goodness gracious, great links of fire
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 5:56PM • Variety Susanne Bier to direct Nicole Kidman in the miniseries The Undoing about a therapist whose husband goes missing
• Paste Kyle Turner on the "literary drag" of Can You Ever Forgive Me?
• Decider Julia Roberts 'queen of comebacks she never had to make'
• Pajiba an ode to Missy on Big Mouth (also my favorite character on the show)
• AV Club Emma Thompson wore sneakers to her damehood ceremony
• IndieWire it's foolish to bet against James Cameron even if you think the idea of four more Avatars is insane
• Remezcla why was the Cuban submission Sergio & Sergei left off the Oscar Foreign Film list?
• THR will Netflix caving on an exclusive theatrical window for Roma mean more films will get that treatment?
• Vulture on the extreme closeups in this season's awards contenders
• i09 interesting piece on why we need more utopian fiction (it's all dystopias out there currently)
• Vulture unexpectedly good article "in defense of the medicore music biopic" on Bohemian Rhapsody, Great Balls of Fire, The Doors, and more...
• People Idris Elba named "sexiest man alive" for 2018
• Gizmodo MoviePass didn't kill the dream of subscription-based moviegoing. A new competitor Sinemia has lots of tiered pricing options and a $24 monthly charge if you want unlimited one non 3D movie a day.
• /Film Nothing ever stays dead onscreen. Breaking Bad will now get a film version with Aaron Paul expected to return (as a sequel to the series)
• Broadway World Angela Bassett and Cicely Tyson named honorary chairs of the 60th anniversary gala of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Post Election Blueishness
• Slate offers a practical optimistic way to look at the election results yesterday
• New Yorker "Putin Loses Control of the House" - funny piece!
Reader Comments (22)
The sexiest man alive is still Chris Hemsworth.
To my mother's astonishment, I bought the Sweet Dreams soundtrack and fell in love with Patsy Cline thanks to the movie so yes, mediocre biopics can be educational.
Speaking of which, the people in my circle who go to the movies three or four times a year demand an Oscar for Rami Malek.
James Cameron is the most arrogant bastard alive. Also, Im fairy certain he made a pact with the devil because the only amazing movies he’s made are the first two Terminators.
Oh good God how could I forget Aliens....but still the rest of his filmography isnt perfect. No idea why his films are such big draws.
kris01 -- as someone who really likes or totally loves all of his movies (well, i haven't seen Piranha II) I must disagree.
peggy -- i fell in love with her music too but not because of that movie... unless that movie was what brought her back to public consciousness (which is possible)
AMC Stubs is the best sub option for movies. $20 a month for three a week including IMAX, 3D, etc.
@Nathaniel R, fair enough, but we both know four (most likely unnecessary) sequels delayed like 50 times is directorial grandstanding that would make Orson Welles blush ;).
homecoming is fuckin brilliant! julia roberts gave one of her best performances and one of the best performances of the year.
Love Emma Thompson, but it pains me that she's a bit of a hypocrite about this whole damehood thing. She spent years and years saying she'd never get accept one, and now there she is receiving one from the most toxic Conservative government since Thatcher.
love the article on the mediocre music biopics. Ray and Walk the Line are only SLIGHTLY better than mediocre, if that. these musical biopics are often the same story done with mainstream treatment and at best slightly inspired artistry, and it's usually the central performance that provides the excitement. Bohemian Rhapsody is a pretty damn good bad movie, and Malek's performance has its thrilling moments. the movie has myriad flaws for sure. Sweet Dreams also made me fall in love with Patsy Cline and her music...I'd like to argue that it's better than most mediocre biopics, because personally I love it so much, but I know it's the same drill.
Oh Emma, those shoes look as tacky as some of your opinions on other actresses from long ago.
I was disappointed that the article on musical biopics doesn't go back and mention some of the pre-rock biopics that were even worse than those of the last 40 years. You know: Night and Day, Words and Music, Rhapsody In Blue, The Jolson Story, St. Louis Blues, The Glenn Miller Story, The Five Pennies... and tons more.
Rock biopics came of age in 1978 with uber-classic The Buddy Holly Story... which provides about a quarter of the tropes demolished in Walk Hard. I can think of no higher praise for a musical biopic!
Beto 2020, please!
Tyler you speak for millions (I hope)
Sweet Dreams is an fine film with brilliant acting (and Patsy Cline's singing!), but Coal Miner's Daughter is the gold standard for music bios, a magnificent film that not only features great music and acting, but also a fine portrayal of a whole segment of American society (remember the title). As for the old bios, Yankee Doodle Dandy, of course, and a personal fave, Love Me or Leave Me, rise far above the normal show biz bios.
Just a word about Night and Day. Overall, it's an atrocity, but Mary Martin's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" is a real wowzah, as good as Marilyn Monroe's in Let's Make Love - another movie of dubious quality overall, but with delightful bits here and there.
The best thing about Sweet Dreams is Ed Harris. Jessica Lange was horribly miscast. As Patsy Cline, Beverly D'Angelo achieves in 15 minutes in Coal Miner's Daughter what Lange couldn't in two hours.
ken, I'm STILL upset that Beverly D'Angelo wasn't nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Coal Miner's Daughter. Maybe people didn't know she did her own singing in it?!
I know people on this blog like to put down Jessica Lange but she really was in phenomenal in Sweet Dreams. Even your idol Meryl has said so several times.
Dave
Beverly D'Angelo's singing was pretty incredible, wasn't it?
I also wanted Tommy Lee Jones and Levon Helm to be nominated. In the case of Jones, I think category confusion hurt his chances. While clearly a lead, he was promoted as Supporting, which can really hinder non-front runners.
I noticed in that Susanne Bier article they did not mention the horrible SERENA. Without Olivia Colman and Elizabeth Debecki, THE NIGHT MANAGER would have been dead boring, and I blame the script and direction because the book was good. I normally like her as a director, but I think she does her best work with her Danish countrymen and women. AFTER THE WEDDING is remarkable and she was a co-writer too.
Also, WTF, Emma Thompson! (I think she was trying to make a statement since she also refused to wear a dress and make-up. Whatevs. Lately, her public rhetoric on social issues has been plagued with hypocrisy but I still love her.)
The best option for movies is to support your local independent theater(s).
Retroactively justified the Banks snug. JK, but it was a welcome omission. I'll pass on above average screen presence on autopilot taking a nomination space thank you.