City of Link
Thursday, December 29, 2016 at 6:26PM ET First pic of Pixar's Coco though the text is greatly irritating as they seem to be very anti-musical "Don't call it a musical!"
Filmmixtape "if 2016's worst films were drag race competitors"
Playbill George S Irving, the voice of Heat-Miser for the Bankin Rass TV classic "The Year Without a Santa Claus" has died at 94.
The Guardian why 2016 was a big year for female sexuality in film and on television
Carrie Fisher & Debbie Reynolds and infinite list-making after the jump...
Literary Hub amazing Erroll Morris take on Donald T***p's obsession with Citizen Kane (hat tip to David Ehrlich for pointing it out)
/Film Kevin Costner wants to direct a 10 hour Western. Just once I'd like to see a direct announce that they are going to direct the perfect 90 minute movie and remark on how much skill it takes to be concise and swift and still impactful enough to make it a classic... like all those Golden Age Hollywood movies, don'cha know
Carrie & Debbie
/Film looks at Carrie Fisher's history of script-doctoring
Variety TV airings this weekend in tribute to the mother/daughter icons
List-Mania
Zitzelfilm Brian's top ten list of the year includes Kubo, The Treasure and Manchester by the Sea
Playbill lists the biggest theater stories of the year from Hamilton's continuing cultural dominance through TV Live Musicals and on to the emergence of Dear Evan Hansen
In Contention Kris Tapley's annual list of Best Cinematic Shots
The Matinee also chimes in with a similar list... albeit with a different roster of films
The Last Thing I See top ten list featuring Arrival, Rogue One, The Handmaiden and more
The Week 7 best of 2016 including Arrival and Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Obviously no one on their staff votes in awards because they give ZERO of their slots to December films, bless 'em. There are 11 months in the year so it's nice when people notice those.
Eric Snider every wide release film of 2016 and when they went wide. Although is 600 screens really "wide" these days. That was considered wide back in the day but back in the day the biggest movies weren't on anything like 4,000 screens like they are now.
Must Read
IndieWire gets 35 directors to chime in with their favorite movies of the year. Sean Baker of Tangerine fame loves Woody Allen's Crisis in Six Scene, Sam Esmail of Mr Robot fame loves Arrival, and Paul Feig includes Ghostbusters (hee) among his favorites. Jonathan Demme lists La La Land among the best -- I think I told you this on the podcast but I ran into him at the Toronto premiere of that Oscar frontrunner and told him how much I loved Rachel Getting Married and we even talked about Swing Shift for a hot second though he was mystified as to why I had just watched it. Oh and Nicole Holofcener likes Sing Street so much she gives it 3 of the spots on her top 11 list. And one of the Daniels behind Swiss Army Man has this to say about 20th Century Women and I couldn't agree more:
I laughed so much and so deeply at this excellently photographed and delicately captured movie celebrating a complex, beautiful, unforgettably enigmatic Mommy.
I could go on and on as these lists are quite fun, but you should probably go and read them.
Reader Comments (4)
I'd just like to warn everyone that the IndieWire piece does contain some spoilers, so read at your own risk.
"the perfect 90 minute movie and remark on how much skill it takes to be concise and swift and still impactful enough to make it a classic... like all those Golden Age Hollywood movies, don'cha know"
I hear what you're saying, but I'm not sure that was as true of old hollywood's MO as people make it out to be. I mean, Citizen Kane is 119 minutes, It's a Wonderful Life is 130, All About Eve is 138, Grapes of Wrath is 130, The Best Years of Our Lives is nearly three hours, and even Casablanca is 102. That's to say nothing of the technicolor epics of the Gone With the Wind and Bridge on the River Kwai variety.
Who the fuck is going to watch a 10 hour western?
choog: If it's paced as well as Dances With Wolves, I am!