Halfway Mark Links
Sunday, July 5, 2020 at 8:00PM A Must Read
• Tom & Lorenzo "One Iconic Costume" a fascinating funny and poignant piece on Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz
More Links
• Paper terrific piece on the new generation of queer comedy: Matt Rogers, Grace Kuhlenschmidt, Alex English, Cole Escola, and many more.
• Cartoon Brew despite Academy efforts toward gender parity the animation and visual fx industries are still struggling with inclusion of women. (Only 1 in 8 people invited to join the visual effects Academy branch are women this year.)
More after the jump including Hamilton, Netflix hit 365 Days, best of the first haf of the year and more...
• IndieWire How Hamilton did "color-conscious casting" before it was mainstream
• Variety Earl Cameron, one of the first leading black actors in the UK, has died at 102 years of age
• TFE our list of the 200 oldest living screen stars (in case you missed it) and which we try to keep updated
• Two Dollar Cinema sees what the fuss is about (or doesn't) with Netflix sex title 365 Days
• The Guardian on Cate Blanchett double Hulu's Mrs America and Netflix's Stateless
• Vanity Fair 25 years worth of 4th of July Box Office winners ranked
• Rick's Real/Reel Life looks at the De Havilland / Davis picture In This Our Life (1942)
Halfway Mark
Here at TFE we usually share a big list of fav movies and performances of the year thus far but we've seen less new movies this year than at any time since... 1991? We've mostly been stuck on old movies for the Smackdowns and longing for movie theaters. But other sites with their huge staffs managed to keep up so here are some 'best of year' lists posted around the halfway mark.
• USA Today 10 best films: Shirley, Bacurau, True History of the Kelly Gang, etc...
• TVLine Best shows of 2020: Normal People, What We Do in the Shadows, I May Destroy You, Agents of SHIELD (resurgent for its farewell season) etc...
• The Ringer 25 best thus far: Never Rarely Sometimes Always, First Cow, Babyteeth, etc...
• Vulture best films of 2020: The Whistlers, The Assistant, Beanpole, etc...
• Esquire 30 best films of 2020 (thus far): Bad Education, Da 5 Bloods, Emma, Crip Camp, etc...
Reader Comments (15)
Read the article about Cate Blanchett because I have just recently seen “Stateless” and I couldn’t agree more about the writer’s take on Blanchett. She does have the talent and the presence that is hard to ignore.
She appears only in two or three episodes in Stateless and I wish she had more scenes. It was a delight seeing her dance and sing. Really worth watching the show just for that.
On a side note, Yvonne Strahovski, was great, but her German accent was terrible.
We're really lucky to be living in the age of Cate Blanchett. There's no one quite like her.
When are you planning on uploading your Best Of The 2010's list/serie
Agents of SHIELD: For something that ABC (honestly), probably should have realized that the only way it had ANY chance of staying canon was if they ended after Season 1, it's been a heck of ride (and, except for Season 3, a good show on top of that) watching what they do, whether in spite of or because of that fact.
I agree. 'Agents of SHIELD' has been an absolute delight this final season. And especially since this will likely be the ONLY Marvel release this year (give or take Black Widow and/or Falcon & Winter Soldier by end of year) and the dearth of NEW TV for ABC, it's weird that they've kept the summer schedule and at airing it at 10pm with little fanfare. Oh well.
off topic: RIP Ennio Morricone
Cate Blanchett is about... 10th or 12th down the list of good things about Stateless. Yvonne is incredible.
Seen Stateless as well and I was floored by Cate's performance. Wanted to see more of her character.
Have to agree that Yvonne didn't nail the German accent. I am German after all. ;)
Nathaniel,
Thanks for linking my post on 'In This Our Life!'
The anti-racism subplot is handled so much better than the sibling rivalry main story between Bette and Olivia. But Bette deserves big props for giving Ernest Anderson, as Parry, his big break and insisting he play the role in a non-stereotypical way. Sadly, after serving in WWII, Anderson could only get bit parts.
However, he turns up in a number of post-war movies, and I was surprised to see him as Eva Marie Saint's train porter in 'North By Northwest.' I recognized his voice immediately!
And as I mention in my post, Ernest is the ice cream guy who gets nicked for two cones by Bette's Baby Jane!
Cheers and check out my post,
Rick
I don;t think it matters if Strahovski's accent was terrible. Her character was an Australian putting on an accent.
Ennio Morricone has died! Once Upon a Time in the West is the greatest score ever!
Have to admit, I like the fact that so many small films are so accessible right now. Yes, I go to theaters often when it is safe, but many of these films still might not have reached me.
@Travis, I think Yvonne's German accent matters because her character was Australian pretending she's German. No one would actually believe she's German.
With that said, I still think she gave a great performance.
goodbar - the series is set in the middle of Australia, in a refugee asylum centre(/concentration camp). There wouldn't be many people working or incarcerated there who would recognise it as a bad accent. And Strahovski's character is a suburban Australian so it is absolutely feasible that her attempt at a German accent is bad. So, for me, it could definitely be the case that the bad accent is part of Strahovski's technique. Criticising it is a bit like criticising Meryl for singing badly in FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS.
Thank you very much for the link.
The lack of new releases has been such a drag, but it's either going to be a wild year-end, or an incredibly stacked 2021 (assuming we make it that far), so at least there's a little silver lining, perhaps? Not sure why more stuff isn't headed to VOD at this point, as it's really only been the family stuff.
Maybe a studio should try something in a different demographic??