Get On Link

Towleroad The Imitation Game (we just discussed the trailer) isn't the only Alan Turing focused artwork in the ether. The Pet Shop Boys just debuted their opera Breaking the Code (yes, opera) about the man.
Theater Mania there's a stage adaptation of Shakespeare in Love in the West End. Here's a review
Vulture interviews True Blood's Nelsan Ellis on the lame actor who wouldn't make out with him on True Blood and his role in Get On Up

Kenneth in the (212) Ryan Gosling joins the waxworks at Madame Tussauds
MNPP freaks out for a John Waters retrospective this September. As well we all should.
Variety big weekend expected for Lucy. I guess this means Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow solo film will get a greenlight
Boy Culture Wonder Woman in Madonna drag. LOL
Awards Daily Heart of the Sea, the Ron Howard/ Chris Hemsworth post-Rush collaboration is test screening
/Film new poster for Mad Max: Fury Road 
Superhero Hype Batman's new costume displayed at Comic Con... but I'm sorry it looks so creepy without someone in it
AV Club Project Runway begins its 13th season tonight

And please to enjoy the Venice Film Festival Lineup. They're sharing some titles with TIFF like Good Kill, The Humbling, 99 Homes, and Red Amnesia. But ther opening night film Birdman is all theirs. Feel the envy. I'd do a whole post as with TIFF but I'm not going to Venice *sniffle* whereas I might be a TIFF and also as you read this I am fulfilling my obligations as a citizen via Jury Dutyzzz. No, for real. Feel for me as I sit in the rooms waiting for my name to be called or not.

Link Flood

Entertainment Weekly Mark Harris sounded off on horror television like Hannibal and The Walking Dead "with gore less is more"
LA Times treasure trove of silent films found in Amsterdam including Mickey Rooney's first film role at age six
The Playlist interviews Denis Villeneuve (Enemy, Prisoners) on working with Jake Gyllenhaal, and his future projects
The Wire watching Noah during the Los Angeles earthquake

Playbill talks to F Murray Abraham about his career resurgence at 74
Variety Spain's Malaga festival reveals its winners. Maybe we should look at some of these as Oscar submission possibilities
Salon a new book makes the case for Wonder Woman as one of the greatest superheroes
The Wrap Game of Thrones and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty win the very first "Location Manager" awards - both shot partially in Iceland which is where it's at lately but more on Iceland in a special series in April
Comics Alliance the creator of the beloved Batman TV series died at 91 
Salon Catherine Keener does not think she should be called 'Spike Jonze's muse' 
Slate loves Darren Aronofksy's Noah but thinks the environmental message is problematic 

Must Read
We like her. We've always really liked her. Sally Field pens an open letter about being the mother of a gay son to encourage people to join the fight for civil rights and marriage equality and the like...

Sally Field and her son

One of the great privileges of my life to have been allowed to be a part of Sam’s journey.

There are people out there – organizations and politicians, strangers who have never even met Sam – who would rather devote themselves to denying his happiness...

Not only a wonderful actress but a wonderful person.

In the History of Shamelessly Greedy Ideas We Have a Winner
The movie industry's fever for making movies just like television with endlessly padded storylines to win more billlions from our pockets continues. Variety reports that J.K. Rowling's 54 page Harry Potter tie-in book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" will now become a film trilogy.

P.S.
I CANNOT WAIT to see what people choose for their "best shot" from CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC (1980) on Tuesday night. It's absolutely insane. tacky. ridiculous.  And I'm not just talking about the opening glitter splooge credits and rollerskating sequence with Steve Guttenberg and his padded crotch.

If you'd like to join the Best Shot party, the movie is available for instant watching on Netflix, Amazon Instant and iTunes. Just pick your best shot and post it and we all party with the same movie on Tuesday night. Here's the upcoming schedule for other movie selections. 

Silent Linking

Variety glorious piece gently berating Disney for their self-loathing Frozen marketing ('no, this isn't about girls and it's not a musical, either!')
Towleroad James Franco's '50 Shades of Batman & Robin'. Ha! I know a lot of people hate Franco's absurdities and his ubiquity but I love that he has turned the boredom of professional acting (all that time not acting on film sets or between jobs) into performance art.
EW Marcia Gay Harden will play Christian Gray's mother in 50 Shades of Gray. Can the movie just be about her instead?
MNPP which is hotter retro reminder: American Hustle's JLaw or... 

Vanity Fair Katey wonder whether Lena Dunham or Kristen Stewart have the Sundanceiest Sundance movie
Time Wispy beautiful Gal Gadot from Fast and Furious 6 will play the world's most famous Amazon warrior, Wonder Woman. Or at least Diana Prince in that likely-to-be-terrible Man of Steel 2 Men of Steel? Batman vs Superman? World's Finest. (I don't care what it's called. So bored of superhero movies... especially Batman. He's been on movie screens regularly since 1989... hibernate in the cave for a bit, PLEASE. Make us miss you)
Cinema Blend Two competing live action version of The Jungle Book are headed your way. It's Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu vs. Jon Favreau. I can't be the only person who still remembers the 90s live action version with Jason Scott Lee, can I?
The Wire Joe Reid on Her's NBR win
Hollywood Elsewhere Jeffrey Wells is grossed out by some hearsay that someone somewhere who is savvy about Oscars thinks Saving Mr Banks is going to win Best Picture. (P.S. You can find someone somewhere who thinks anything... even among people who are generally not completely dumb about the Oscars)
Coming Soon a new Ira Levin adaptation is coming: Veronica's Room. If it's anywhere close to as good as previous Levin adaptations like Rosemary's Baby or The Stepford Wives (original) than we are in for a treat.

Today's Must Read
Gawker Tom Scocca's essay about "Smarm" and social media. A lot of food for thought. Don't dismiss it unless YOU'VE written a 9,253 word thinkpiece...

Finally... 

Library of Congress findings on Silent Films

Finally, I'm noticing a lot of news sites suddenly reporting about these awful stats about the survival of silent film... or the lack thereof that is. This chart and many of the articles, are stemming from a September 2013 report from the Library of Congress which you can read in full here.

I Am Linking

Hollywood Richard Matheson, sci-fi novelist of I Am Legend fame, dies at 87. You can (partially) blame him for the zombie apocalypse craze that's still with us today.
Kevin Patrick O'Keeffe on why Teen Wolf is the most important show on TV for gay viewers. Interesting argument even while admitting that the sole gay character is largely left out of the action.  
TFE Don't forget. The 4th season of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" returns next Wednesday with American Graffitti. Will you be joining us? 

In Contention alerts us to an awesome thing. iTunes has 88% of the Best Picture winners available for purchase or rentals. 
Antagony & Ecstacy thinks Bling Ring might just be Sofia Coppola's best work

World War Link  
Empire James Badge Dale lines up yet another new role. That character actor career is booming and with good reason. How good was he in Flight, World War Z and Iron Man 3?
The Film Doctor discusses World War Z and zombie conventions with a young film buff
Hammer & Thump another take on World War Z as a three-headed movie

Tweet LOLz
For fans of Wonder Woman... I know you're out there. This exchange from my an old online friend Pfangirl and GarethNN made me lol this morning.

@pfangirl Only one way to really settle this question, in my mind. Bikini jello-wrestling showdown.

— Gareth Fouche (@GarethNN) June 26, 2013

 

The Link World

Film.com asks rapper "Riff Raff" to review James Franco's "Alien" in Spring Breakers, allegedly based on him.
My New Plaid Pants "The Golden Trousers" are in full swing. You'd be crazy to miss them. I mean they feature...
"The Great Gratuities" for one thing !
Ultra Culture hosted a Spring Breakers screening with a Britney Spears sing-along

/Film if you'd like to see the Before Midnight trailer. I am personally not going to watch it before the movie. I want every moment to feel fresh and in the now. I don't normally feel this adamant but these movies are special, once in a decade events.
Cinematic Corner appreciates Lee Pace in all his elfen, daisy pushing, soldier girl, still-waiting-for-big-break glory. Someone needs to!
THR Harry Knowles of Aint it Cool fame is attempting a comeback in the web landscape he helped create
In Contention see, even Will Smith knows that Christoph Waltz was the LEAD in Django Unchained (Damn you category fraud, damn you! Tommy Lee Jones shoulda had that Oscar)

Tweet of the Day

@reallyndacarter You're fighting for our Equality Rights in your satin tights! twitter.com/GlenHansonNYC/…

— Glen Hanson (@GlenHansonNYC) March 28, 2013

The great illustrator Glen Hanson came up with my favorite image -- as hundreds flooded facebook profiles this week -- in support of Marriage Equality. Obviously Diana of the Amazons would approve of sapphic unions!

Season 1... remembered vividly.If you're not here to make friends...
It's funny but I just realized now, reading Joe Reid's ranking of the 27 Season of The Real World, which he amusingly calls his "life's work" that one of the reasons I've never been a reality show person is I do actually like to make friends and don't actually relish watching people being assholes or, the great lying rationalization, "keeping it real". Unless some kickass screenwriter is writing the assholery, I find it a bore. ANYWAY... I honestly had no idea this show was still airing. But Joe's huge-ass loving ode to its highlights and foibles was a good read. For the record I only watched Season 1 religiously (even taping and rewatching -- unthinkable now) though I saw the bulk of S2 (instant hatred... the worst fall from grace I've ever experienced on television, turning instantly from interesting social experiment to utterly manufactured cash grab) and S3 (compelling but by then I was deeply suspicious and never watched again). Or did I?. Joe's details bring back very vague memories from Seasons 4-10 that I had convinced myself that I hadn't even seen one episode of. Oh, the shame of it all!