A Beautiful Trailer for "Isle of Dogs"

Chris here. I'm one of those oddball folks that considers Fantastic Mr. Fox as Wes Anderson's best film, so next year's Isle of Dogs has me very excited for the auteur to take another dive into the stop motion pool. And by the looks of the first trailer, Dogs will be very aligned to Fox's humor and visual aesthetic but with the added unexpected intrigue of its Japanese setting. The potential troublesome optics and use of language here gives me some pause, but we'll wait until the film arrives to access. Let's hope Anderson doesn't end up in the cinematic doghouse by delivering our worst fears here.

As you can tell from the poster, Anderson has assembled a massive cast even by his standards. Regular players like Edward Norton and Bill Murray are back, but can you believe this is his first collaboration with Scarlett Johansson and Greta Gerwig? Yoko Ono is also in the lineup if you aren't already fascinated enough.

But what a visual treat, even if it looks like it will be Anderson's most muted color palate. On the other hand: doesn't this trailer just remind you how thin this year's Best Animated Feature race is?

Isle of Links

So much news to catch up with. Deep breaths...

Vanity Fair Brie Larson is this month's cover girl. Talks awards season madness, Hollywood friendships, and Captain Marvel
Slate a breathless take on early footage from Marvel's Black Panther including kudos for what sounds like Angela Bassett's best movie part in a long time
Coming Soon Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs, his second animated feature, got a teaser poster and a release date
EW Faye Dunaway breaks her silence on February's Oscar Best Picture mixup
AV Club release dates for upcoming Disney pictures including Star Wars, The Lion King, and the bound to be terrible Frozen 2 (because didn't that story feel complete as is. sigh) 
Movie City News David Poland is done apologizing for not liking James Gray movies very much. Here's why.
Deadline Monumental Pictures has announced they're making a big screen version of the Roe v Wade Supreme Court drama that determined abortion rights in the US. Curiously the article doesn't mention that this has already been dramatized. Holly Hunter starred in the TV movie Roe vs Wade (1989) and won the first of her two Emmys (both were in the category Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Special)
Cinematic Corner Sati looks back at Dolores Claiborne (1995) 

The Stake an interesting piece about Scarlett Johansson's "embodiment quartet" (Ghost in the Shell, Under the Skin, Her and Lucy) doing work that's explicity about bodies and voices
IMDb has a bajillion casting updates for TV including new roles for Donald Sutherland, Ashley Judd, Teen Wolf star Tyler Posey, Kristin Chenoweth, Susan Sarandon's Feud followup, and a series lead for Miles Teller (who normally leads movies)
Kenneth in the (212) Erin Moran of TV sitcoms Happy Days and  Joanie Love Chachi dead at 56
Boy Culture Madonna is NOT pleased about the news about the upcoming biopic on her early years. Calls the filmmakers "charlatans and fools"  
...TFE in case you missed that earlier Madonna news
Awards Daily Ranking Hedda Hopper's Hats in Feud. I wanna kill Joey. I was totally working on an article just like this one when I saw this. argh. Must type faster
MNPP do you like Henry Cavill's new moustache? 
Boy Culture Whoa! the original Bananarama have reunited for a brief 2017 tour. Even I, who lived through the 1980s have never seen all three of them together. I did catch one Bananarama concert in my day but by that point Siobhan had already left the band. 
/Film Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen will be Timon and Pumba  in the remake of The Lion King
Variety the Outer Critics Circle nominations are announced. The musical Anastasia and the revival of Hello Dolly! lead. Curiously, though the awards cover Off Broadway as well as Broadway, Sutton Foster wasn't nominated in leading actress for her Sweet Charity. Actors who hop around between Film, TV, and Stage that were nominated this year include Bette Midler, Sally Field, Daniel Craig, Andrew Rannells,  Allison Janney, Patti Lupone, Cynthia Nixon, David Hyde Pierce, David Oyelowo, Kevin Kline, and The Lovely Laura Linney 

Wes Anderson Unleashes All-Star Cast for Isle of Dogs

Less than a month after releasing his holiday-themed short film for H&M, Wes Anderson has gifted us another charming video that takes place in cramped spaces with distinct color patterns. But this time, it's to announce the official title of his newest animated animal caper - it's Isle of Dogs and, like Fantastic Mr. Fox, it's shooting in England - as well as the laundry list of actors that will comprise his next sprawling ensemble. On top of previously announced cast members Bryan Cranston, Jeff Goldblum, and Edward Norton (who pops up in the announcement tape as comic relief), we knew to expect Anderson regulars such as Tilda Swinton and Harvey Keitel to make the cut but fresh names such as Yoko Ono, Courtney B. Vance, and Greta Gerwig are certainly cause for excitement. Hopefully the animated canines they voice will receive luckier fates than most dogs do in the Anderson cinematic universe.

The narrative of the film still remains a mystery but there's one golden opportunity that Anderson makes clear: by donating $10 to Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation through CrowdRise, you automatically enter into a contest to voice one of the pups in the picture. So if you've ever wanted to simultnaeously portray a tweed-decked terrier while supporting film preservation, now's your shot!