Links: Voldemort, Mineo, Britton, Lynch, Cruise
Monday, July 18, 2011 at 12:02PM Slate a lovely positive post-mortem of the Harry Potter series with a well reasoned argument for the indispensability of one Alfonso Cuarón and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as the lynchpin of the series's enviable franchise longevity.
Movie|Line "nine milestones in the evolution of Ralph Fiennes." Damnit. Why no Strange Days (1995)?
Boy Culture first behind the scenes stills from Sal, that James Franco directed Sal Mineo biopic starring Val Lauren
Boy Culture also discovers that the actor Frederick Weller (remember him? I always liked him) has the world's greatest memory.
The Other Paper a fascinating history of that "You and Me" song in Blue Valentine (hat tip)
Natasha VC "so much hope" or... (my title) What can happen when the Oscars all go to still-young performers who you think you'll love forever. Oops!
Awards Daily lists their reader determined first half of the year nominations
Pajiba is way angry about the film adaptation of the novel One Shot. I don't know the source material but apparently the lead is supposed to be a towering figure, like 6'5" towering; so naturally, 5'7" Tom Cruise is your man!
Scott Feinberg falls for "blank slate" French girls Melanie Laurent (Beginners) and Marion Cotillard (Midnight in Paris)
The Wrap picks the MVP actors of the summer
Boing Boing contributor Rob Beschizza decided to reedit and abbreviate David Lynch's much-derided Dune without its problematic script. It's much shorter and the imagery takes over. Interesting. Here's a sample.
Finally, in my ongoing tiny and useless campaign to win Connie Britton a Best Actress Emmy for Friday Night Lights, I present Grantland's fine Oral History of Friday Night Lights. The section on the casting of Connie Britton as Tami Taylor is A-MAZ-ING because it makes clear everything I'm always saying about how lame the "supportive spouse" role always is and how much more capable the nation's actresses are than the lame sleepwalking shit they're always given to do in these roles. Here's a sample.
Berg: [In the original Friday Night Lights movie], Connie Britton's role was sort of Pretty Wife Clapping in the Stands, which is about the shittiest job an actress can have...
Connie Britton (Tami Taylor): ... I was like, "No way!" The only thing worse than playing a nothing part in a movie is [playing it] for years and years on TV.
Berg: She said, "Are you fucking kidding me? You think I'm going to spend 10 years sitting on a hard-wood bleacher getting splinters in my ass and cheering on Kyle Chandler? You're out of your mind." I said, "I promise. We'll create a character. We'll give you a job. We'll give you dimension. We'll give you a real voice."
Britton: It really was a leap of faith, initially, because I only had three scenes in the pilot script. So I remember even going into the pilot and saying, "OK, Pete, just so we're clear: What's here on the page in the pilot, that's not what we're talking about, right?"
Heh. Television needs more Tami Taylors. And so, too, does the cinema.
Reader Comments (11)
That FNL article is fantastic. I just read that Connie Britton's on a new series by Ryan Murphy that FX picked up. I don't know if I am ready to see her as NOT Tami Taylor yet...clearly I am unable to move on.
What is the deal with people being all over Cuaron for HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban? I mean, yes, after Colombus basically put the books on screen with not much imagination, Cuaron was a great step forward, but i think all of the Yates films clearly surpass his.
and Marion Cotillard is really on a roll these days. Good for her. She managed to be both the best thing in Nine and Inception.
Derreck -- will have to agree to disagree on Cuarón vs. Yates. The one advantage Yates had is that the material got more complex with age and Cuarón was only working on the early adolescence but Cuarón is much more gifted behind the camera. I really think Yates biffed it on tonal range (don't get me started on that Helena/Hermione scene. It should have been so funny interesting with just a few tweaks and it just kind of sits there nervously. zzz)
Eh, I'm tired of all the Azkaban worship. Yes, the movie was impressively filmed and the shots were beautiful and the atmosphere convincingly morbid and haunting. But I just consider it one of the worst adaptations, because it strays so far from the books' spirit, tone, and events to the point of incoherency and randomness. Not to mention it had the worst acting in all 8 films.
THANK YOU for that Ralph Fiennes link. I've been thinking a lot about him recently after seeing DH2 - I've always loved him, but I've been on a real RF bender the past week, rewatching movies like the End of the Affair, In Bruges, the Duchess and the Constant Gardener and even Wallace and Gromit (his voicing in it is unbelievable. It's hilarious and droll and is so unlike his own voice. It totally reconfirmed my belief that Fiennes is a subtle character actor in the body of a leading man). He's such a generous leading man, and his costars always benefit from his chemistry (Rachel Weisz, Juliette Binoche, Kirsten Scott Thomas, Julianne Moore). I desperately want him to get an Oscar nom in the near future, because it's been far too long. Anxious for Coriolanus. He needs to give more "me-me!" performances.
Azkaban is still the best single HP film, though I think Yates' is probably the best the series got in terms of a director that established a consistent tone suited to the material. Just my two cents.
I rewatched the first HP yesterday for the first time in a while and ... MAN, that sucker is sloooow.
Sal Mineo is gorgeous. Val Lauren is no Sal Mineo. You can't act gorgeous.
I've become a big fan of Frederick Weller from watching him in In Plain Sight. Both he and Mart McCormack are so smart and articulate and well-spoken that the dialogue just zips by, perfectly articulated. It's so refreshing listening to people who actually say the difference between t and d. I loved their Gilbert and Sullivan quick time trio.
And I am also supremely PISSED OFF that Tom Cruise should play Jack Reacher. I've read all the books (by Lee Child), although they are a little too violent for me. Reacher is 6'5"", incredibly smart, and moves with a quick effective grace. Tom Cruise is a midget who doesn't look smart and walks like a duck.
Frederick Weller should play Jack Reacher - he's 6'2"",so a little short, but he's got the smarts and the heart that the character requires.
I've noticed this a lot among my group of friends and acquaintances... if you're a HUGE fan of the books, then Azkaban was one of the worst films of the series. If, on the other hand, you haven't read the books, prefer the films more, or can separate the two, then Azkaban is either your favorite film or at least in the top 3.
BTW Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite HP film. :-)
9 milestones, RF's best performances
1 - Onegin
2 - Spider
3 - The Constant Gardener
4 - The End of the Affair
5 - Schindler's List
6 - The English Patient
7 - Oscar and Lucinda
8 - Quiz Show
9 - Sunshine
I haven't seen FNL (although I know people who love it; I need to correct that, I know), but I can say we definitely need more actresses in the industry to do exactly what Connie did - have some strength and character and insist on playing characters who are real human beings with depth, not "the wife" and "the girlfriend". Change is going to come, in the end, only when the women playing those parts INSIST on change. (And audiences show their appreciation for those efforts.)
Major Potterhead speaking. LOVE the books. Not a fan of the movies. Like Cuaron's original view and perspective. Yates does his job but is not particularly creative, original or skilled. Brings nothing to the table.
The real problem with the movies is the screenwriter, Steve Kloves. The Order of the Phoenix is the best adaptation because it was the only one that was not done by him!