Jane (Don't) Got a Link
Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 10:36AM Guardian has the Venice film festival lineup
ICYMI here was Toronto's. They run concurrently so they share a few titles
Empire Nosferatu getting another remake -this time from the director of the Sundance hit The Witch. This is a terrible idea. It's one thing to top a classic. It's another thing to try and live up to memories of TWO classics simultaneously
Salon on "showrunner auteurs" and True Detective Season 2
Slant Magazine has a interesting 'noir' essay on a blu-ray restoration of the great Fabulous Baker Boys
The Wrap Relativity is going bankrupt which means their current most star driven films, Jane Got a Gun (Natalie Portman) and Collide (Felicity Jones & Nicolas Hoult) probably won't be opening as planned
The Wrap It's Chris Pine as Wonder Woman's Steve Trevor in 2017 though not everyone likes this idea
Yahoo Style "Madonna and the Fading Politics of Diva-dom" I normally groan my way through essays that are critical of Madonna in-the-now since they usually instantly show, nay even flaunt, their ageism and disrespect/misunderstanding of her legacy. But this one is smart and really interesting.
Empire Amy Schumer, who recently appropriated Star Wars for a photoshoot, has now done a Madonna-related photoshoot (Truth or Dare era specifically)
Bob the Musical?
Playbill Recent EGOTer Robert Lopez (Frozen) and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez have a new musical called Up Here at the La Jolla Playhouse. Will their lucky streak continue? This one takes place inside the lead character's head. That's going around - hi Inside Out!) They were previously reported to be working on the long-gestating original film Bob the Musical
THR ... but then who hasn't been reported as working on that? Currently we're looking at Michel Hazanivicius directing, Michael Chabon writing, Bret McKenzie songwriting and Tom Cruise circling to star...
Pajiba doesn't want Tom Cruise to do it and I agree with every word of this. Also: he's just not good at comedy. He's too intense for comedy, particularly musical comedy which requires an effortless-looking lightness.
Showtune to Go from The Wiz
Remember when Margaret (I miss Margaret!) did such a fine job of dream-casting the forthcoming live television production of The Wiz? Well, the actual casting is starting now and sadly they haven't taken any of her suggestions to heart. The first announced members of the cast are Queen Latifah as the Wizard, Mary J Blige as Evilene (AKA the Wicked Witch), and the original Broadway production's Dorothy, Stephanie Mills, as her own Auntie 'Em.
But who will sing this classic finale "Home"?
P.S. Incredibly and sadly, the legendary long-retired Diana Ross, who is only 71 years old, is the only principle cast member from the 1978 film who is still with us. (And she's too young for this list)
Reader Comments (13)
"Jane got a Gun" can't catch a break.
The revolving door of "Bob: The Musical" baffles me - this project has been talked about for a LONG time, but how were studios so high on it if it was just a pitch and still needed, you know, songs and a script? Plus at this point the "reluctant musical/self-conscious jokes about all the singing" trope is pretty well-worn. It's like the diminishing returns on winking at product placement - we've heard that joke before.
I was thinking about Diana Ross the other day and is there a purer, more transcendent and magical talent in the universe than hers? Good lord she is one in a trillion.
Baker Boys is so good and so under-discussed.
Vindicate it!
Chris Pine as Steve Trevor: Underworking director (Six episodes and one TV movie in fourteen years?), without genre experience, with two leads that probably put them behind the eight ball. I'd call it a miracle if this winds up a higher grade than a C.
That Wiz casting notice is missing the words Audra McDonald, so I'm not clicking until I see that name. :)
Miss Ross ain't retired, except maybe from acting and (possibly) recording. She still performs live pretty regularly--in fact, you New Yorkers can see her in Newark at the Prudential Hall (New Jersey Performing Arts Center) on September 16.
UK trailer out for Ricki and the Flash yesterday... Big improvement from the last one.
Mary J. Blige as Evilene is interesting. I still say it should be Loretta Devine, but whatever. If they make Jennifer Hudson Dorothy I won't be surprised, and will be simultaneously overjoyed (SMASH LIVES!) and depressed (such an obvious, uninspired choice).
Lazy casting choices for "The Wiz" so far. YAWN!
Surely the behind-the-scenes making of Jane Got a Gun has to be more interesting than the film itself.
I will never "get" Chris Pine. He has absolutely NO charisma and is a terrible actor.
Re: Nosferatu remake - I do NOT understand the need to remake Horror movies. There's no discernible box office boost compared to other horror movies (just look at that dreadful Poltergeist film), and surely if there's any genre where imagination can soar to new unexplored areas, it's in supernatural horror.
Chris Pine never seems to connect with his female co-stars (his lack of real enthusiasm was a plus in Into The Woods).
My choice for Wonder Woman's Steve Trevor would be Gabriel Mann, from TV's Revenge. As Emily's best friend, he was loyal, smart, funny, elegant, and endearing. A perfect partner.