The Linkling
Tuesday, April 21, 2020 at 10:20PM • Interview Awesome oddball auteur Miranda July interviews director Cary Joji Fukunaga about his latest, No Time To Die
• Variety good length piece from Peter DeBruge about the when and how of movie theaters reopening and what that might mean
• /Film Netflix wins a bidding war for a new Melissa McCarthy drama, The Starling from director Ted Melfi (Hidden Figures, St Vincent). Damn, shoulda included it in those Oscar predix we just made
• MNPP Good morning. Here are photos of Paul Newman in tighty whities
Film festival news, Julia Child doc sale, There Will Be Blood snarkiness, John Cameron Mitchell's birthday and more after the jump...
• /Film Chris Pine to headline new version of The Saint. But why are they reviving that ancient would-be franchise?
• The Guardian interesting purposefully controversial piece about There Will Be Blood. Yes, people anxious to hate on a classic they've never seen tends to be an aggravating internet gimmick but honestly a couple of very valid points are raised (I love the movie but, contrary to internet opinion, you can love something deeply and recognize valid points against it without destroying that love)
• Deadline animated picture Scoob! is going straight to VOD skipping movie theaters
• Inverse Amazon offering undistributed festival films an opportunity to stream but some filmmakers think its exploitative and will damage the future of the films
• Boy Culture today in quaratine stircraziness, Eric Alán recreates Madonna's Blonde Ambition "Like a Virgin" performance from his bedroom
• AV Club In the Heights moves to Summer 2021. We're more surprised by this than the other movies rescheduled because it seems like this movie was nearly finished. And yes...
• TFE already adjusted those Oscar charts accordingly
• IndieWire Turns out Netflix was actually prepping for an Neil Gaiman's Sandman (long rumored) before Hollywood shut-down
• Women and Hollywood a buzzing Julia Child documentary sold to Sony Pictures Classics
• Cartoon Brew San Diego Comic Con cancelled for the first time in its 50 year existence
• MNPP Happy birthday to actor/director/Hedwig herself John Cameron Mitchell. We also wish he'd make another movie. All four of them are special
Film Festivals Will Go On... and On?
• Deadline Sarajevo Film Festival planning for an August run
• The Guardian The Venice Film Festival plans to proceed in September despite the current COVID-19 pandemic and Italy's recent traumas
Reader Comments (16)
Paul Newman is still one of the most beautiful of male movie stars
That There Will Be Blood article is hot garbage. And no, I don’t care that she didn’t like it, but when your reasons are “it’s slow” and it doesn’t care about women, I can’t take the writer seriously. I realize we are all so woke now that if a movie doesn’t address everyone’s demographic equally it must be bad. Male auteur filmmakers are not required to reshape their vision to fit someone else’s narrative just like women aren’t either, nor filmmakers of color. The point of the movie is Plainview’s American capitalist greed and lust for power juxtaposed with the hypocrisy of the church. Movies don’t need to make room for everyone’s voice just to appease the mob when it isn’t the story they are telling. If you’re not interested in movies that don’t address your passions or concerns that’s fine. But it’s not the filmmakers problem. It’s yours.
While I wouldn't classify that Guardian piece as hot garbage necessarily, I think the writer is analyzing the film in bad faith. I like the writing style overall, but many of the points made seem to be as superficial as the writer accuses the film of being. For instance, if you're going to criticize the way the movie handles the character of Eli and HW, I believe you should contextualize their role in the film's ultimate thesis instead of merely suggesting a fault you don't further explain. That, and writing that posits a film's audience as a gendered monolith is something that has long annoyed me.
Honestly, upon reading it, I was immediately reminded of that piece on Vertigo that was going around last year. In it, Jessica Rithcley argues against these broad classifications that derrogatoraly deem that some films are only enjoyed by straight men, thus erasing the validity of female viewers and critics in the process.
That said, I might be reacting badly because I love There Will Be Blood, which isn't a perfect film or above criticism I must say. If my words come off as unduly harsh, I apologize.
I agree 100% with Over It. I'll go further: that article on There Will Be Blood is actually offensive. A movie doesn't need to be concerned with everyone! We'd be talking about how watered down it was if so. It's EXACTLY the movie's single-mindedness that makes it so intense and weird and riveting. That writer is an idiot, and her attempt (maybe comical?) to use that film as a framing device for her bad relationships falls flat and has no flair. And if we swapped out the gender of the writer, the movie, and the same sentiment, we would be talking about how sexist and offensive the article was. Hot garbage indeed.
"Chris Pine to headline new version of The Saint. But why are they reviving that ancient would-be franchise?"
Same reason they tried reviving it last time: Mission Impossible is making money and Hollywood executives are stupid enough to think people like it because it's based on a 60s spy show, rather than... all the other reasons its popular. See also the recent returns of The Man from Uncle and Charlies Angels that no one asked for.
I sort of found the There Will Be Blood article funny but not exactly an intelligence piece of film criticism. In a way I can relate since I do find the straight men in my life really love to latch on to certain movies that escape me. I haven't watched There Will Be Blood in over a decade so I can't really comment on her opinions on the movie itself. However I 100% agree to this point: "The writing buckled under Daniel Day-Lewis’s trademark intensity, which I always find distractingly overbearing, as though the other characters are interacting with a cartoon." This is true with most of his.. PERFORMANCES.
I really hated that she said she watched the movie on a laptop though. That's a big pet peeve of mine. How could anyone enjoy/appreciate a movie on a computer?! I know not everyone can afford a big 4K TV or has the opportunity to watch every movie at the cinema but come on, a laptop? Even worse, a phone?!
In defence of the Guardian article - it has been a really entertaining series and each entry is a member of the journalistic team (some are arts and culture writers, many are not).
She is not a professed cinephile or critic and so you need to take the article on those terms - maybe my appreciation is amplified by both There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men (both films I like but don’t love) being regarded as undisputed “best of the year” classics despite neither making my Top 10 of 2007 (Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis take my Director and Leading Actor prizes though).
Nat, why didn't you include Mank in your Oscar predictions? It wrapped filming and it's in post-production, so it should be ready in time for a Netflix release at the end of the year, just like Hillbilly Elegy (and I suppose it could be a player in several big categories).
Stefano -- I dunno. I assumed that Fincher would need a lot of time in Post I guest? He's not particularly fast. Just a hunch but I hope to be wrong. If Netflix really wants to win Oscars now is the year with so many of the traditional distributors moving all their product. The eligibility requirements are so threadbare (one theater for a week in LA) that I still marvel that anyone complains about them being restrictive. I cant imagine that at least one theater in LA doesn't reopen in time for Netflix to four-wall their entries.
Claudio darling, you've apologized so many times on this that it's lost its sense. Tho that is a characteristic - I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks and feels that way - you are so loved for, I think apologies must be used when you do mean something and then realize it was not ok to, not when you are misunderstood. In those cases, just be very sure on what you mean when writting, and you have a terrific and so clear writting, so no need to apologize. Actually, I would like to hear fromm you what an apologie is, maybe relating it with some movies, that would be interesting. Take or leave all this words, I'm just delighted about you. Keep safe from Covid :)
Cinephiles see with their own eyes that There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece. I don't know what these diversity warriors think they lose by admitting that. It's a bizarre zero-sum line of thinking, that somehow TWBB's acclaim is threatening to the types of movies they wish they saw more of.
The article of "There Will Be Blood " is pretentious. I have mixed feelings about the film- the first part in which the director is trying to be Kubrick is the best- the second part when he tries to be Orson Welles is not as successful
J -- I'm always apologizing and saying thank you, both in the comments and in real life. Some friends have told me I sound like I'm apologizing for existing. Either way, it's a personal tick, I admit.
Regarding this particular instance, I wrote the comment while grumpy from insomnia, so I wasn't sure if I would regret my irritation come morning. Better safe than sorry, you know... and I'm always sorry.
One thing I must say I'm genuinely sorry for is that typo in the comment. I meant Jessica Ritchey, not "Rithcley".
In any case, I'm glad you're delighted by me and must say your comment was very kind. Keep safe from Covid too :)
Jaragon: And the epilogue, where PT Anderson kind of gives up and just goes nuts, is AMAZING. Pretty much a live-action Looney Tune at that point.
There will be Blood holds such a special place in my heart as I was in the 8th grade when it came out, and it was the first movie that I had ever watched up to that point that made me look up Oscar predictions thus jutting into these communities. I watched it and immediately thought DDL HAD to win and I wanted to make sure everyone on the internet agreed haha
Society exhausts me.
All that article on There Will Be Blood confirmed for me is how much I want to use a bowling pin as a clobbering death tool on nearly every writer of every article I come across in 2020 and in that sense, the film already works.
Seriously, society, you and I are through. I’m moving to Walden.