Months of Meryl: Manhattan (1979)

Hi, we’re John and Matt and, icymi, we are watching every single live-action film starring Streep.

#3 — Jill, our neurotic protagonist’s chilly lesbian ex.

MATTHEW: So, you’ve just played a chatterbox and a near-mute, the former defined by her gaucheness, the latter by her almost ethereal warmth. What role do you take on next? Why, an ice queen, of course!

The overarching worldview of Woody Allen’s beloved Manhattan is cruel, chaotic, and self-absorbed, even as its fleet, monochromatic presentation retains the smooth and deceptive romanticism of that rightfully-iconic opening montage...

Click to read more ...

The Planet of the Links

Pull it together, Nathaniel! There is so much showbiz news of late that we've been buried in avalanche of it. How to stop and collect the linkage? So herewith a looooong list of links in a vain attempt to catch up or but by the time you've read it we'll surely have missed another 20 stories in addition to those that already slipped by in the past two weeks. What I'm saying is "too many things too many things too many things" 

So read on and click away for The Avengers: Infinity War, Paul Thomas Anderson, Jessica Chastain, Big Little Lies paydays, Sundance buzz, and much much more. Please to enjoy or at least peruse...

Click to read more ...

"The Greatest Showman" is Another Musical Hit. Is Hollywood Watching?

by Nathaniel R

The Greatest Showman is the second consecutive original movie musical to become a big hit. A sign of more to come?

The Greatest Showman will be crossing the $100 million mark today at the box office. It's become a hit with  little fanfare  if you think about it.  Oh sure it had the mainstream attention you get on opening weekend when you have big stars in your movie but beyond that did the media really take notice? It wasn't in most of the awards conversations that turn the volume way up on others movie this time of year. The only awards traction it received was for Best Original Song which is hardly a bankable business -- except, perhaps, in the case of soundtrack sales.) 

But long story short: it's a hit and showing legs in US theaters in that its percentage drop each week is way below the industry norms. The same was true of Moulin Rouge! which arguably kick-started the reemergence of the then-dead genre at the beginning of the century. The musical genre has, it should be evident to everyone, a loyal fanbase. But is Hollywood paying attention...?

Click to read more ...

Hooray! May the Comment Party Begin Again...

And there was much rejoicing. I can "hear" you all again. You can hear each other. We didn't expect to take a vow of collective silence but I had just watched Novitiate, that movie about the nuns, in which The LEOgend is very very upset when people talk during conversation blackout periods so perhaps I spiritually triggered it? Anyway... PLEASE SAY SOMETHING TO END THE SILENCE.

Recent ICYMI

• 50 Beloved movies that received 0 Oscar nominations
• Jamie Bell Interview
• Meryl Streep in The Deer Hunter (1978)
• Harriet Samson Harris in Phantom Thread
• Paddington 2 Review
• The production design of Top Hat (1935)
• The women of The Post
• Scripter nominees for Adapted TV & Film
• Body of Evidence at 25 - the end of the "erotic thriller" period in Hollywood?
• Blueprints: Get Out
• A documentary on Barack Obama's final year in office
• Best Hitchcock star: Cary Grant OR Jimmy Stewart?
• Soundtracking: Call Me By Your Name
• Holiday weekend box office
• Visual Effects of Okja
• Michael Stuhlbarg in Call Me By Your Name
• Critics Choice Winners

Ding Dong! "Las Culturistas" Calling...

The TFE podcast will be back soon, but until then, here's a detour to another listen!

I had the pleasure of being this weekend's guest on "Las Culturistas". Matt Rogers (no relation) and Bowen Yang take you to the cultch each week. They've been making all sorts of lists of best comedy podcasts (Vulture, Esquire, TimeOut New York) and so I was getting my Lyft on to the studio, honey, as soon as they asked. Lists are life and to be consulted with when making life decisions like 'to guest or not to guest?')

I was terrified but they put me at ease immediately with Rule #1470 of Culture ("Kirsten Dunst makes it look easy"). And from there we talk about Oscar, actresses, Michelle Pfeiffer, who's going to win Best Picture, things that are pissing us off at the moment, and so on.