Method Linking

The Matinee on the trouble with "classics" and drawing timelines in the sand
Kenneth in the (212) the Mommie Dearest mansion is on the market
The Stake on why blockbuster franchises are all boring now. Even the good ones
National Post pop culture power rankings best and worst in method acting from Daniel Day Lewis to Jared Leto
Uproxx movies have sucked this summer - well, the big ones have. Lots of goodies in limited release 

MNPP * NSFW* Orlando Bloom made the internet all sweaty with his nude paddleboarding adventure 
MNPP I love the "Siri Says" series Jason does. She picks a number, he delivers his favorite films from that year. 
Variety Maya Rudolph to co-star in Melissa McCarthy's Life of the Party (2018)
The Tracking Board Hollywood is planning to remake Mexico's Miss Bala (sigh). Good luck finding a lead to match Stephanie Sigman in the 2011 original
Coming Soon Angelina Jolie has opted not to take the lead role in Murder on the Orient Express. Charlize Theron is the new possibility. And ICYMI...
TFE... we held a Cast This about the other roles in that remake recently.
Film Stage new Antonio Banderas movie is coming called Finding Altamira. I hadn't heard of this but it's directed by Hugh Hudson who I've suddenly realized is still alive. He hasn't made a movie in 16 years. I was just watching his Greystoke movie the other day
AV Club Antonio Sabato Jr hilarious thinks his career is over because of his support of Trump. Oh babe, it's been over for a long time. That's like blaming Obama for the death of Captain Khan who died four years before he was in offic-- oh wait.
Esquire In case you had forgotten that Clint Eastwood is an old guard conservative/misogynist, they have a new interview he does in tandem with his son Scott in which he uses "pussy" as a pejorative, disses Hillary and Obama, and tries that old chestnust "both sides" argument about Trump's behavior. Nope. Sorry Clint. Only one party tries to motivate voters with bigotry. (He also talks movies and at least he loves Sunset Blvd so he's not 100% a terrible person.)
Women and Hollywood Ava Duvernay to become the first black woman to helm a $100 million budgeted film with A Wrinkle in Time - this is news because she's quite successful already and men with a lot less success have been handed blockbuster budgets often. Crossing our fingers that it's a financial and artistic success! 

Dunkirk Teaser
Here's the very quick new tease for Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk which seems certain to net him that Best Director nomination that's eluded him so long if it's any good at all, it being a WW II movie and him being "overdue" and such. And he knows how to direct spectacle films after all.

Off Cinema
Buzz Feed "every time President Obama lost his chill around kids" if you need something adorable to look at
The Guardian Leonardo DiCaprio is "with her". He's hosting a $33,400 a plate fundraiser
The Daily Good Yes the media does play favorites in politics, but as this study shows, it isn't the people complaining about it who are getting the unfavorable treatment 

Clint Eastwood's 'Sully' Biopic Lands Its First Trailer

Daniel here. When news broke that Tom Hanks was cast as airline captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger – the real-life angel with jet wings who, in 2009, famously piloted an A320 to an emergency water landing on the Hudson River, saving the lives of all crew and passengers in the process – approximately no one was surprised. If you ever need to cast an IRL hero for the big screen, Hanks’ evergreen likeability automatically makes him the safest choice; personally, as much as I really, really, really, really, really, really like Hanks, I’d have loved to see William Hurt take the controls. Regardless, we now have our first trailer for Clint Eastwood’s Sully and down to its Oscar-nominated, underutilized actress propped as a wallpaper wife, it’s about what you've come to expect from a ripped-from-the-headlines biopic these days. To some, it seems the surest route to stoic is stale.

In lieu of our traditional Yes No Maybe So, a whole bunch of Maybe concerns... 

• How it will stretch two hours’ worth of drama from a single incident that in actuality didn’t last that long? How will it craft a compelling character arc for a figure of such broad-stroked, well, likeability. No points for originality, as it seems to take Flight’s plan of cross-examining his methodology and, briefly, toxicology. That said, its shards of PTSD and demythologizing its hero archetype through personal doubt look promising.
• While J. Edgar was a dud in the American History Eastwood department, some (including the Academy) found American Sniper’s mode of pointed patriotism to be persuasive. This could go either way.
• Eastwood’s scummy blue scrim has deservedly taken a lot of flack over the years and, for a few shots in the trailer anyway, cinematographer Tom Stern has opened a critical window for some light to make its way into the frame.
• As mentioned, The Lovely Laura Linney seems totally wasted here, issuing words of support to her husband and little else. As if that’s not bad enough, they gave her a hale bay wig to go with it. The Film Experience couldn’t be more thrilled with the movies’ recent showcases for senior actresses – Blythe Danner, Susan Sarandon, Sally Field, to name a few – but how about giving our middle-aged actresses some vehicles as well?

A firm “I hope to God I’m surprised” on this. Does it look like Eastwood's latest will take flight?

Beauty Break: Movie Stars in Uniform

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

We'll still be posting this weekend but it'll be a bit lighter daily until Tuesday morning. To celebrate this holiday commemorating those who've given their life in service to the country or who have passed on more generally, let's celebrate with beautiful movie stars in uniform but who are no longer with us after the jump...

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Best Shot: The Beguiled (1971)

This week's Hit Me With Your Best Shot subject is Don Siegel's fascinating whatsit called The Beguiled (1971). It's little like Siegel's other collaborations with his muse Clint Eastwood and assigning it to a genre is also difficult both of which might explain its fairly quiet reputation. With the news coming that Sofia Coppola will soon be remaking it, our eyes drank every frame up. And wow is this story of a wounded Yankee grifter in A Confederate girl's school ripe for a revisit. You might say that imagining how Coppola's halflidded female gaze might view this is nearly as exciting as the movie itself but in some ways it already feels like a Sofia Coppola film. Profound interest in sensual and anthropological gazing at the desires of women who can't articulate their desires? Check!

Some of the English language posters are hilariously false, suggesting it's a shoot-em-up manly western. One poster actually has four men on it when Eastwood is the only man of significance in the movie and practically the entire film involves a group of women buzzing around and hypnotized by the sick man in their midst. So I've illustrated with a French poster that feels right.

Best Shot choices are after the jump...

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Great Moments in... Craft Services

Clint Eastwood likes broccoli.

This report just in from the set of Sully, Clint Eastwood's latest. It is not a biopic about the star of Monsters, Inc. The 85 year old workaholic's latest project will star Tom Hanks as Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger who landed a plane in the Hudson River in 2009 (remember that?) to save everyone's lives onboard. It seems a slim premise for a whole feature but maybe Clint will keep the running time short for a change? That would give him more time to squeeze in a second or third picture for 2016, you know.