Links: Sand Pitt, Snow Trilogy, Leonardo Faces

<-- Look it's Brad Pitt on the set of World War Z in Malta. Is he trying to keep sand out of his eyes or faking tears? You decide. (I vote for sand since he's quite a good cryer, don't you think? Has anyone read this novel? I tried and admired the structure but couldn't quite get into it.) Speaking of Brad... let's start the links.

Shortlist 30 Facts about David Fincher's Se7en (1995)
Icelandic Cinema a new website offers on demand Icelandic classics like the Viking epic The Raven Flies and Noi the Albino. They also have free downloads of short films.
Cinema Blend ARGH. The televisionization of the movies continues. Turns out that Snow White and the Huntsman -- the one with Kristen Stewart and Thor -- now thinks it needs three movies to tell its story. In the past few years I have come to respect television more than I used to but they are two different artforms. Why this constant push to make them the same? It's so disheartening. There is much to be said for stories with beginnings middles and ends which you can absorb in one two hour sitting.
Grant Land interesting take on the lack of male movie stars and the real and manufactured cases of Will Smith and Ryan Reynolds. Very sports-analogy filled for those of you who are into that.
The Many Faces of... Leonardo DiCaprio "how to freak out and go crazy!" (as Jorge pointed out to me this is kind of a sequel or a spiritual cousin to my "dead wives club" and so I just love it.

IFC musical sequence from Sucker Punch restored for its blu-ray release
Your Movie Buddy best of 2011 thus far... in Oscar categories. Definitely some surprising choices and omissions here. Yes, yes, I'll do one soon.
Stale Popcorn on the poster for Paddy Considine's Tyrannosaur. It is arresting.
In Contention Kris on his ten year relationship with A.I. Artificial Intelligence (which I just mentioned but alas... my obsession with Gigolo Joe doesn't seem to be shared by many)

Off Cinema
DHARBIN "Some Common Fears" I love this guys comics. I've been so into web comics lately. I appreciate referrals if you know of good ones. 
Towleroad Cher takes on the Bachmann anti-gay crazy on Twitter. Cher = forever fierce.
Boy Culture Matthew proposes the best callsign for Mr. Bachmann I've yet heard proposed "Lady Bird Bachmann" -- PASS IT ON.
Some Came Running on the politics of David Mamet now and Demi Moore then

links get physical. physical.

Let's divvy up our links into body types today. (yougottahaveagimmickifyouwanna...)

Bears  Gold Derby is wondering if Robin Williams can complete his EGOT in June at the Tony Awards. Maybe.
Invisible Woman a lot of sites are sharing this Cannes poster to your left. Faye Dunaway circa 1970 is the 64 year old festival's pinup mascot. Does this mean Cannes now views itself as a strangely tucked and surgeried unrecognizable version of its former self?
Tiny Princess Deadline reveals that Tarsem Singh has cast 22 year old Lily Collins (Phil's daughter) as his Snow White (this is the competing project to the one with Kristen Stewart) instead of the rumored Saoirse Ronan. My guess is it's a good move since this is a sexy reimagining and Saoirse is only 16 (well 17 next week). Armie Hammer would've been robbing the cradle as Prince Charming.
Brokeback Kenneth in the (212) has some smart words to the CMAs and People Magazine for their lame homophobic humor directed at Jake Gyllenhaal. For shame.

Drawn That Way Here is the new footage 4 minutes of Green Lantern. I'm still weirded out that even Ryan Reynold's god-like body is too imperfect to be used rather than CGI'ed. What hope is there left for mere mortals let alone increasingly frumpy bloggers who keep "forgetting" to go the gym! This doesn't change much for me in whether or not I think Green Lantern will be any good though the f/x do seem to have had a wee polish since that first trailer and that will be important to its reception.

The best addition from the original trailer is actually a subtraction: there's none of that hideously wooden dialogue between Reynolds and whasthsername as the generic love interest. But that said I didn't hate this new footage as much as Pajiba. I'm guessing that bile is bright green.

The Foreign Body Indie Wire reveals step two of China Lion's strategy towards real inroads into the US market for Chinese films.
Adamantium-Laced Serious Film has an a-ma-zing visionary idea for the replacement director of The Wolverine.
Rapidly Aging Access Hollywood has an amusing interview bit with Reese Witherspoon, who is complaining about people viewing her as way too old for Robert Pattison in Water for Elephants.

Finally, Today's Must Read...

Voluptuous The Boston Globe Wesley Morris (such a fine writer) traces the evolution of the Actress's body from Elizabeth Taylor's voluptuousness to Christina Hendrick's Mad Men-only stardom. Inbetween notes on Jennifer Lopez, Kate Winslet, Penélope Cruz and Audrey Hepburn follow. I found the theories on Jane Fonda's evolution as a transitional figure fascinating.

Kristen Stewart as Snow White? Quick, Grab an Apple.

If there's anything good to say about Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and its billion dollar gross, it's that it might make Hollywood a safer place for female-driven magical tales. Disney's Tangled and its $449 million gross (and rising) enthusiastically seconds the notion that fairy tales and old timey stories aren't passe. Fairy tales are a good well to draw from: they're familiar and thus as easy to market as any hit franchise and yet they're flexible and thus of interest to artists who can bring fresh takes to old stories.

Kristen Stewart and Snow White... with birds.

Initially the prospect of Snow White and The Hunstman thrilled. It got even more mouth-watering when Charlize Theron and Viggo Mortensen were named as the Evil Queen and the Hunstman, respectively. But now that we have our Snow White in Kristen Stewart, the apple seems poisoned prematurely.Stewart's performance as Joan Jett in The Runaways proved that she could in fact play something beyond Self-Indulgently Mopey Girl (Twilight + Into the Wild + Adventureland) but playing a naive sweet dreamy girl suddenly thrust into danger because she's just too beautiful to live? That's such an about face it may be less a healthy stretch and more a case of getting strapped to the rack. Stewart's edge and performance style seem radically wrong for Snow White unless they're just using the name as a jumping off point.

Reinterpreting fairy tales can be fun, provocative, artistic and lucrative but don't you have to maintain some semblance of connection to the material? 

What's in the box? A gift to moviegoers or something...awful.Plus there's the small matter of "the fairest of them all". This is not meant as a knock against Kristen Stewart who is obviously an attractive woman but I think few would worry for Charlize Theron's ego in that particular department up against practically anyone.

We wont know if this particular Snow White is a poisoned apple to moviegoers until 2012, but if it is there's still hope for the fairest of them all to find her prince and defeat the vain queen. Two other Snow White movies are also in development. Tarsem Singh's Brothers Grimm: Snow White (with Julia Roberts a possibility as the evil queen) would undoubtedly be something to gawk at at the very least. The other one is Snow and the Seven which Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3) is scripting for Disney. One suspects not all of these movies will happen but with three competing Snow White themed movies and (what, seven!?) new Wizard of Oz themed movies, plus that Red Riding Hood thing with Amanda Seyfriend and maybe Tim Burton's take on Sleeping Beauty focusing on Maleficent, the Teens is going to be a very fairytale heavy decade if this keeps up.