Little Links of Horror
Friday, July 3, 2015 at 3:58PM EW Marisa Tomei joins the cast of Empire as a lesbian billionaire - whoa. Please let her throw down with Taraji
Nicks Flick Picks is also on the halfway mark, year in review beat with a lot of movies I haven't seen (sigh)
Jane Fonda on her summer screenings and returning to work on Grace and Frankie - she got an acting coach!
EW Pride & Prejudice & Zombies photos. Yikes. What's with the lingerie ad costumes?
Awards Daily thinks Scorsese's Silence might be ready just in time for Oscar. I personally hope he takes his time and we get it next year. I like having breaks from the Oscar regulars or Oscar just becomes too much like the Emmys!
Slate thinks Rolan Emmerich's Stonewall looks too much like a cheap musical
Playbill reminds us that Magic Mike (2012) is being made into a stage musical. What isn't... but still I'd totally forgotten
Business Insider here's an area you never see covered: the weapons department on a studio picture. Terminator Genisys in this case
Comics Alliance new pics from Batman vs. Superman. One of them seems to have Superman surrounded by a bunch of zombies so....
Twitter cracked me up when looking at that picture
Yes No Maybe So
Queen of the Desert trailer has arrived, asking the question "Who the hell is Gertrud Bell" - I can't give it its own post because there are too many trailers these past couple of days. But you should YNMS in the comments if you're in the mood. So jealous of Robert Pattinson when he's holding those lion cubs. Awww.
Show Tune To Go
Showtunes to Cherish For All Time
These couple of weeks have all been about City Center productions for me. Every summer they do these amazing staged readings. Last week I saw Jonathan Groff and Ana Gasteyer do William Finn's "A New Brain" which is a terrific underperformed musical. (Gasteyer as it turns out was born for the musical stage, SNL aside). Next up is Sutton Foster doing "The Wild Party" so naturally I'm quite excited.
In between those two shows, as you may have heard, Ellen Greene reprised her "Audrey" role in Little Shop of Horrors this week at a staged reading at City Center. Jason went. I went. Joe Reid was wayyyyy up front (I was green with envy and confused since I bought my tickets the second they went on sale!). The New York Times Ben Brantley raved. Everyone was there. Or everyone will pretend to have been there years from now when people are still talking about this.
Ellen, who is now in her sixties, was in fine form and wearing her original costumes no less. She was a shameless ham, milking her every line, pose, and big notes for maximum audience pleasure. Whenever a singer with a gargantuan voice has a signature tune that they've sung for decades the tunes always get a little more affected every time, possibly to keep them entertained. (Have you heard Jennifer Holliday do "And I'm Telling You" lately? It's just a series of abstract vowels and growls now, it's so weird.) Ellen nearly took "Suddenly Seymour" there but still brought the house down. "Somewhere That's Green" on the other hand was just so tender and yearning and funny... my god the goosebumps. That voice can still send shivers all over you of aural pleasure, innate empathy, belly laughs. She's a treasure.
FWIW Jake Gyllenhaal played Seymour and he was very funny when ad-libbing (it's a staged reading with limited rehearsal time so some flubbed lines allow actors to embellish or get the audience on their side) and his voice ain't half bad either.
Ellen Greene's standing ovation was so epic and rumbling I feared the balcony would collapse and kill us all. Which would, come to think of it, be a fitting end for this grim comedy. The movie (be very grateful that her performance was preserved for all time) granted Audrey and Seymour a happy ending but they die in the musical. And then they sing their warning tale.
Whatever they offer you, don't feed the plant!
Picking a favorite song from this musical is impossible, I've listend to it so often over the years, but "Skid Row" is the one that doesn't get any attention that I cherish so here that is.
Reader Comments (15)
Another "thrilling" performance from Kidman... this movie looks as if it should go the way of Grace .. directly to Lifetime ... Her part in the Secret in your Eyes ( only from the trailer ) looks as if she does stand up quite well by herself..I do not know the story so I could be totally wrong about her part .. BUT what has happened to her as an actress?? I have liked her in 2 or 3 movies ... but now Boredom.
Oh, by the way, Nooooooooo!
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Costumes: I'm guessing them being like that is supposed to provide an ironically cheap grindhouse tone? It'd be WRONG for the material if they looked like dead on perfect Amadeus level outfits, frankly.
Awards Daily: Silence ready by the end of the year is more than conceivable. American Hustle had a similar editing schedule. That having been said: Please don't let it be nominated for ANYTHING major critics. Maul it and Scorsese's moronic decision of allowing Jay Cocks to get script duty on one of his movie's EVER again!
Batman v Superman pics: I saw that in the teaser and, yeah it's bad. Fusing together Superman and the mutant leader (which, let's be clear here, is EXACTLY what they're doing), is a STUPID idea.
I don't watch a ton of TV, but you better believe I'll make time for Marisa Tomei as a lesbian billionaire on a Lee Daniels show. Talk about things you never knew you needed!
And, yes, Skid Row is wonderful.
Actually I find Robert Pattinson kind of sexy and boyish as T.E, Lawrence. Could be fun.
You know, in general I'm not a fan of hatewatching or ironic appreciation. But damn if I'm not looking forward to the inevitable disaster that is Batman V Superman
The Adventures of Nicole Queen of the Desert.
Queen of the Dessert looks terrible. Who in their right mind would want to see that. Now I know why you skipped the yes, no, maybe so, you were embarassed for Kidman in this (and rightfully so).
Why did they leave Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas out of the trailer?
I love Skid Row!
Remember when we thought Queen of the Desert would be Nicole Kidman's next best chance at an Oscar nod? Sad to hear see how it's materialized (and at the hands of Werner Herzog, no less).
i saw little shop that night! even way up in the nosebleeds i had goosebumps.
FWIW: i agree it's hard to pick a favorite song from little shop.... but i think if i'm being true to myself, skid row is definitely it.
Have you seen this?? I had no idea she could sing like this, too! What a unique talent...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuqBgtvZz-s
I adore Kidman and would love to see her in another worthy film and role ... but this looks so sloppy and amateurish. How the hell is Herzog behind this?
I will say that she looks gorgeous ... and from the film festival reviews it seems that she actually got good notices for her performance. But this looks like a melodramatic mess, and it will tank.
I hope Nicole's HBO project works because her recent films (Before I Go to Sleep, Grace of Monaco, and countless others) have all been dogs. She is too old and refreshed to play believably off Franco and Pattinson in a period piece, and they are two of the worst actors out there. I wish Nicole would stop working and take some time off to evaluate where she is going. She has had more flops than any other A lister.
Jane Fonda very well might be the baddest bitch alive! She is living honey looking like that at 77! Yaaassss, mama! Give me more of her blog, plz!