Linkers Dozen

three must reads
• Blood Knife "Everyone is beautiful and no one is horny." Excellent article about the weird symmetry of the perfection of the body and the desexualization of cinema
• Thrillist Chris Feil suggests Oscars clips for this year's acting nominees
• The Ringer "Robert Pattinson has been lying to you for years" investigating the actors self-mythologizing interviews

Sam Elliott mouths off, the cast of Oppenheimer, a restoration of Alligator, Stephen King's next book, and more after the jump...

• IndieWire Sam Elliot mouths off about The Power of the Dog. (Yes, I know I should have written about this but it wasn't meant to be. I had no bandwidth for it and I was depressed because I've always loved Sam Elliott and it sounded like homophobic Ernest Borgnine bitching about Brokeback Mountain all over again)
• Film School Rejects revisits cult movie Alligator (1980) starring Robert Forster which has had a 4K restoration
• THR Alan Ladd Jr, Oscar winning producer (Braveheart, Thelma & Louise, Alien, The Turning Point) has died
• /Film Stephen King's next novel is all about Holly Gibney -- can we please get Cynthia Erivo to reprise that role since she played it so superbly in the miniseries Th Outsider
• /Film ranks the best erotic thrillers. We miss that genre so we're hoping that Deep Water is good
• Deadline the cast of Chris Nolan's Oppenheimer, which is about the making of the atomimc bomb just keeps on expanding
• The Telegraph Hammer horror actress Veronica Carlson (Dracula Has Risen From the Grave) has died
• The Guardian surveys actors who tried their hand at being pop stars. It's only a tiny sampling though. Nice to see kind words for both Scarlett Johansson and Juliette Lewis even if the actual star ratings of the album dont appear to match those kind words
• IndieWire shares 15 facts about Zodiac (2007) for its 15th anniversary

Comments

[Owl]

Truth be told I have most of the albums mentioned here plus a lot more. I was in that stage (~8-10 years) where as a DJ I would buy all sorts of albums and sample them. But the most unusual albums are usually the ones that make for a bizarro mix which always gets the audience dancing.

Having said that I thought Scarlett Johansson's "Anywhere I Lay My Head" album is sublime. It got mixed reviews at the time it came out. It remains divisive to this day. I think the 4AD guys who were recruited to deconstruct Tom Waits' music did a great job. Sometimes Scarlett's voice is just a layer of sound in a song. I like the fact that she was not singing the songs like a chanteuse or a lounge singer. This is certainly how Waits' songs are to be reinterpreted (but don't ask why I also love Holly Cole's jazzy-vocalese Waits tribute album "Temptation").

Juliette Lewis and the Licks is post-punk feral scream. Totally engaging if not something one listens to fall asleep.

Some albums I got of actors were a mixed bag: Wilford Brimley, Minnie Driver, P (Johnny Depp's rock band), Sally Kellerman, Michael Cera, Lynda Carter and even Sandra Bernhard's all-song non-comedy album. Plus a lot more.

I have since outgrown that phase, that fascination for actors who sing/play an instrument but I still have Scarlett Johansson's Tom Waits album and the one she did with Pete Yorn ("Break Up"). And Zooey Dechannel's (with M. Ward) albums.

[thevoid99]

I thought Scarlett's album of Tom Waits covers was alright. I like the fact that she went for a dream-pop element as I think she would be perfect for a Cocteau Twins over band. I also love She & Him despite some of the twee elements from Zooey. Jena Malone has some interesting stuff in her project the Shoe and in some of her solo work as it's more indie-folk/experimental.

I'm still hoping for a major supergroup project that would feature ERW, Jena, Scar-Jo 3:16, and Queen Anne.

[PoliVamp]

I pre-ordered Alligator the second it was announced (and also bought Alligator 2 while I was at it) - It's always been one of my favorite creature features and was super excited to see it get the 4K release.

[whunk (he/him)]

I wonder if Sam Elliott thinks Sergio Leone knew much about the American West.

[Mr Ripley79]

Sam Elliot needs some soap to wash his mouth out.

[Mr Ripley79]

Every home should own at least one Brigitte Nielsen album .

[Edwin]

It really is amazing just how threatened a lot of men continue to feel by the mere concept of gay cowboys. Not to mention the ridiculous accusation that Jane Campion can’t possibly know anything about the American West and therefore shouldn’t have made this movie. Considering how many classic westerns were made by non-American directors, that argument doesn’t hold any water. Unless of course he specifically meant because she’s a woman, which is a whole other can of worms.

Anyway, just to comment on a less infuriating link shared here, ALLIGATOR holds up really well and is probably the best of the post-JAWS killer animal movies (well, RAZORBACK is my favorite, but I think that’s less overtly JAWS-inspired). From the late ‘70s through the mid ‘80s, John Sayles was the master of genre screenplays that were intelligently self-aware without venturing too far into irony. This is a movie that knows what it is but embraces it rather than snidely acting above it, which is something screenwriters working in what are regarded as B-movie genres could really learn from. You can be aware of how silly the genre is without being ashamed to be a part of it, and ALLIGATOR is a great example of how to do it right. Plus Robert Forster is actually way better in this movie than he probably even needed to be. Great cameo from Henry Silva too.