Links: The Beguiled, Real O'Neals, Celebrity Politics, and More

Let's try to cover everything we haven't mentioned lately (whew). The biggest and most obvious is that Sofia Coppola, whose plans to follow up Bling Ring with a live action Little Mermaid are no more, is now supposedly working on a remake of the Clint Eastwood romantic drama The Beguiled (1971). The film will star two darlings of TFE Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst. Plus Elle Fanning so Coppola already sold all the tickets to our crowd. The Clint role is as yet uncast.  They're said to be looking for a 'Chris Pratt' type but what this surely calls for is a watch of the original film to familiarize ourselves.

Let's do it together shall we? It's available on Amazon and iTunes so let's all watch it by April 8th or so and we'll discuss. Deal? 

Other News
• Playbill Julie Andrews will direct a 60th anniversary production of My Fair Lady this fall at the Sydney Opera House. Tell us how it is Aussie readers!
• Tracking Board Julia Roberts lines up another thriller Fool Me Once. Can she step off the thriller train please. She's always screaming. How about a romantic comedy revival?
• Coming Soon Naomi Watts joining Brie Larson in Destin Cretton's (Short Term 12) Glass Castle.  

• Coming Soon Kristen Wiig replaces Reese Witherspoon in Alexander Payne's next satire Downsizing
• Guardian Woody Allen's Cafe Society will open Cannes this year but what other premieres might we see there? 
• Comics Alliance First i'm hearing this but apparently April 26th is "Aliens day" and a bunch companies are going to be selling Aliens stuff, including Reebook who will be releasing replicas of Sigourney's hideous red white and black velcroed shoes from that 1986 classic
• Broadway Blog Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men getting the live TV treatment in early 2017 -- it's not just for musicals anymore
• /Film Channing Tatum's Gambit delayed yet again. Hopefully he'll realize soon he doesn't need to do it at all. I mean it'd be nice if ANYONE other than Leonardo DiCaprio stayed away from the superhero genre. Just for you know some variety in our top male stars
• BBC Hans Zimmer officially retiring from scoring superhero pictures after Batman v Superman 
• Cinematic Corner Speaking of. If you're not done hating on that movie read Sati's righteous fury about it. She points out something I didn't notice: Zach Snyder can't even do cameos right. He uses THREE of his Watchmen actors (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino) and I didn't realize that any of them were involved! 

i couldn't find a good video of this gay date scene but its adorbs

Recommended Reads 
• Towleroad an interview with Noah Galvin, the talented funny star of The Real O'Neals. Try this show if you haven't. It's a delight.
• MNPP Which is Hotter: Ed Skrein or Ed Skrein
• Mike's Movie Projector shares an excerpt from an old Joan Fontaine autobiography
• Film School Rejects on Superheroes needing a dash of silliness even in their "dark" outings 
• Interview talks to Sophie Okonedo about Broadway's revival of The Crucible. She plays Goody Proctor
• MNPP loved seeing Benjamin Walker in tighty whities for over an hour as Patrick Bateman in the Broadway musical version of  American Psycho and since Jason hates musicals that is more than enough recommendation for me who loves them. I hadn't yet realized that 

Can This Election Be Over Instead of 8 Months Away?
• Boy Culture agree with Matthew in this piece on Susan Sarandon's recent irresponsible political comments. I'm so ready for this election to be over and it's still 8 months away!
• Towleroad and icymi the genius Tony Kushner was a guest on MSNBC and discussed how baffling Sarandon has been about this (They're both heroes of my youth. I don't like it when mommy & daddy fight!)
• The New Yorker suggests that maybe Superman is Republicans and Batman is Democrats and now I just want to die rather than think about Batman v Superman for a second longer. DEATH TO INTERNET THINK PIECES ABOUT SUPERHERO MOVIES! (I'm suddenly dreading Captain America: Civil War and dreading a Captain America movie is not something I feel comfortable doing... at all. In other words: stop it internet!)

Hmm

Who's Your Favorite Dame?

Imelda Staunton. Photographed by David Rose. [Source]Here's Murtada on his favorite subject; British ladies of a certain age who delight on screen and stage.

Happy New Year! Some Brits usher in the new year celebrating their newly bestowed knighthoods. This year Queen Elizabeth II honors, among others, Idris Elba and David Oyelowo. There are different designations to the honor. For example Imelda Staunton became a CBE i.e. not yet a Dame but well on her way. It’s obvious The Queen hasn’t ventured out to the theater in 2015 or Staunton would be Dame Squared for her triumphant Mama Rose alone.

This year’s newly minted Dames are British TV stalwart Barbara Windsor (EastEnders, the Carry On movies) and Welsh stage veteran Sian Phillips (Daniel Day Lewis’ mother in The Age of Innocence), who was once Mrs. Peter O’Toole.

But when we talk dames we mostly talk about the holy trinity who still have vibrant movie careers: Judi, Maggie and Helen. No last names necessary if you say Dame first. Oscars and other awards, big successes on the boards on both sides of the Atlantic and long thriving careers for all three.

But who is your favorite? To help you decide let’s dig a bit deeper. [More...]

Click to read more ...

TCM Classic Film Festival Presents The Sound Of Music's 50th Anniversary!

Anne Marie counting up her favorite things from opening night of TCM Classic Film Fest.

The Hollywood Hills were alive with The Sound Of Music last night. Turner Classic Movies kicked off the 6th Annual TCMFF with a 50th Anniversary screening of 20th Century Fox's musical blockbuster at TCL Chinese Theater. Dame Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer walked the red carpet (under umbrellas because they agree with me that it is hot out for March), before settling down for a special discussion with former Academy president Sid Ganis before the film. 

It's amazing that after fifty years apart, two screen stars can still have such beautiful chemistry. Andrews and Plummer affectionately bantered. At one point, Plummer worried that the love story could have been "too mawkish," to which Dame Andrews replied, "You made it less saccharine." (This is possibly not an opinion shared by the audience, as many mooning sighs echoed through the theater when Captain Von Trapp sang "Something Good.")

Seeing how Andrews and Plummer are on the tail end of a whirlwind promotional tour for the film's semicentennial, fans were a little nervous that the two legends had run out of stories to tell. Fortunately, it turns out that not only could they surprise us - they could still surprise each other. While discussing his theater career, Christopher Plummer mentioned that he'd been offered the Broadway show before the movie started casting. Dame Andrews, as disbelieving as the audience, could only ask, "Really??"

After the discussion ended (to a standing ovation), 20th Century Fox's new digital 4K restoration screened. Like last year, TCM chose a major Rogers & Hammerstein musical with a storied restoration history. The Sound Of Music has always been treated well by the people who carefully restored it, but certain small controversies crop up. How dark is the gazebo scene supposed to be? What color is Maria's party dress? ("Very dark because the actors were laughing," and "light blue," for the record.) Small details add up, but the army of people who worked on this latest restoration managed to have it both ways. By using the DP-approved restored 65mm print, they were able to conform as close as possible to the original look. But by adding digital technology, they were able to remove color anomalies and print fading. The result is a look so good that gazebos cast soft shadows, Maria can dance in a soft blue dress, and when she splashes in the fountain, you can actually see the drops of water.

If you couldn't make it to Hollywood to celebrate, never fear. 20th Century Fox is releasing a special edition Blu Ray later in the month. And for true fans of The Sound of Music, the beautiful 4K restoration shown at TCMFF last night will be screened in theaters on April 19th and 20th.

For more updates from TCM Classic Film Festival, follow Anne Marie on Twitter. And don't forget to vote for the movie you want her to cover!

With Songs They Have Sung (For a Thousand Years?)

Every couple of days while staring at my computer and trying to write about __ or __, I realize I want nothing more than to write about 19 more articles on The Sound of Music after our HMWYBS kickoff in March (join us for the next eppys!). Maybe that's because I realized I didn't own the film (?) when my article was due so I purchased it and now it's just sitting here politely asking with perfect Andrews enunciation to be rewatched daily. Should we just talk about The Sound of Music every week forsaking all else?

Dame Juli, between takes on location. Tired? Annoyed? Over it?