Tonight Tiffany Haddish will be hosting Saturday Night Live in what some are hoping will be the beginning of a Best Supporting Actress campaign for her breakthrough role in Girls Trip. While it’s been unclear if the studio would be campaigning her, Haddish deserves the kind of groundswell effort that makes awards groups take notice.
How likely are her chances? Melissa McCarthy’s Bridesmaids nomination has been the obvious comparison, at least in terms of recent Oscar history - summer hit, female ensemble comedy, a presumptive “unlikely” narrative. But in her performance I see much more than that. To this viewer, she recalls the hilariously warped pathos of Madeline Kahn, the lovability of Octavia Spencer, and the imposing confidence of Rita Moreno. That’s high praise for sure, but gets at the full spectrum of her work that I’d wager hasn’t been fully explored...
Salon Sandra Bullock to play Texas senator Wendy Davis, who famously filibustered an anti-abortion bill for 12 hours. Oscar #2? Variety interviews actor/playwright Tracy Letts who is really having a good year you must admit. Lady Bird is a hit in theaters and his new play just opened in Chicago Hollywood Reporter has a good interview with Steven Soderbergh Instagram Lupita Nyong'o loves her natural hair and is upset with a magazine for airbrushing it away Variety Replacing Kevin Spacey in All the Money in the World is going to cost at least 2.5 million MNPP Do Dump or Marry: Thor Ragnarok edition
Stage Deadline this is a surprise the Tony Awards have declared the recent production of "1984" ineligible for prizes. They have not stated why exactly. Playbill reviews are in for Broadway's new musical The Band's Visit, based on the Ronit Elkabetz film of the same name if you remember that one Theater Mania photos of Kelli O'Hara and Patrick Wilson rehearsing for Brigadoon. Hope it's swoon-worthy Playbill Jake Shears (of Scissor Sisters fame) joining Kinky Boots on Broadway next year. Damn, I guess I'll have to see it a third time
Harassment Epidemic Updates AV Club on Hollywood's long overdue moral reckoning New Yorker Emily Nussbaum has a terrific piece on Louis CK's comedy through the lens of recent allegations New York Times Louis CK has confessed to the claims against him "These stories are true" Medium Actor Anthony Edwards has come forward to say he was molested by a producer when he was underage Guardian Ellen Page has detailed homophobic remarks director Brett Rattner made to her during the production of X-Men: Last Stand Washington Post showing their utter depravity GOP officials are now citing the bible to justify Roy Moore's sexual assault on an underage girl. And just think, last month they were slamming Hollywood for its depravity with Harvey Weinstein.
Oscar Campaigns Heat Up Awards Daily Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) to receive Rising Star award at Palm Springs Variety Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project) to receive Vanguard award at Santa Barbara
And cheeky Meryl Streep met with Anna Wintour (who she sent up in her Oscar worthy work in Devil Wears Prada) to promote her new star vehicle The Post
Italy's "Cinderella the Cat" which is aimed at adults
Twenty-six films have been deamed eligible for this year's Animated Feature Oscar competition which means we'll have 5 nominees yet again (only 16 eligible features are required to trigger the maximum category size). The only mild surprise was that Leap!, Nut Job 2, and Spark were not submitted --usually, even if an American picture doesn't have a prayer in hell, the studios will submit it anyway. This year the rules are slighly different for the category as people that aren't within the animated branch can also take part in the nominating process. Consider this year a test to see if this new rule crowds the little seen but artful deserving foreign titles, that the category has become known for, out of the race. We fear that it might though we're currently predicting business as usual (three US pictures, two foreign) anyway...
This season's Oscar ceremony, the Academy's 90th annual shindig, is on March 4th, 2018. Did you know that only two Oscar ceremonies have ever happened on a March 4th? Late February, Late March, and early April have been the most frequent time frames over the decades.
the acting winners of '42: Van Heflin, Greer Garson, James Cagney, and Teresa Wright
The posters for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's third season warned us. In them, Rachel Bloom spoofed iconic imagery from Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Basic Instinct, sending a clear message: Bloom's Rebecca Bunch is one of our great anti-heroes, and she's about to go full-tilt crazy. And those posters didn't even tell the half of it. We're only four episodes into the new season, and already Rebecca's life in West Covina appears to have reached the end of the line. Things are moving so fast that each episode so far has left me breathless, perpetually on the edge of my seat wating for the next installment.
It's the best, most daring show on air right now, and it's even more jam-packed with film references than before. BUT BE WARNED. Lots of spoilers after the jump...
Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 10:18AM 
