Lukewarm off the Presses: Hamilton, Banks, Anastasia, Cloak & Dagger. Plus Tony Buzz!
Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at 12:03PM Nathaniel, back from the Nashville Film Festival where I juried on the "New Directors" competition. More on that once our awards are announced. Until then, I'm under hush order. But let's catch up on all sorts of movie & entertainment news that happened over the past handful of days that we didn't cover here.
• Lin-Manuel Miranda won the Pulitzer for his Broadway smash Hamilton and, giddy squeal, The New Yorker's television goddess Emily Nussbaum won the Pulitzer for criticism. If you haven't read her, you must. She's just wonderful.
• The Golden Globes have clarified their rules for what drama and comedy mean in a probably futile attempt to get campaigns to stop trying to game the system.
• I forgot to mention that teen superhero duo Cloak and Dagger are getting their own TV show (yay! always loved them in the comic books) but Kate Beaton has two words for you "tit windows"
• Elizabeth Banks plans to direct a revival of the Charlie's Angels franchise and she's also playing the villain in the new Power Rangers movie resulting in a horrifying photo.
• Beloved bossy TV mom Doris Roberts has died. The supporting actress won 4 Emmys for her role on Everybody Loves Raymond and also had memorable roles on St. Elsewhere (another Emmy win), Remington Steele, and Angie. She was not only well loved by audiences but co-stars too.
• Carrie Fisher has officially blamed George Lucas for inspiring her writing career because his Star Wars dialogue was so terrible
• Johnny Depp and Amber Heard made some sort of weird apology video for that dog business in Australia
• Adapting animated features into Broadway musicals isn't just for Disney anymore. Anastasia (1997) becomes a stage musical this summer in London and is eyeing the 2016/2017 Broadway season
• There are some who are suspicious that this news is not really official but Nicole Kidman is supposedly returning to Broadway this fall with Photograph 51, after its London run
• Industry people got really excited about 3D high frame rate footage from Ang Lee's Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk at a Future of Cinema Conference
• The Academy is STILL trying to explain their new voting rules. So do we get it now?
RANDOM CASTING & DATE SHIFTS
No links just news ICYMI: Daisy Ridley will headline a new film from Marielle Heller, director of Diary of a Teenage Girl called Kolma, a 'mystical' romance; Willem Dafoe joined Justice League (role unknown); Walton Goggins has replaced Joe Manganiello (they're so alike. um...) in History Channel's forthcoming Navy SEALs series Six; Naomi Watts will headline the Netflix psychological thriller series Gypsy (not the musical!) in which she plays a therapist who gets mixed up in her client's lives; Kurt Russell & Kate Hudson will star in the TV series Barbary Coast, a period drama about the gold rush in the 19th century; Kate McKinnon may star in the new back-to-school comedy Senior Year; Nicole Beharie, who was so amazing in Shame (2011) and then starred in TV's Sleepy Hollow, will play the lead female role in the remake of 90s thriller Jacob's Ladder; The Golden Globes will take place on January 8th, 2017 this coming awards season.
THIS JUST IN
Slightly fresher news before we go
Two of Broadway's Funniest Ladies: Laura Benanti & Jane Krakowski, in "She Loves Me"
• Doug Kraner, a production designer on TV's "Gotham" and several movie hits including Uncle Buck, Sleeping with the Enemy and Enough, has passed away.
• A24 is on board a new James Ponsoldt (Spectacular Now) project a true story drama based on the book "I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution"
• The Tonys are coming. The Tonys are coming. That means precursor madness. Yes, as with the Oscars there are many precursors to the Tony Awards. The Outer Critic Circle Nominees and Drama League have already announced their nominees (with Drama Desk to come next week). Since all the groups have slightly different rules for eligibility Hamilton is out of the way for some of the precursors (though obviously not for Tony) since it was eligible while it was Off Broadway last season. With the 800 lb gorilla caged (for the moment) that means good news for other musicals: She Loves Me, American Psycho, Bright Star and The Color Purple all appear strong going into the Tony nominations. The schedule is as follows:
April 28th. Drama Desk Nominations
May 3rd. Tony Award Nominations
May 20th. Drama League Awards (Hosted by Megan Hilty & Zachary Levi)
May 26th. Outer Critics Circle Awards
June 5th. Drama Desk Awards (Hosted by Michael Urie)
June 12th. Tony Awards (Hosted by James Corden)
P.S.
Meryl Streep also recently spoke at the "Women in the World" summit and at the end of her speech she sings a snippet from Hamilton making this an even better week for Lin-Manuel Miranda and the upcoming Tony Awards.
Reader Comments (20)
Anastasia just makes me think of Meg Ryan's voice. One of the great speaking voices of the cinema, if you ask me.
Possibility for one of the year's most delicious headlines:
"Michael Shannon wins Golden Globe for Comedy for Elvis & Nixon".
I like Elizabeth Banks' look as Rita. Is it over the top? Sure... but it's a welcomed departure from what the original Rita Repulsa looked like and it does what it needs to do... Make her look like a creepy alien.
Streep is an extremely generous actor for others!!!!
Other actresses make a lot of money from endorsing products.. To my knowledge she has never taken this path ( I could be wrong ) All I have ever seen her do is work for progress and not just for the Women's Movement.
Wasn't it always up to the Golden Globes body to have the final say on category decisions anyway? So really, they just don't trust themselves to know the difference between a comedy and a drama.
Nicole needs to take a break from acting It seems she makes 4-5 movies a year that no one
even sees.. Maybe with a break she would become the very good actress she was earlier on.
Just a thought!!
Cloak and Dagger: No freaking duh they're going to change that costume. Probably a logo of the same size and shape instead of a cut-out and maybe a joke or two riffing on the massive impracticality of actually doing that. (That having been said, though? It's still a fair distance away from Emma Frost's "X of Flesh" outfit.)
Elizabeth Banks is always making me smile. Sigh.
OK, it's easy to pile on George Lucas, but Carrie Fisher can't say with a straight face that she didn't get the best lines in the movies. "I am NOT a committee!"
RIP Doris Roberts. Always the best part of the often funny but more often exhausting Everybody Loves Raymond. MVP of that show no doubt.
Can I give a shout out to Doris Roberts in Hester Street.
Hmm.. Fisher didn't blame George Lucas or did she say that Star Wars (the whole movie) dialogue was so terribke! She said she hated ONE line!
"Dramas with comedic overtones should be entered as drama."
I agree and under this criteria, The Martian should be retroactively reclassified as a Drama.
Elizabeth Banks's Rita Repulsa gives me so much Laganja Estranja! Imagine an Elizabeth Banks death drop
Steph-in which case we can rightfully hand the Best Picture trophy over to Spy. Perfect!
Thanks for posting that video of Meryl Streep's speech, it was intelligent and articulate as always.
@rick - I don't believe Streep has ever done an endorsement or commercial for a product.
She has done political/non-profit endorsements for causes but she has always been such a class act.
I'm hoping that "She Loves Me" with Laura Benanti & Jane K. will pick up some awards - Hamilton will clean up at the Tony's of course.
I am hoping for a good adaptation of "I Want my MTV", and Ponsoldt sounds more promising than that TV project Fincher has about music video directors - which I think fell apart before it even happened, right? Here's hoping there's a more interesting narrative concept than just another "sex, drugs, rock and roll, it's all fun and games until it isn't" story. That era is a solid backdrop for any number of stories.
@rick - that Nicole comment is kind of hateful, no? She seems to love acting and collaborating,, so how would you feel if someone said that you should take a break from your profession or favorite hobby? And a lot of people still think she's a great actress to match. I don't know if you have a track record of saying this about Kidman in particular and are just trolling, but still. Come on.
That kind of comment in relation to anyone, actor or not, has always gotten under my skin.
Sorry , Chris... but my track record with Kidman has been very steady...
I loved her in her beginning phase... up until Rabbit Hole ( I voted for her to win the Oscar )
After that she has slid totally downhill IMO ... she chooses badly. It seems she has a desperate need to work... OK .. but be a little more selective... she has kids she could be with for awhile and then return fresh to movies/Broadway, etc.
My statements were not meant to be hateful... it is an opinion ... go back and see earlier comments by me.
Everyone needs a break from their job... I took one when I was 40 to get my head together ...went back to the same job 2 yrs. later... and I totally loved it again.
Also, maybe you're a little too sensitive for this blog! Just saying... I reread my comment at the top, and I do not see ANYTHING hateful about it!!