Night of the Living Link
Saturday, May 16, 2020 at 10:40PM • Theater Mania the Tony Awards to be replaced by... a Grease sing-a-long? Broadway fans are not happy about it. There are so many ways CBS could have filled the air time that were still about current or classic theater
• The Guardian In career trajectories we totally dont understand Luca Guadagnino who started off so masterfully with fresh filmmaking in I Am Love and Call Me By Your Name is signed on for his THIRD remake, this time its Scarface (1983) which was itself a remake of course
• New York Times a must-read oral history of the making of Mad Max: Fury Road
What We Do in the Shadows, new Criterion BluRays, a remake of "10", a new project for Michael B Jordan, more celebrity deaths (sniffle) and other topics after the jump...
• Vulture amazing chat with Michael Mann about directors in quarantine
• Deadline Blake Edwards "10" (1979) is being 'reimagined for contemporary audiences with Julie Andrews executive producing
• Variety interesting take on the problem of Tom Hardy's increasingly non-verbal performances... very good article except for the fallacy promoted yet again that Brando singlehandedly changed acting. Uff. Brando wasn't acting in a vacuum. He didn't invent the method or naturalism. He just became its most popular practitioner... especially in retrospect.
• MNPP have any of you watched The Great yet? For Nicholas Hoult's bum or other reasons?
• Out there's a new streaming service that will offer lots of Asian LGBT content
• Vanity Fair 5 new costumes dramas to watch in quarantine
• IndieWire Danny Boyle to direct Michael B Jordan in Methusaleh, a project originally based on the 900+ year old biblical characcter but apparently the project has changed quite a bit over its development
• Cinematic Corner are you watching What We Do in the Shadows? You really should be. It's quite hilarious and I would be comfortable with it being showered in Emmy nominations (all of which seem, alas, highly unlikely)
• Deadline CBS has renewed 18 shows for next season (we expect to hear a lot more of this since networks and production companies will obviously be cramming to rush things into production and its easier if there's already a production in place)
• /Film "How did this get made" --a look back at Cool World (1992) - remember that? My biggest memory of it is thinking that the James Bond people probably felt healous about the female lead's name "Holly Would"
• MNPP Criterion's new releases - love the cover for Comfort of Strangers (which i've somehow ever seen despite a Rupert Everett obsession in that time frame
• Cartoon Brew very niche post for Hanna-Barbera lovers. A looks at all the moments in Scoob! that pay tribute to the old animation company
• Variety movie theaters are slowly beginning to reopen, but it's drive-ins that are making the dollars right now - which makes sense because that would be the safest way to see a movie on a big screen right now
• Mettel Ray do you love beards? If so here are 10 beards from TV and film you might have lusted after at some point
RIP
• Variety director Lynn Shelton (Humpday, Little Fires Everywhere) has passed away. She was only 54.
• Rolling Stone comic actor Fred Willard (Best in Show, This is Spinal Tap) has died at 86. Sadly...
• Fred Willard ...he was just tweeting about the loss of another comic, great Jerry Stiller
EXIT VIDEO
Neon released a beautiful video celebrating one year of Parasite's existence. Isn't it wonderful that before the world ended this movie won Best Picture? It's still hard to believe on some days, isn't it?
Reader Comments (31)
RIP Fred Willard.
Recently rewatched The Comfort of Strangers during isolation.
Great performance from Natasha Richardson and the film is absolutely drenched in intrigue and mood. Sadly it all falls apart after the final frames as you wonder what it all lead to and what exactly was the point. Seems to give up in a sudden swirl of violence rather than explore its themes in any depth. Definition of failing to deliver on promise: Answers are too simplistic for the complexity of its questions.
Still... worth the initial watch for the best depiction of the labyrinthine Venice-at-night this side of Don’t Look Now.
I don’t connect with Luca Guadagnino at all. They’re handsome productions but I always feel disengaged. Maybe they’ll have moments here and there but overall I’m unmoved. Anyone else feeling this? I feel left out.
@Owen,
Nope, just you.
Fred Willard clearly left behind a legacy that inspires laughter and love. On Twitter and all over the internet everyone is celebrating his deadpan humour. To honour him I will watch "Best in Show" as soon as possible.
Lynn Shelton's death surprised me, still relatively young, and very talented. A quick glance at her IMDB entry shows me just how often I watched her work on TV without realizing it.
Most articles mention "Hump Day" and "My Sister's Sister", but I think "Laggies" was very funny and unfortunately not as well appreciated. She was in her prime, and this loss is truly sad.
Lynn Shelton at 54 is a shock. My favourite of hers is OUTSIDE IN (Mark Duplass made my best actor line-up in 2018 for it) but MY SISTER'S SISTER and LAGGIES are other favourites. Might try and watch SWORD OF TRUST tonight.
I had a big Saturday finding out online that Richard Madden is gay.
Tony Awards.- There's a tweet praising Michael Jeter's brilliant performance in 1990. I feel seen.
Pick your own quote from Best in Show to honour Fred.
I love beards but I love beards shaving even more...
Owen - I'm with you (on Luca G).
Owen you are not alone
Fred Willard was a true comedy legend... Tom Hardy is one of those good looking actors who feels he must make himself look ugly in order to be taken seriously... we don't need another "Scarface" and not from the man who ruined "Suspiria"
I'm not sure this makes sense, but for me Tom Hardy is probably the "worst" working actor with the largest set of tools at his disposal (talent, charisma, presence, etc). I despise the vast majority of his performances and think they actively diminish the quality of the films, and I think it's because he doesn't have the taste or the intelligence to know how to use the tools he has. To extend the metaphor, it's like he tries to use a hammer to do a screwdriver's work, or as if he's just randomly hammering nails into a piece of wood with no regard for their purpose--he just likes the act of hammering, so he does it.
He's a waste of what should have been a generational talent. The only performances of his I admire are Mad Max:Fury Road, Inception, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Virgin Queen.
Thank you SO much for the info on the Asian streaming service. My man is obsessed and we've run out of "easy" content to find. Hopefully there will be something good in the bizarrely named GagaOOLala.com for us to watch. At least there should be sufficient eye candy.
Lynn Shelton's early death is so tragic. Humpday and My Sister's Sister are very solid and show that she clearly knows how to put together a good movie. She was probably just one hit away from mainstream interest. RIP for sure.
Kate: Yeah, he could be great. But it's that insane mix of Wanting to Look Ugly and his instincts toward a Ministry of Silly Voices. How else to explain...probably the worst performance of his career...BANE?
CBS could've easily worked with the Broadway community to have done SOMETHING else for the date of when the Tony was going to air. Clips from previous shows, new (at home) commentary from Broadway performers/legends, a call to action for viewers to donate to the Actor's Fund, etc. So silly they didn't even try.
What We Do In the Shadows is so freaking HILARIOUS. Everyone should catch it if they haven't already.
Cool World is a guilty pleasure of mine. Can't help it.
Regarding that Luca Guadagnino remake, the only Coen Brothers screenplay made by another director that turned out well was Bridge of Spies, and I believe that was a for-hire revision of an existing script that they agreed to do specifically for Spielberg. Directors do not succeed when they film their abandoned scripts. But he has about 6 projects pending, so who knows if it will ever get made?
Lynn Shelton's death is so tragic.
I do find Luca Guadagnino's interest in remakes kind of odd, but at least they're all vastly different films. And speaking of Guadagnino, The Comfort of Strangers actually feels like something he would make. I agree with Tim's assessment of how it falls apart at the end, but I'm more forgiving of it.
Peggy Sue- Thanks for reminding me of Michael Jeter’s “Grand Hotel” Tony performance and win. I didn’t see it live, but it’s one of the clips I go to on YouTube when I need to raise my spirits. (Happening a lot lately...) The man was just pure joy— shaped by knowing hard times and pain. Watch his speech to appreciate the performance even more. Wouldn’t it be great to televise a compilation of clips like this in place of the Tony Awards instead of a Grease rerun? The clip of Indina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth In “Wicked” is another favorite.
I’m loving “What We Do in the Shadows“ on TV, even more than the film version. Natasia Demetriou as Nadia is my favorite.
Nathaniel, thanks for providing this place for thoughtful but fun discussion of the arts. There’s not another place like it online. You are a star!
I'm with Tim and thefilmjunkie. Perhaps I should revisit The Comfort of Strangers but as I recall it kind of falls off a cliff with that ending (which is fitting for an early McEwan novel, but it's not especially cinematic, at least as presented).
The ending of Comfort of Strangers is certainly abrupt but I remember loving Walken and Mirren in it.
I'm still in shock over Lynn Shelton's passing. I haven't seen anything she did but the fact that she died like that is shocking and she didn't even look 54. Willard's passing is just as hard. This year really fucking sucks.
The Great is so much fun!!
Good to hear you're a fan of What We Do In the Shadows, there is an episode coming up next month which "may" feature some more surprise appearances like the Vampire Trial from Season 1. One of whom "may" be someone that is currently on another FX show.
They are remaking "10"?!
The Grease sing-a-long idea made this theater lover really mad. ITV in the UK did a better thing, even though it was quickly stitched together. Since the Olivier Awards were cancelled, they aired a Best Moments show during the same time slot. Segments included musical numbers and clips of memorable speeches. I suppose you could do the same thing on your own by looking at Youtube videos, but it was kind of nice to have the compilation. CBS should know better. They produce The Good Fight filled with Broadways stars FFS.
Sad about both Lynn Shelton and Fred Williard.
I'm not a big fan of Tom Hardy, though I really like him in Peaky Blinders and Locke. And he made a good, tortured Heathcliff in a TV version of Wuthering Heights.
Marc Maron's podcast tribute to Lynn Shelton just posted. You have to listen to it. Such a heartbreaking and moving piece of art. Such a tragic loss. RIP. :-(
P.S. Cláudio you are the supernova!
Peggy Sue, I can’t find a Richard Madden coming out link, could you post it please. Or do you mean it in a Spacey/Seasons of Bette’s imminent return open secret kind of way?
Thanks so much for the link! WWDiTS is incredible!