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News, Bits, and Bobs
Trying to keep up with things we haven't mentioned of late

• The Hashtag Show on what the casting of Ben Mendelsohn and Jude Law in Captain Marvel probably means in terms of villain/story
• EW Ridley Scott on his last minute revamp of All the Money in the World
• The Guardian Fun interview with Michael Haneke who meets the man who created that parody twitter account of the master auteur

More after the jump including Lady Bird, Mulan, and the beginning of top ten lists...

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Captain Marvel might not be imaginary after all!

While I remain skeptical about Marvel Studios commitment to their female heroes, they took a small step forward in making Captain Marvel a reality by signing directors to the project. That's right, directors, as in plural. The writer/director duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck won the gig. They're not doing the screenplay this time (which is new for them) but still co-directing. They debuted with the searing Half Nelson for which Ryan Gosling earned a well deserved Best Actor nomination. Their subsequent films (Sugar, It's Kind of a Funny Story, and Mississippi Grind) weren't quite as acclaimed but were respectable outings. They've recently been directing performance-centric shows like Looking, Billions and The Affair.   

What does this mean for the film? Well it bodes well for the acting (not that Brie Larson needs a lot of help there) since they always do right by the talent but we hope they have amazing first-timer intuitions in terms of helming action setpieces and doing a ton of greenscreen. What's the learning curve like on that?

Captain Marvel will supposedly open on March 8th, 2019. 

Someone pitch a "Beulah" Miniseries. Hear me out.

Imitation of Life (1934) starred Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers who went into the pancake business

On this day in 1902 Louise Beavers born in Cincinatti. Though she was never as famous as the similarly cast Hattie McDaniel she also had her own big film moments in the studio system including the original Imitation of Life in which Claudette Colbert got wildly rich off of her recipe while she Beavers struggled with her light-skinned daughter. FREE PITCH IDEA FOR WRITERS OF COLOR: Don't you think a prestige miniseries on Black Hollywood throughout the years would be fascinating?

More on Louise Beavers and other "on this day" items after the jump...

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"Call Me Captain Marvel"

Manuel here with what is arguably the most actressy news coming out of SDCC. The reigning Best Actress champ, one Ms Brie Larson will be joining the so-called MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) as Captain (née Ms) Marvel.

Brie was brought out during Marvel's panel at Comic Con where she got to join the casts of Dr. Strange (which boasts Oscar winner Tilda Swintin and nominees Benedict Cumberbatch and Chiwetel Ejiofor), Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (which features Oscar nominees Bradley Cooper, Sylvester Stallone, and Glenn Close), and Black Panther (with Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o). That's all a long way of saying that the MCU is already stacked with Oscary talents. It's nothing new: after all, Iron Man starred 3 Oscar nominees and one winner back in 2008. 

More on Brie's future after the jump

Call me Captain Marvel. pic.twitter.com/IgqRIb9ijM

— Brie Larson (@brielarson) July 24, 2016

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Elizabeth Debicki in Guardians Vol 2 and The Night Manager

Murtada here. Big studio franchises are aggressively courting actressexuals. Following in the heels of Laura Dern joining Star Wars, now comes the news that Elizabeth Debicki will be featured in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.

Debicki is sort of an obsession at The Film Experience. We  wrote about her here. And here. She is short listed for Villain of the Year at The Film Bitch Awards. Debicki stole The Man from U.N.C.L.E (2015) and was the most arresting figure in The Great Gatsby (2013). So much so, we thought Gatsby will be remembered mostly for being the first film in her huge career, more than anything else.

Debicki’s Guardians 2 character is being kept secret. The internet though is rife with speculation...

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