Olivier Awards Live Stream. And Other Miscellania
Sunday, April 3, 2016 at 11:55AM Keyframe an interview with Oscar winner Dorothy Malone (OMG) who is now 92. Mambo!
Pajiba adorable family Force Awakens cosplay from Utah
ENO Glenn Close is starring in the revival of Sunset Blvd through May 7th. If you're in London, please go and tell us how it is!
The Movie Scene Criterion's blindspot for female filmmakers. (I know it's uncool to be critical of Criterion excpet in these rare cases of agreed upon issues -- but they have other blindspots too, like the musical genre)
DListed Ginger Feud: Susan Sarandon and Debra Messing having words over Sanders/Clinton. (Everyone is fired up of late.)
Comics Alliance argues that the bland costumes in X-Men: Apocalypse are a key problem with that franchise -- it's true you could mistake it for a Hunger Games poster.
BuzzFeed "The Unbearable Sadness of Ben Affleck" a good long read by Anne Helen Petersen who also did that recent history of Jennifer Garner
Everything is Gay
Vulture Why Richard Linklater's Everybody Wants Some is inadvertently gay
New York Post Smithers finally comes out tonight on The Simpsons in its 28th season (yeesh. it's already the longest running sitcom and scripted prime time series of all time on US television)
MNPP [nsfw] Jason remembers Exit to Eden (1994) -- Dana Delany wasn't the only one obsessed with Paul Mercurio's butt
Signs of the Apocalypse
Vulture an engineer built a life-size replica of Scarlett Johansson. Don't look directly into its dead eyes!
Tom & Lorenzo Jessica Chastain posing with a terrifying baby kangaroo. RIP Jess
i-d interviews the gender neutral artist illma gore who broke the internet with a painting of nude Donald Trump. Unfortunately this means they extended the conversation about his junk. (sigh. this world)
TODAY'S WATCH
The Olivier Awards (essentially the Tony Awards of the UK) stream at 12 PM EST. Familiar Oscar nominated darlings who are up for West End acting awards this year include Nicole Kidman (in Photograph 51, which she hopes to bring to the screen), Mark Rylance, Benedict Cumberbatch, Imelda Staunton (she'll perform and Gypsy, which we reviewed, has a ton of nominations), Judi Dench and Janet McTeer. Cyndi Lauper will also perform since Kinky Boots is up for New Musical. Because the timetables are different with UK and US theater, Kinky Boots (Tony Winner 2013) is up against Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights (Tony Winner Best Musical 2008) at the Olivier Awards 2016. Strange that Kinky Boots hit the US first since it's adapted from a British film.
TODAY'S WATCH #2
Speaking of Theater. Benjamin Walker -- who is great on stage but has yet to successfully make his mark on the big screen despite a few tries -- is doing Patrick Bateman on stage. Who knows if he'll be Tony Nominated but here he is performing "Selling Out" on the Colbert Show
We really need to see some current Broadway shows before the Tony nominations hit!
Reader Comments (15)
Walker is hot obviously, but is there MORE to the show than what "Selling Out" offers especially since I'm assuming it's the opening song? The song itself seems fairly mediocre and the staging is pedestrian (though I can excuse that last part since they're not performing on their own stage).
Other than gawking at Walker's chest, I was not impressed with that performance. *That* is the opening number? Geez. I wasn't expecting a bloody jazz hand showstopper but it doesn't compel me to want to see the show at all. And this is from someone who loves the movie and 80's music.
I saw American Psycho in London with a tone-deaf and auto-tuned live (possible, somehow) Matt Smith. He was also 20 minutes late, which delayed the start of the show, and he blamed "traffic" on-stage in the opening scene. This may have predisposed me to what was to follow, but I hated it.
The songs are nearly all as bad and generic as this one. The whole thing is basically as skin-deep as the superficiality it keeps.on.singing.about. (I remember some sort of "perfect faces but we're dead inside" song and another that's the woman lead singing about dolce and gabbanna handbags--most of the song she's just listing brand names). A severe misfire that does not seem to be redeemed even by a more compelling and talented lead actor. I couldn't finish the above video.
I'm fascinated by this "American Psycho" adaptation, haven't seen it but listened to the London cast recording online. I think they are making some bold choices, but that opening number isn't one of them - "Selling Out" wouldn't feel too out of place in a "Wall Street" musical. The decision to aim for the vapidness of 80s pop and cheesy music video style dance moves is something that makes total sense to me on paper, but doesn't necessarily make for compelling viewing. All that said: very cool to see something so strange and inaccessible get launched on such a big scale; I can't begrudge them for trying something so different.
Hey Nat, since you sometimes give coverage to the HK Film Awards, I thought I would share this link with you:
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1933157/award-belongs-you-all-controversial-hit-ten-years
So many story lines this year!
I get that they are trying to be as 80s as possible but the result is boring. The lead is handsome and has a great voice. Other than that....I'm afraid the critics are gonna smashed this one down
As someone previously mention: If that is the opening number, the show is in serious trouble
Agree with the comments, totally underwhelming. I wouldn't be surprised if its closing notice is hung up very soon after opening.
"Selling Out" just gave me Smash flashbacks...and not the good kind.
The song "Selling Out" is terrible. The dancing is hilariously bad. At least I'd give Walker's chest an A+...?
"American Psycho- the Musical" looks...interesting. "Everyone Wants Some" sounds like a gay porn title
I feel like the success of American Psycho (as a show, not box office-wise) probably rests on seeing the whole thing in context. I mean, I love Benjamin Walker, but in that number on Colbert he just looked and sounded like he was doing his best Christian Bale-as-Patrick Bateman impression. The impressive thing about Mary Harron's film version is how well it walked the tricky tightrope of pitch-black satire. Bale's Bateman may have been dead inside but he projected charisma for DAYS. And honestly, I think they can only add so many songs with the same lyrical theme as "Selling Out" (which is as obvious and bone-headed an opening number as has ever been written, and it appears to be a new song for Broadway) before they kill that aspect of the story dead. I question the decision to turn American Psycho into a musical at all. BUT, the book scenes COULD save it by providing strong connective tissue and a respite from the overbearing themes of the songs (if they're all similar to "Selling Out", and it appears as though they just might be).
I am elated that Imelda Staunton won an Olivier award for "Gypsy" - she looked fabulous at the ceremony, and Judi Dench winning as well - icing on the cake.
Re American Psycho, I got a Kevin Spacey vibe from Walker's performance, from the neck up--something about his voice. Weird, I know.
And that number--ugh. Been listening to On Broadway on SiriusXM radio and they play everything, so you can hear some of the most obscure, ridiculous, and just awful show tunes ever produced. This song falls into that category.
Hopefully Staunton can match the Olivier with a Tony in 2017. Or maybe that transfer is off.
And then a Grammy for the cast album. Does an International Emmy count towards the EGOT??
Yeeeah, not real impressed with that number from American Psycho. It def sounds like a middling hit from 80's radio, but not necessarily in a good way. What kind of reviews is the show getting, I'll have to check......