Gong Li: Goddess of the Silver Screen

by Cláudio Alves

Earlier this month, Sean Donovan wrote a beautiful piece about Tilda Swinton's 2005 Hollywood adventure. The movies mentioned in that text mean a great deal to me since they represent the first time I ever came across the alien allure of that British thespian. Even as an eleven-year-old, I was hooked on this beguiling creature of the screen. Surprisingly enough, Swinton wasn't the only performer whose 2005 forays into mainstream American movies served as a gateway for my love of auteur cinema and über-glamourous deities of the big screen. 

For that was also the year when Chinese superstar Gong Li blessed Rob Marshall's unfortunate Memoirs of a Geisha with her electrifying presence…

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Almost There (x 2): Marion Cotillard in "Nine" & "Public Enemies"

by Cláudio Alves

It's become somewhat uncommon for Oscar champions in the acting categories to be a "one and done" type of deal. A good amount of the winners from the past 25 years have either received nominations after their victory or already had them before their golden coronation. All this to say that, after Marion Cotillard won the Best Actress Academy Award for her work in La Vie en Rose, it felt like it was just a matter of time before she'd be in another Oscar lineup. That follow-up nod would come until 2014 for Two Days, One Night but, before that, there were a couple of failed Oscar bids to account for.

Previously in this series, we talked about her 2012 Best Actress snub for Rust & Bone. Now, let's look further back, to the Best Supporting Actress race of 2009...

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Podcast: Aquaman Into the Poppins-Verse

Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl and Chris Feil talk new films

Index (51 minutes)
00:01 Mary Poppins Returns, the songs, the costumes, the Blunt
20:17 James Wan bonkers vision of Aquaman, shirtlessness and the lack thereof, and the kick-ass fun Nicole Kidman is having as Aquamom
30:08 Returning to the Poppins-Verse for a moment 
33:20 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and comic book style
40:40 Split opinions on Cold War but we all love the cinematography, music, and the performance of its leading actress Joanna Kulig
46:47 Murtada makes us talk about Beale Street... again.
49:45 Wrap-up

Further Reading / References
• Pawel Pawlikowski on KCRW's "The Business"
• Chris's review of Aquaman
• Yahya Abdul-Mateen underneath the "Black Manta" suit 
• Jason's review of Cold War
• Tim's review of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Into the Poppins-Verse

Months of Meryl: Into the Woods (2014)

John and Matthew are watching every single live-action film starring Meryl Streep.  

#48 —The Witch, a witch.

JOHN: In his reserved review of the original 1987 Broadway production of Into the Woods, Frank Rich summed up the plot of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s beloved musical as such: “Cinderella and company travel into a dark, enchanted wilderness to discover who they are and how they might grow up and overcome the eternal, terrifying plight of being alone.” Rich noted that, “in remaking Grimm stories, Mr. Sondheim's lyrics and Mr. Lapine's book tap into the psychological mother lode from which so much of life and literature spring.” Sondheim and Lapine’s dextrous, intertwined reimagining of classic Grimm fairy tales, from Little Red Riding Hood to Cinderella, offers a subversively adult version of these hallowed childhood fables and an artistic vision that seems fundamentally at odds with family-friendly Disney, the machine behind Rob Marshall’s 2014 screen translation.

When unhappy fans pressed Sondheim upon the film’s release to defend what felt like a compromised adaptation, he admitted that concessions were in fact happily made to secure a PG rating...

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The Links of Grindelwald

• Feedspot This is nice. The Film Experience has been listed as one of the top 40 movie podcasts.
• AV Club the Random Roles series grills Sarah Jessica Parker about her defining roles
• THR goes deep on The Favourite's power plays
• Rotten Tomatoes Ouch. Reviews for Fantastic Beasts 2 are brutal
• Pop Sugar the casting of Nagini in Fantastic Beasts was controversial but here's where you've seen the actress before
• Stephen Colbert Jude Law discuss fan nicknames for Dumbledore. Very cute

• Awards Daily Rob Marshall "wanted to bring a gift of hope into this climate" with Mary Poppins Returns
• /Film the effort to save Filmstruck has now gotten some big name directors behind it
• The Playlist opinions are divided in Hollywood about whether Netflix's theatrical play with Roma is playing by the rules or a con
• Variety ...speaking of. Italy is cracking down on streaming service with new laws about theatrical windows
• Film School Rejects Kiersey Clemons (Hearts Beat Loud) lines up a biopic which could take her career to the next level
• Coming Soon the Jack Reacher franchise is dead for now. They hope to reboot in TV series form with an actor who is more faithful to the character (who is 6'5"... nearly a full foot taller than Tom Cruise!)

Today's Must Read
• Critics Notebook "The End of Endings" I bow to this great piece. And I worry like ∞

Stage Diversions
• EW Tom Hiddleston will star in a revival of Harold Pinter's 70s classic Betrayal in the West End in the spring
• Playbill Caroline or Change returns to NYC at the Astoria Performing Arts Center next summer. I saw their production of Follies last season and it was really strong so I have high hopes that they'll do this great musical justice. I still think if they ever make this into a movie, whoever plays Caroline will win the Oscar. 
• Playbill Broadway grosses for the week: New shows Network with Bryan Cranston and Tatiana Maslany and To Kill a Mockingbird with Jeff Daniels are already hits, playing to 100% capacity. The emptiest houses are unfortunately for the Go-Gos musical Head Over Heels (which we loved but which has been struggling to find its audience). Head Over Heels will be one of the Thanksgiving performances at the Macy's Day Parade so we'll see if that helps get them through the holidays.