Good morning film fans. Make today a good one. We'll help with suggestions as to mental memes and mood boosters for the day.
Five showbiz anniversaries of note today (May 10th) and how to honor each of them
2013 The Great Gatsby opens in movie theaters. It's yet another hit for Baz Luhrmann and yet another Oscar-winning moment for his wife/collaborator Catherine Martin. It's also, to date, your only chance to see Leonardo DiCaprio in a pink suit.
In its honor today: Listen to that great soundtrack and annoy your friends by calling them "ol' sport" all day!
1977 Joan Crawford dies (as just dramatized on Feud's finale). But like all of the great film stars, she's immortal...
with Clark Gable in CHAINED (1934)
People have been trying to reduce her or count her out since she first became famous but she held on for decades with an iron grip...
She was declared box office poison. Mommie Dearest made her the butt of jokes. Feud pretended she was interchangeable with Standard Jessica Lange Character. But despite all the attempts to undermine her, JOAN CRAWFORD (in all caps) lives on.
In her honor today: Queue up one of her classics. Total movie star.
1962 The Hulk debuts in "The Incredible Hulk" #1 published by Marvel Comics
In his honor today: Wear green and rewatch that Thor: Ragnarok trailer if you've missed the big green guy.
1955 Marty wins the Palme D'or at Cannes. It's the only time in history that the Cannes champ goes on to also win the Oscar for Best Picture (unless you count The Lost Weekend from 1946 which you shouldn't, as it shared the with 10 other films and that was also before the prize was called the Palme d'Or and after the movie had already won the Oscar)
In its honor today: Be like a scrappy no budget indie and surprise everyone
1940 Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of England and tasked with forming a wartime coalition government. John Lithgow just won a SAG Award playing him in the TV series The Crown. Two new movies featuring Churchill are on the way: Darkest Hour stars Gary Oldman (who is surely hoping for Best Actor dominance) as Churchill during World War II and he's also a character (played by Brendan Patricks as a young man) in the curious project The Professor and the Mad Man which stars Mel Gibson as a professor compiling a dictionary who is sent 10,000 entries from asylum-dwelling Sean Penn.
In Churchill's honor today: Fear nothing but fear itself.
1872 Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for US Presidency (by the Equal Rights Party) and the first to run. She was only 34 at the time and a leader of the Suffragette movement.
In her honor today: Be excited about the forthcoming biopic starring Brie Larson. Woodhull led a dramatic life!
Linda Evangelista in the wildly entertaining documentary UNZIPPED (1995)
OTHER BIRTHDAYS
Dance icon Fred Astaire (vote on the new poll!), Movie mogul David O Selznick, Oscar winning composer Max Steiner (Now Voyager, Top Hat, Gone With the Wind), Director David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water, Starred Up), Oscar winner Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph, Zootopia), Italian auteur Ettore Scola (A Special Day, Le Bal), supermodel Linda "I don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day" Evangelista, rock stars Sid Vicious and Bono, and the great French actress Emmanuelle Devos (Kings and Queen, Read My Lips). They all share May 10th as a birthday. If today is your birthday that's quite a group of fellow revelers.
OTHER ANNIVERSARIES TODAY
Rustlers Rhapsody (1985), Twister (1996), The New Guy (2002) all opened in movie theaters. Nelson Mandela's inaugurated as South Africa's first black president (1994) -- he's been played by both Morgan Freeman and Idris Elba at the movies. Laverne and Shirley aired its last episode (1983). Louis and Marie Antoinette became King & Queen of France (1774). Their reigns were short. Cue: the guillotine.