Q&A: Overhyped Loveables, Depression Coping Tactics, and Best Foreign Film

Happy Hump Day Almost! Why do some weeks feel so much like surviving itself is the only goal / triumph? I have let the Q&A column go but we're getting back on the horse and will try to do them more regularly. Here are seven questions from last week and two from a long time ago.

Ready? Let's go! Questions about awards seasons calendar, Brie Larson, director/cinematographer teams, and coping with depression after the jump...

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Visual Index: Working Girl's Best Shot(s)

Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Working Girl (1988)
Director: Mike Nichols
Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus

I wasn't fair to Working Girl in 1988. When it won the reader poll easily for coverage here on Best Shot, the old grudge flared up again. 'Why do people love this movie so much?' I thought. You see the Oscar race is often distorting. In 1988 Working Girl was a last minute disrupter with its Christmas bow, and I never forgave it for costing Bull Durham, Running on Empty, or Who Framed Roger Rabbit major nominations and prizes. There's no proof of course that it did -- but I believed it wholeheartedly.

But watching the film again, away from that distorting horse race, I could enjoy it fully without name-checking those films I held more dear. There's so much to enjoy all told. "It plays," as they say. It plays beautifully. Now don't get me wrong. I still wouldn't have nominated it for six Oscars. Six! But let's not return to the grudge and let's enjoy this mainstream bullseye and the cinematography by Michael Ballhaus, one of the cinema's greatest DPs. He's 80 now and still doesn't have an Oscar. He should be near the very top of Oscar's list for an Honorary.

See Nathaniel's 3 favorite shots and other Best Shot choices 'round the web after the jump...

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Let the River Run... To "Best Shot" Tomorrow Night.

Just as a reminder we have a very full very accessible month of Best Shot coming up. I'll give you an extra day on Working Girl (1988) -- your reader's poll pick now streaming on Netflix. So, we'll post the roundup tomorrow (Wednesday) night instead of tonight. I figured everyone is probably nursing hangovers from fireworks and parties today and getting caught up on their regular lives.

But if you're eager to get started in reading about the Best Picture nominated hit comedy, a first 'Best Shot' entry is already up at Film Mix Tape. Check it out. 

Link Rising

Vanity Fair are big changes ahead for HBO's original programming? Will they make the right calls?
Film School Rejects 38 things we learned from writer/director Robert Eggers' commentary track on The Witch 
Oscar Dances a new twitter account is replaying that Ex Machina dance scene with Oscar Isaac getting down to every song imaginable
Variety Owen Gleiberman has a smart take on the comic rise of Zac Efron in Neighbors and Neighbors 2

Comics Alliance has a fan and staff generated list of the 100 greatest X-Men of all time. Another reminder that that movies just aren't doing right by this breadth, diversity, and queerness of this team. Only 2 of their top ten (Jean Grey & Magneto) have been reasonably well served by the movies.
Antagony & Ecstasy remembers Hedwig and the Angry Inch with a stellar review
Business Insider the new practice of teasing the trailer you're actually watching online before you watch it
Forbes underperforming sequels can still generate profits if the production is smart
Pajiba Lionsgate admits that the Divergent series is a mess but shows no signs of having learned from it
Slate on the "dark future of whitewashing" in regards to Asian-American actors 
MTV "We still don't live in that kind of world" - we weren't the only ones remembering the still resonant Thelma & Louise this week 
NY Times has a fascinating report on the death of the office dress code. Love that they illustrated with Working Girl.  

Q&A: Working Girls, Two-Time Winners, Generational Comedy

It's time to answer reader questions again! Roughly once a week I'll throw up an "Ask Nathaniel" post and then select the questions that trigger something in me. There are often great questions I don't answer because they'd require a whole book. Or a top ten list and we save the listing mostly for other features. Let's go.

CARLOS: I recently came across Working Girl (1988) on TV by chance. I think Griffith and, especially, Weaver are great and the costumes (unintentionally) hilarious when seen today, but what's YOUR opinion on the movie and Griffith? Do you think she could have a comeback? What would it take?

Working Girl is a total time machine for the late 80s. But truth: the costumes were intentionally funny. Or at least those worn by Griffith and the adorable Joan Cusack who were meant to be absurdly dressed. Most readers won't be aware of this because there's no reason to talk about her now, but Melanie Griffith was, for me in the 90s, the equivalent of Swank and the Zeéeeee in the 00s (i.e. actresses who I just can't with). My friends in college used to hide pictures of her in my dorm room to torture me with when I discovered them. Once, a huge poster of Melanie was staring at me from the ceiling when I jumped in bed!

I like the movie well enough but at the time it was wildly overawarded -- one of those AMPAS Christmas crushes that plays so well in the moment but is hardly better than earlier releases that it temporarily shoves out of favor during the crucial nomination period.  When I look back at 1988 I'm always pissed that Bull Durham (a summer hit 1 nomination), Running on Empty (a September critical darling, 2 nominations) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (a June smash with 6 nominations and better than nearly every one of the Best Picture nominees) didn't get various big Oscar props that they deserved. I blame Working Girl because it's the easiest film to blame that year. And I especially blame Griffith because Susan Sarandon's "Annie Savoy", one of the greatest performances of the whole decade, was snubbed to include her!

JAMES: Many lament the onslaught of remakes/reboots/re-imaginings, but what film(s) would actually benefit from a remake? As an example, I ask you to consider Rosemary's Baby. While the acting stands up, much of the rest of the film is pretty creaky. What are your thoughts?

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STEVE: What cinematic, television or literary character do you think should be revisited?

[Remakes, Chris Nolan, and Oscarables AFTER THE JUMP]

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