Links: Shoot Kristen Wiig, Vote Hugo Cabret, Fire Brett Rattner

Deadline is Hugo a serious Best Picture contender. Industry giants are getting behind it's 3D immersiveness and movie love.
Animation Mag ginger tomcats on the rise and it's not just Puss in Boots. Here comes word of a new animated film called Tailchaser's Song. I suspect we won't see this one till 2013 or 2014 because you know how long animated films take.
Empire another new animated film coming our way soon is Hotel Transylvania with Adam Sandler voicing the count who runs a destination for famous monsters and Miley Cyrus voicing his daughter Mavis. That's what she'll look like to your left.
Rope of Silicon revisits David Fincher's Panic Room (2002). How long has it been since you've seen that one? 

In Contention Spielberg's now talking War Horse but not everyone is happy about the screening strategies thus far.
24 Frames reminds us that Tom Cruise is going to be in a musical. We keep forgetting this one, Rock of Ages
AV Club Ebert Presents... At the Movies may be shuttering this season due to cost.
Terry Richardson just had two women we love in his studio: Dakota Fanning and Kristen Wiig. Which reminds me just got my "consider" copy of Bridesmaids. Yay... so eager to rewatch though it will be weird to watch without the hysterically laughing audience we saw it with in the movie theater.  

hate him
Have you heard the latest on new Oscar director Brett Rattner. As if his bad movies weren't enough reason to object to him. Now he goes and says "Rehearsing is for fags." Really, Brett? He's since apologized but really...? That's the kind of thing the would be director of Wicked should really feel. Big epic musicals, after all, are best when improved (lol)... and calling actors fags? Yikes. Awards Daily thinks AMPAS should fire him and The Film Experience seconds. And we all know how well AMPAS listens to our every suggestion like the time we gave them brilliant notes about all the legends who have never presented Best Picture an... oh wait, never mind. They never listen. Whaddya want bet it's Spielberg, Hanks or Nicholson presenting best picture again this year? (sigh)

Christopher Neimann illustrated his NYC marathon run. small screen
Wow Report It's not enough to make me start watching TV's Once Upon a Time again (it make-a my eyes bleed! it got dumped from the DVR) but get this: Greer Garson's genes are in one of the actor... them's world class genes. Greer Garson Genetic Greatness! I guess we should write about her sometime. We love.

offscreen fun
Paper Mag someone live tweeted live illustrated his whole NYC marathon run. Yowza. That's going the extra mile. Although honestly I thought this was illegal. I thought they had very strict rules about no phones and no tweeting while doing it. They only have a limited number of spots in the marathon each year for eager runners. Every year I go outside and clap for them until I am tired. What, that's exercize for me. All that arm movement. More strenuous than typing.

TIFF: Norwegians and "Goons."

Paolo here. I've never made a secret that ever since watching that Lars von Trier film, it's been my goal to see TIFF movies that are pretty gross (I say last year's was Aronofsky's Black Swan but most would say Bruce LaBruce's LA Zombie). If the three films I saw today were combined, there would be more abject and nudity to rival all else. Oh, and these movies have some bad parenting too.

Apparently John 'Johnny Rotten' Lydon is making cameos now, appearing in and producing a movie called Sons of Norway. His younger self has a big presence and influence in the evolving characters, as young Nikolai watches the legendary rocker on television, the latter pretending to know about what 'punk' or what anything means. Nikolai is surrounded by people who have their own definitions of the musical movement, like his Communist/Dadist inspired father or a leather jacketed young man who fancies himself as a band's singer, recruiting Nikolai on lead guitars.

What I do like about it is how Nikolai's exposure to punk weaves in and out of a tragedy that befalls his mystically gifted mother instead of the latter causing the former. Most movies portray youths participating in antisocial behaviour as either a product of a bad generation or a family, and he is both. His mother couldn't have stopped him from listening to this kind of music and supports him, actually. His father also can't be bothered to be a good parent after being distraught, letting his son tend to the house. The movie is jus as easily about their father-son relationship, the former occasionally speechatizing his way to defend his son.

Why is this movie 'gross?' The answer... plus two more films after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Link Roundup (and Lint Roundup From Navel Gazing.)

Towleroad. Jodie Foster has limits. Michael Fassbender doesn't. Bradley Cooper stars in Limitless.
I Need My Fix clips and poster for Jodie Foster / Mel Gibson film The Beaver.

Also do you like this Midnight in Paris Vincent Van Gogh lift painting? I can't type Vincent Van Gogh in connection with a Woody Allen movie without thinking of Manhattan's "Hall of the Overrated"

Yahoo Answers "Who danced worse? Elaine on Seinfeld or Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface?" LOL
Us Weekly Lea Michele kissing on Ashton Kutcher in New Year's Eve.
The News Gazette has very uplifting info about the Ebert Fest Lineup. I don't really worship him in the way most movie-obsessives do but Roger Ebert is really a very cool person

Finally,  E! Online posted a rather drooling "ohmygoditshappened!" in response to the filming of the Armie Hammer / Leonardo DiCaprio smooch in J. Edgar. This is worth reading just for the annoying reminder (in the comments) that homophobia is still alive and well and still refuses to call itself "homophobia". It's just like all those stupid racists who always preface racist comments with "I'm not racist" People are so annoying! Ah well. Best to just keep on celebrating cool people instead. Who is cool? Who do you think has been worth cheering lately?

Sorry I'm in a terrible mood. This is one of the reasons Reader o' the Day has been fun. It's cheerful. And a sense of community is important. For reasons I've never fully grasped it's kind of a lone wolf site. The other movie sites and/or awards sites are constantly referencing each other like a tennis match but we're just off to the side doing our thing, day in and day out. Sometimes we'll do something brilliant and no one will notice and it's kind of a bummer. Other times we'll notice total press release regurgitations going truly viral from other sites and we're like 'why? There's no there there? It's just the press release!' This is not to diss other sites -- there are fine ones out there and every site be it great, good, mediocre or below average has its weaker days and its stronger ones (including this one) -- we just find it odd is all. And we're feeling contemplative. It's tough to do original content day in and day out (like The Hit Me With Your Best Shot feature for example) and have it go nowhere and sites that just do press releases and trailers and casting rumors all day are hugely popular. I was discussing this the other day with Glenn at Stale Popcorn, one of my personal favorite blogs. And it is frustrating for sites that try to have an original voice. Sometimes you feel like you're shouting into the abyss and you'd be better off just posting trailers and posters and quoting other blogs for all your posts.

Anyway... [/boring pity party]

My point is: I really appreciate the community The Film Experience has from you, the loyal readers. The ones who are here year 'round and not just when the Oscar noms and Oscar night happenings happen (always the two biggest days, traffic wise). Are you liking the Reader o' the Day feature? We're doing it for the rest of the month. Maybe it should be a weekly feature hereafter? We'll see.

Awards Brief
The Producer's Guild has announced their awards night date for this film year. It's January 21st, 2012. One date down... dozens more to go.

and you can't link me down...

Nick's Flick Picks extensive thoughts on Jennifer Lawrence's (Winter's Bone) career to date.
IndieWire "a modest proposal" a chilling essay about how the new Justin Beiber movie is more of a time capsule for the here and now than The Social Network is.
Acidemic retraction. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World racks up more points.
Roger Ebert apparently if you guess ALL of the Oscar winners correctly, you can win 100,000 bucks courtesy of Ebert and MUBI. Though strangely the article has no link to an actual contest. Curious.
ABC News Elizabeth Taylor very ill in hospital. I can't deal when thinking about losing La Liz. I really can't. It'll be the end of a monumental Hollywood era. GET WELL SOON.
Movie|Line I knew that Andy Rooney 60 minutes King's Speech endorsement I mentioned earlier was going to spread online.
Vulture Channing Tatum on The Eagle and his bromance with Jamie Bell. Fun interview
Scott Feinberg on the recent new arguments that The Social Network can still win Best Picture

Finally, I saw this video at Critical Condition and wanted to share it since I know many of you reading are "Wicked" fans. An artist Heidi Gilbert storyboarded it imagining it as a movie. This was done in September I guess but if it's new to me, it's  new to some of you, too. And who can't use a bit of "Wicked" to brighten a Monday?

Defying Gravity Storyboards from Heidi Jo Gilbert on Vimeo.