Linkface

Scouting New York Fun/creepy. Take a retro tour of American Psycho's New York City landmarks. 
Pajiba Speaking of Christian Bale. The web is abuzz with all those Dark Knight Rises on set photos now that filming has commenced. I agree with Iggy on Tom Hardy's lipless "Bane" look, however true to character it may be. Iggy wrote...

Hardy. Better with lips.

it must be a cinematic crime hiring Hardy, the most lusciuous male lips, and make him wear that thing. Could this be considered playing against type?

Geekscape Since Batman is in the air, why not a ranking of all filmed Catwomen? I find it hilarious that Anne Hathaway is included in this six-wide field since she hasn't even purred yet. Who knows how good she will or won't be? The Pfeiffer write up is insightful.
Twitch Superhero fatigue has not yet set in. Commissioned scripts for Ant Man and Doctor Strange have been turned in to Marvel Studios. 
My New Plaid Pants surveys the current wanting cinema crop 
Twitch Forbes Highest Paid Actors list: Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio are up top but the list is soooo 1990s as if nothing ever changes in Hollywood. 

La Daily Musto Hello Gorgeous. Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) will star in the revival of Funny Girl. I'm stunned and happy. Here's a video making the rounds of her doing the famous closing number "My Man"

It's such an interesting choice because it clearly signifies that the producers are NOT trying to duplicate Barbra. Which is, I think most people of sound minds would admit, the only sane way to approach reviving such an iconic connected-to-one-legend piece of theater.

Austin Translation "there's a snape in my boots" 
Regretsy Zombie Golden Girls 
Broadway Blog the original Evita and Che, Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin are reuniting for a limited run concert on Broadway. 

Finally, mark your calendars for August 31st. Gonzo 80s 'classic' Scarface will be showing at 500 screens nationwide to celebrate an epic Blu-Ray release. I'm not wild about the movie which is so widely embraced by gangstas who love its excess unironically and ignore its cautionary tale finale. But if you've never seen it you'd be crazy to miss the chance to see Michelle Pfeiffer's first great performance on the big screen. That year's supporting actress nominees can kiss her skinny pampered ass. Imagine that arguably star-making backless dress / elevator descent entrance on the big screen! Al Pacino's ambitious criminal is hypnotized and so were movie audiences, rescuing La Pfeiffer from her then status as 'Grease 2 girl'. If her entrance isn't enough imagine those 80s dance moves, or the huge-ass sunglasses. Chase those Pfeiffer visuals with mounds and mounds of coke snorting and utter icy contempt for everyone in her field of vision... including herself. She's mesmerizing. Oh and, yeah, some people would describe the movie that way, too.

Your Fav' Eighties Ladies!

Over the past couple of months we've been holding "Best Character" polls for Oscar's Best Actress category history. We asked not who should win the Oscar but which characters own real estate in your memory. Previously you selected Miranda Priestley, Clarice Starling and other iconic bitches as your favorites from the Nineties and the Aughts. 

But what of the 1980s? Here are the results. *asterisks indicate Oscar winning performances.

Three unarguably iconic characters: Sophie, Celie and Aurora

1981-1985

1. *SOPHIE ZAWISTOWSKI (Meryl Streep) from Sophie's Choice
2. CELIE (Whoopi Goldberg) from The Color Purple 
3. *AURORA GREENWAY (Shirley Maclaine) from Terms of Endearment
4. KAREN SILKWOOD (Meryl Streep) from Silkwood
5. VICTORIA GRANT (Julie Andrews) from Victor/Victoria

Diane Keaton's wondrous performance in REDS (1981) has not been forgotten.Runners Up: To complete the top ten you'd need (in descending order) a third Streep with KAREN BLIXEN from Out of Africa, Debra Winger's EMMA GREENWAY from Terms..., Jessica Lange's rendition of troubled movie star Frances, and with nearly a tie for tenth place Katharine Hepburn's *ETHEL THAYER from On Golden Pond and Diane Keaton's LOUISE BRYANT from Reds. 

Observations: The Streepster's reascendance in the Aughts has obviously polished her earlier work to a healthy shine which would partially explain her tremendous lead as "Sophie" (well, that and the performance itself) and Karen Blixen's near top five placement, despite being hardly as memorable as Sophie or the other Streep/Karen. 

Weakest Showing: While Jessica Lange was an Oscar favorite in the 1980s, her JEWEL IVY in Country received 0 votes. But then Oscar's oft-derided "Year of the Farm Wives" fared terribly, with all three of the farm women failing to muster much enthusiasm. And to think they could have had Kathleen Turner's fiction writer Joan Wilder from Romancing the Stone in there. (She would've hit the top five most memorable characters, don'cha think?)

1986-1990

Dangerous Ladies ruled the Late Eighties

1. LT ELLEN RIPLEY (Sigourney Weaver) in Aliens
2. ALEX FORREST (Glenn Close) in Fatal Attraction
3. *ANNIE WILKES (Kathy Bates) in Misery
4. SUSIE DIAMOND (Michelle Pfeiffer) in The Fabulous Baker Boys
5. MARQUISE DE MERTEUIL (Glenn Close) in Dangerous Liaisons

Runners Up: Completing the top ten in descending order are Julia Robert's Pretty Woman VIVIAN WARD (who initially looked like a top three threat but kept fading throughout the course of voting), Cher's *LORETTA CASTORINI in Moonstruck, Streep's SUZANNE VALE (AKA CARRIE FISHER) in Postcards from the Edge, Anjelica Huston's hard as diamonds LILLY in The Grifters and in a tie for tenth place Holly Hunter's JANE CRAIG from Broadcast News and Jessica Tandy's *MISS DAISY the one who who drove right over the Pfeiffer/Oscar dream. Damn you, Oscar voters!

Observations: Looking back it looks like Meryl Streep owned the first half of the 1980s while Glenn Close threatened her dominance in the decade's second half. And to think they might go at it again this year?!? This poll was the most contentious of the six polls we've held with very small differences in rank between the winners and much in the way of surges and drops. A certain formidable alien fighting woman was always out front but Alex Forrest refused to be ignored and wouldn't allow her a huge lead. Spots 3 through 10 shifted repeatedly with my beloved Kathleen Turner's PEGGY SUE just missing the top ten. [Sniffle]

Fonda and Bridges in THE MORNING AFTER (1986)Weakest Showing: Jane Fonda's ALEX from The Morning After  (which Nick and I tried to recall on the "1986" podcast) received 0 votes from the nearly 800 cast. Of Fonda's seven nominations it's her last and (obviously) her least remembered. It's currently available on Netflix's Instant Watch. Sadly Sally Kirkland's ANNA only barely registered. Kirkland is best known to today's audiences as that crazy-dressing lady who sometimes shows up at the Oscars but that surprise nomination for 1987 was hard-earned. Don't believe me? Watch the movie on Netflix Instant Watch.

Should we do the 1970s?  
What do you make of these 80s polls? Did your fellow TFE readers choose well or would you like to stalk them with Alex Forrest's butcher knife, Ripley's flame-thrower or Annie's hobblin' hammer and right the wrongs they done?

Denzel's Pastrami

Mmmmm, (cinematic) sandwiches.

[Hat tip to the Daily What] That shot of Denzel Washington with his mouth full is too great. But my favorite clip in that montage is Marion in Raiders of the Lost Ark. She's got true appetite.

But clearly they forgot  short order cook / lonely waitress classic Frankie & Johnny.

Frankie: I gotta eat
Johnny: We all gotta eat -- we'll eat. How about i make a little picnic for us?
Frankie: What's the menu?
Johnny: Whatever you like. You like tuna fish. I can make casserole.
Frankie: No, Not tuna casserole. [makes face] No. Tuna fish sandwich.
Johnny: I am defined by my tuna sandwich! I take the tuna out of the can and I work it between my fingers until it gets real soft.

What are you hungry for right about now?

Sage Advice From the Movies

Always reward correct answers with chocolate!
The next time anybody tells you what you want to hear, give them a candy bar. (Unless that somebody is a dog or an unfortunate human with allergies) Positive reinforcement, baby!

"The Great Lesson: Chocolate, the Ultimate Reward" -Nathaniel Rogers

This worked for Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds. Let that be a lesson to us all!

Any teachers reading? Have you tried this or do you do boring things like give them good grades when they answer well?

I did this drawing for Illustration Friday since the week's theme is "lesson" and the very first thing that came to mind was the ridiculous Dangerous Minds (1995) which I love, don't you? I love chocolate more than just about anything and if "White Bread" Michelle Pfeiffer was tossing it to me for being a good boy I'd probably love it even more.

Next up in the ridiculous teacher genre:
BAD TEACHER with Cameron Diaz. We didn't do a yes no maybe so on that trailer but are you excited for it?

Pforever