it takes two to make a link go ri-ight. It take two to make it outta site
Wednesday, June 10, 2015 at 10:54AM 
Two-Some Links
- Stuff has the cutest story ever: Stunt doubles from Mad Max Fury Road fell in love on set (while punching each other in the face and so on)! I swear to god Fury Road is like a gift that keeps on giving. Have you seen it yet?
- Bryce Dallas Howard still hasn't quite convinced people she isn't Jessica Chastain. So she's trying it in musical form in this cute video. But they really do look alike -- it's the coloring plus the chins.
- Deadline Hugh Jackman and Rooney Mara will co-star in Collateral Damage. Plot details are scarce but Jackman is an ad executive trying to overcome a personal tragedy. They better not be romantically paired! There are plenty of actresses in his age range (mid 40s) who he'd be great onscreen with.
Today's Must Read #1 - Awards Fallout
Entertainment Weekly Mark Harris wonders why the Tony Awards are so afraid to be the Tony Awards. Even if you don't follow the Tonys this is worth a read in the way it echoes what we're always saying here at The Film Experience about the odd choices Oscar producers make. It's as if every awards show is terrified of really thinking about its core audience and serving them and accepting that nothing is for everyone anymore. (It was different when there were only three channels but that hasn't been the case in a very very long time and many institutions have had trouble with that paradigm shift and they're constantly all "maybe [insert teenage/early 20something star] will bring in new viewers by reading from a teleprompter about something their fans aren't interested in!?!?")
[More Tony Fallout: The Visit closes on June 14th; Gigi closes June 21st; Fun Home's sales quadruple after its Best Musical win; Kelli O'Hara is getting some mainstream attention - like her insanely quick costume change going viral, that dancing gif, and a little photodiary in Vogue]
Today's Must Read #2 - Mia Wasikowska
Film Comment Nick Davis interviews Mia Wasikowska! Nick even mentions Streep's Jane Eyre shout-out at the Globes but I liked this exchange on costuming best (just a small sample)...
As an actor, do you like being in dialogue with people like the cinematographer and the costumer, or do you prefer responding to creative choices they’ve made independently?
I do like collaborating, but I also feel I’ve been working with such wonderful people that there’s nothing I could even add to what they’ve already imagined. As much as possible, we still find ways to feed off each other, but really, across the board, everyone on these films I’ve been doing has just been incredible. Costumes, especially, are so important, especially on a project like "Madame Bovary". Every color was so representative of Emma’s place in her journey...
..Enquiring minds are dying to know if you got to keep your gloves from "Maps to the Stars".
That’s so funny! I didn’t! I should have. They’re so stingy, they never let us keep any of the costumes. But for sure, those gloves were completely great.
Exit Video #1 Swiftie Spoof
The hilarious Jeffery Self & Drew Droege ("Chloe"!) & Robert Michael Morris ("The Comeback") and more co-star in this spoof of Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" (recently discussed right here due to its movie trailer riffings) called "Sad Studs" that's also an activist reminder of FDA's obnoxious anti-gay policies.
Exit Video #2 Showtune to Go
Judy Garland would have turned 93 today if she had lived to be a very old lady. Not that she would have still been working -- not every actor has the stamina to work into their 90s like Christopher Lee & Betty White (both born the same year as Judy) -- but oh what glorious entertainments the world was robbed of when we lost her. "The World's Greatest Entertainer" and also one of the best movie stars the cinema ever had.
They're playing
Ta-tlee-a-ti, Ta-tlee-a-ti, with Shostakovich,
Ta-tlee-a-ti, Ta-tlee-a-ti, Mozart and Bach,
Ta-tlee-a-ti, Ta-tlee-a-ti, and they don't know which,
'Cause anything can happen when they start to rock
I chose this number from Thousands Cheer (1943) because of the Mozart mention. Shameless Plug: Our Best Shot episode of Amadeus (1984) is tonight - don't forget. Especially since it's about to leave Netflix Instant Watch. Have your entry posted befoire midnight so we can include you in the visual fun. Even if you only have time to skim your favorite scenes, you should join us.
Reader Comments (8)
Congrats Nick! Great interview!
I totally agree with Mark Harris. Last summer I had a blast watching old Tony ceremonies on Youtube. They were all so good. There was a far better balance between musicals and plays and all the recipients were treated equally.
I feel the same way about Bryce Dallas Howard-Jessica Chastain as I do about Lindsay Lohan-Emma Stone: I have nothing against either, but the current decade's iteration (Chastain and Stone) is clearly superior to the last decade's (Howard and Lohan). Howard had the unfortunate luck to star *opposite* Chastain (and Stone) in The Help, and, well, the results speak for themselves.
P.S. Mark Harris for (Tony) President!
I read Nick's interview and was actually surprised that I remember Streep doing that. What a great interview, by the way! Questions I would have never thought to ask. After The Kids Are All Right, Tracks, and especially Jane Eyre, I cannot wait to see Madame Bovary.
LOVE the Judy clip you chose! Right in that period where she was at her prettiest, fully in command of her gifts, not overly thin and the jittery-ness that occasionally affected her hands hadn't shown up yet. Plus it's a really fun number, great cross referencing by the way. It's also very cool that MGM use to take artists from all avenues like Jose Iturbi and attempt to turn them into movie stars, which they did with Jose with a modicum of success.
The only down spot was Mickey Rooney who in his two seconds on screen put my teeth on edge with his irksome unctuousness.
Love that Judy clip, but this one has become my go-to swoon number: It Only Happens
PS. "maybe [insert teenage/early 20something star] will bring in new viewers by reading BADLY from a teleprompter about something their fans aren't interested in!?!?")
PPS. Droege, Self and some other hysterically funny actors did a great live reading of Drop Dead Gorgeous at one of my neighborhood watering holes a few nights ago.
PPPS. Kudos, Nick!
About the Tony Awards, this is probably sacrilege around here, but I'll say it anyway:
I'm not sure I agree with Harris's argument that the Broadway fans at home want to see Best Book, Best Score, etc. recognized on the telecast. Obviously, diehard Broadway fans (like many TFE readers) might, but I'd guess there are more regular Tony viewers at home who are interested in the shows themselves than there are viewers interested in the behind-the-scenes work. If they cut the performances from non-nominated schlock (which they definitely should), then the question becomes: do they replace them with the additional categories or do they pay attention to the nominated plays by giving them an actual spotlight equal to the one that musicals get? I personally would opt for the plays first. And if they can do the additional categories as well, all the better. But let's stop the weird trend of reducing plays to a single montage.
In fact, one of my favorite Tony Awards performances in recent years was James Corden's schizo melee in "One Man, Two Guvnors." That simple, one-minute scene would not have had a chance of making it into this year's ceremony.
WOW. Really? If it were a slightly paranoid request of, say, a week of abstinence AND two HIV tests during that period before the donation to make absolutely sure that a false result didn't come up the first time, I could maybe buy that. But A YEAR with no acceptance of recent HIV test results? That's some "continuous journey regulation" (old Canadian Immigration law) level bullcrap.
The Tony's, much like the Grammys, have a one-up on the Oscars (and several ups on the Emmys who don't have the songs to perform nor anything else to replace the dead air writing and directing categories - and I say dead air because it's usually three nominees from the same show in each category!) in that they have logical replacements for categories that may lack star power or award show gravitas. What WOULD the Oscars replace, say, editing with? Another montage (of which editing is the prime force)? Because you KNOW they're not gonna chop that show down to two hours. They have too much money invested in 3.5-hour runtimes.
Also: You mentioned Christopher Lee who literally just died so... you killed Christopher Lee.