Perez Hilton Wow. Apparently Meryl Streep donated her Iron Lady salary to the National Women's History Museum
Movielicious offers up this poster comparison, Zhang Yimou's The Flowers of War (which I'm not hearing good things about) and Angelina Jolie's In the Land of Blood and Honey (which I am).

Hmmmm... 

My New Plaid Pants Have you heard about this reboot of The Munsters. I'm trusting JA to keep me informed as he's knowledgable on all things Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls) one of the best and most idiosyncratic TV minds out there.
MTV Charlize Theron's 2011 Tour of Comedic Movie Star Amazement continues whilst discussing Snow White and the Hunstman.

I haven't really worked with [Kristen]. I've done some small things with her, but we're about to shoot our big showdown, and fingers crossed for me. It's the big battle. I'm just really, really, really hoping I get to kill her. That is how the story ends up, right?"

[For more on her awesome Tour of Tours check out the Actress Roundtable post and the DGA screening of Young Adult.]

Finally...

 Movie|Line has a great interactive Shame map. You can follow Brandon's ritual around the city. It beats an expensive trip to the Museum of Sex here in NYC. 

True Blood Finale (Plus: Season 4 Awards!)

The final episode of True Blood's witchy season four had a cleft heart, one half beating only for past glories (i.e. Season 4 ... or even earlier seasons if their name is "Bill") and the other half beating for an imagined future (Season 5 if you'd like to get cynical about it). You could just about divide the sprawling cast down the center as to which half they belonged to, some characters hanging on to the past either tearfully, fearfully or violently (Marnie, Eric, Bill, Debbie, Hoyt, Arlene, Pam), others ready to forge ahead and move on with varying degrees of optimism, fear, and willpower (Sookie, Jessica, Jason, Tara, Sam, Holly & Andy). It's the very drama that infuses the episode's opening conversation with Jesus & Lafayette. Isn't that always the drama of the heart? 

Jesus and Lafayette (who is actually Marnie!) over breakfast eggs.

4.12 "And When I Die"
Not that True Blood thrives on "the universal". Most of us don't have to worry about malevolent spirits possessing our lovers, stabbing our hands over breakfast, duct-taping us to our chairs, and stealing our demon-headed magic while thrusting a butcher knife into our heart. But maybe Jesus, familiar with both violence-prone spirits and demon-headed Crazy, should've worried himself towards protection spells or some such! Goodbye Jesus (2010-2011) we hardly knew you. Goodbye Kevin Alejandro, go-to guy for "regular cast" killings (see also: Southland).

True Blood's season finale had a cleft heart but its body was divvied up into smaller pieces, drawn and quartered one might say.

If that sounds torturous, it definitely was... at least for the characters. And maybe some audiences members who wanted a more cohesive finale. More after the jump, plus best & worst of the season.

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True Blood 4.11 "Soul of Fire"

The penultimate episode of Season four played just like a Season Finale with nearly every storyline reaching conclusion. Or at least like one of those season finales that precedes a haunted stand-alone episode. I'm thinking of Buffy's Season 4 two-fer "Primeval" and "Restless" where all the story threads are sewn up but then the heroine begins to fray in mysterious ways.

Show me future."

Soul of Fire
Not that True Blood is Buffy's equal, I hasten to add. Nor could Sookie fray in mysterious ways since her dramas are always "who to sleep with?" related and never any deeper. Even her "what am I, exactly?" identity crisis resulted in no character growth or behavioural change. And anyway, the pre-credits twist (glorious!) punishes you for thinking things are sewn up and tidy. Did I just negate these first two paragraphs? Uhhh, damnit. May I glamour you and wipe them from your memory?

The penultimate episode begins with the great album cover ready shot of the four lead vampires in black leather ambush gear heading for Moon Goddess Emporium and we stay there for nearly all of the episode with all eyes on Marnie. She admits that she likes it that way... and so does Fiona Shaw, don't you know.

THERE'S MORE...

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True Blood 4.10 "Burning Down The House"

when you came in the air went out and every shadow filled up with doubt ♫  I think I'll miss the theme song most of all when True Blood goes bye-bye in a couple of weeks. We're nearly at the end of Season 4. You can tell because things get crazy crazier craziest craziestest (where we are now) before the wrap. Finales have a way of bringing most of the characters back together where they should be. Quoth Tara when Sookie, Jason, Lafayette and Jesus arrive at the Moon Goddess Emporium where ⅘ of the cast is by the time the credits roll...

Reinforcements!"

They've arrived to save Tara and assorted humans from being blown to smithereens when the vamps arrive to take out Marnie once and for all. But I've jumped ahead since we're doing this wrap up quickest-like.

"Burning Down The House"
The episode begins with an assassination attempt at the Dorchester, as possessed Eric and King Bill fight it out until Sookie finally intervenes with her fairy powers, saving Bill from death and accidentally curing Eric's amnesia. Nan confronts Bill about it later with the very sensible question:

What's the deal with your little dairymaid and her lightning trick?

Since Bill doesn't answer her, I will.

You see Nan it's like this. Sookie's powers are now True Blood shorthand for "We've written ourselves into a corner and plus we can't kill off the main characters so here is a blast of fairy dust power which Sookie doesn't understand and which we don't either but it sure helps us to advance the plotline!"  Done!

With Marnie/Antonia's assassination of Bill foiled, Nan and Bill go to war over what to do next "Bill. Image!" Nan reminds him and the glamouring of the town begins so that they'll forget all the bloodshed; what happens at the Dorchester stays at the Dorchester!

FORGETTING. We soon realize that dead necromancer Antonia who was possessing Marnie doesn't want to remember the bloodshed either. ZOMG, it's Marnie who is now running the show!!! Jason, as it turns out, would also like to forget the previous episodes fucking/fighting mess . Jessica doesn't appreciate his request to be glamoured, continuing her delicious character arc in Season 4 to embrace her inner vampire. "Fucking humans. I'm going to go find somebody to eat."

Feel Her Vibrations!

In other important developments: Sookie still loves Billzzzzz and Eric isn't happy aboutzzzzz; Terry stages an intervention to help Andy with his V addiction; Holly the witch (Lauren Bowles) continues to be a great addition to the cast and convinces Tara to trust her own fury - "There aint no spell that can't be undone if you got the juice" -- and lord knows Tara is overflowing with fury juice!; Tommy dies from internal bleeding (or too much skin walking?) which sets Sam and Alcides on a vengeance spiral against wolf-pack leader Marcus who is now hitting on Alcides ladyfriend (though no one knows this yet); 

But most of all Episode 10 is about Fiona Shaw's awesomeness and her delicious vocal control -- weird Spanish accent aside -- in displaying all those internal psychotic breaks and shifts from Marnie to Antonia. She's continuing the slow morphing from meek dim Marnie to superior why-do-people-question-my-awesomeness Marnie? Which results in all sorts of great line readings like the self righteous/needy "I have put my soul at risk to destroy the night beasts for you" and the delightfully boasty "We've got our very own vampires in the ladies room!" and the grinning madness "Have you ever seen me so happy?"... well, yes Fiona, like that time you were an even bigger loon in Black Dahlia; That Cheshire grin is scarier than any Jack-o-Lantern that's every come before. 

Line Reading Hall of Fame

Fate brought us together to fight evil. Did you really think no one was going to get hurt?

At episode's end Jesus has broached Marnie's protection spell, but not her dark heart and he's relayed the new sit'ch back to the other reinforcements. Marnie is the Big Bad, not Antonia the dead ghost possessing her. But then Marnie suddenly teleports everyone ... where? Cue the vampires arriving to blow shit up. Cue: credits.  

Body Count: 1 nameless vampire and 1 skinwalker (Goodbye Tommy! Goodbye rich comic opportunities for other actors to pretend to be him pretending to be them. Sniffle); Sex Scenes: 0 (what!?!); Best Sookie Moment: "I never promised that." Anna Paquin is good with the hard honesty and cleft heart; Funniest Moment: Nan's inner 5 year old tyrant comes out, every vampire pissing her off. "True Death for you, too!"; Episode MVP: Marnie; Episode Grade: B+

Previously on True Blood
4.1 "She's Not There"  MVP: Marnie; Grade: C
4.2 "You Smell Like Dinner"  MVP: Eric; Grade: A
4.3 "If You Love Me Why...?"  MVP: Eric; Grade: B+
4.4 "I'm Alive and On Fire"  MVP: Sookie; Grade: B+
4.5 "Me and the Devil"   MVP: Arlene; Grade: A-
4.6 "I Wish I Was the Moon"  MVP: Pam; Grade: B
4.7 "Cold Grey Light..."   MVP: Jessica; Grade: B- 
4.8 "Spellbound" MVP: The Fortenberrys (Hoyt & Maxine); Grade: B+ 
4.9 "Let's Get Out of Here" MVP: Sam; Grade: B 

True Blood 4.9 "Let's Get Out of Here"

Run Alcides, Run. This episode finally gives you weres and shifters some room to move. Take advantage of it.

Joe Mangianello as Alcides.

"Let's Get Out of Here"
But, alas, Alcides isn't fast enough. Bill snatches Sookie from his arms to rescue her from certain death in the pre-titles opening. [Editor's note: Certain death in television series means that tense space in time between the cliffhanger of the previous episode and the first three minutes of the current episode]. But his pre-credits run is telling; this episode is speedy and we'll dash through this post, too.

The run for your life plotting makes Antonia's next move extra distressing. She magically slams all the doors shut on the Moon Goddess Emporium, like she's Carrie White at the prom. Her former friends are now prisoners and coerced coven members. 

Is she planning to wipe them out once she's done with the vamps? CLICK FOR FULL POST.

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