TCA events bring news that A&E is developing a prequel series to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, to revolve around the early life of one Norman Bates and his beloved mother at the infamous Bates Motel. While intriguing, it prompts more than a few questions... like, who wants to watch teenage Norman devolve into filmdom's most notorious creep on a weekly basis? What gives writer Anthony Cipriano the authority to explore Hitch's iconic killer? And, most depressing of all to ponder -- do people these days even care about Psycho anymore?
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In spite of the role he played in bringing the movie musical back into prominence, Rob Marshall has been, shall we say, a bit inconsistent over the years. This goes for his work within the musical genre, from the Oscar winning Chicago to the messy Nine, as much as his direction of non-musical films (Memoirs of a Geisha, I'm looking at you). Just look to his most recent effort, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; commonly accepted as the weakest entry in the series, a sequel that hardly justifies its own existence, it's nevertheless brought in $1 billion for Disney to date. And so, let's discuss: Can Rob Marshall be trusted to adapt Broadway's Into the Woods?
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This just in: Kim Novak, star of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, has a beef with Oscar front-runner The Artist and its use of Bernard Herrmann's iconic love theme from the 1958 classic. Let's just cut to the chase and let Novak's words speak for themselves: “I want to report a rape... my body of work has been violated by The Artist."
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As everyone looks back on the year that was, I've found myself returning to a few moments in the movies that resonated especially well thanks to a phenomenon that achieves soul-stirring status so rarely, though not for lack of frequency: Song choice. I'm not talking about dropping the latest Kelly Clarkson/Natasha Bedingfield ditty into a crap rom-com. I mean the special, skin-tingling magic that occurs when a song is married so perfectly to a character, story, or feeling that the music and the moment swell within us with new, layered meaning. Join me and let's hash it out: Which movie(s) used music the best in 2011?
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Once you start commemorating an entire year in film, it's hard to stop. I'd apologize, except I think I'm onto a provocative topic: What is the single funniest line of dialogue in 2011? Was it in a straight comedy, or did a serious actor utter it in a moment of surprise levity? Or is a woman responsible for the year's most hilarious quip?
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The Library of Congress today announced an eclectic batch of new inductees into the National Film Registry for 2011, ranging from no-brainers (Charlie Chaplin's The Kid) to fantastic finds (the 1930s-era Nicholas Brothers Family Home Movies). And also: Silence of the Lambs! Forrest Gump! ... El Mariachi? Which of these 25 newly anointed selections, to be preserved on account of their cultural, historical or aesthetic significance, is the most surprising addition?
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Since our friends at Next Movie totally went there, why not bat this one around Movieline HQ? It's Friday! Live a little. In honor of Michael Fassbender's infamous display of total nakedness in this week's Shame -- emotional and physical, to be fair -- Next Movie ran down the nine greatest "penis moments" in the movies. Yes, Ewan McGregor. You made the list.
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Ahh, the Grammy's -- the one award show that allows films like Black Swan to be nominated in the same category as The King's Speech and Tron Legacy. Late yesterday, the nominees for the 54th Grammys were announced and now that we've had nearly a day to absorb the fact that Zooey Deschanel, Seth MacFarlane and Cher are going head-to-head for a golden statuette, we can decide which artists deserve awards for their soundtrack contributions.
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For some moviegoers, Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive was the movie of 2011 (ditto that soundtrack). Nevertheless, over at Nerve, Jett Wells echoes the sad realization of many a Drive-loving Oscar-watcher: Academy Award nominations are about as unlikely for the stylish crime pic as a clean getaway is for Ryan Gosling's boyish, near-mute anti-hero.
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"I can't wait for the musical!" is what no one thought 35 years ago while watching Rocky Balboa box frozen sides of beef in Paulie's meat locker for the first time. Nevertheless, Sylvester Stallone and boxing brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko are producing a musical version of Stallone's Academy Award-winning film with the help of Tony Award-winning writer Thomas Meehan (The Producers), lyricist Lynn Ahrens and composer Stephen Flaherty. The question is: Three-plus decades later, are you up for seeing 'The Italian Stallion' relive his glory days onstage?
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This weekend, Brad Pitt announced that he plans on retiring from acting in three years. Sure, a declaration like that should be taken with a grain of salt, especially considering the similar threats made by actors like Ryan Gosling and drunken directors like Steven Soderbergh, that turned out to be mere fantasies rather than concrete plans. Regardless of the sincerity of this statement though, Movieline wonders: Is it time for Brad Pitt to quit acting?
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I was traveling all day as Movieline's report from the Savannah Film Festival picked up steam around the blogosphere, but early on it was clear that two polar-opposite reactions were building in response to Universal Studios chief Ron Meyer's comments about his studio's well-publicized (at least, outside of the studio) recent flops. Either you love his blazing moment of candor -- because we've all thought the same about most, if not all, of the woeful Universal films mentioned -- or you despise what he stands for. But Meyer is a businessman, the President and COO of one of the largest movie studios and theme park conglomerates in the business. Should more filmmakers and studio heads follow suit?
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Yesterday it was announced that Bill Murray had signed on to star in Roman Coppola's upcoming film, A Glimpse Into the Mind of Charles Swan III alongside -- drum roll please -- Charlie Sheen. In honor of this out-of-left-field pairing, let's recall some of Murray's best onscreen partners in film and consider who has been the best.
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Some of Woody Allen's best films have had simple, straightforward film titles (Annie Hall! Crimes and Misdemeanors! Hannah and Her Sisters! Even Midnight in Paris...). But you know, I thought there was really something catchy to Bop Decameron, the former title of his current Rome-set next flick. Apparently, I may have been the only one who liked it; as Anne Thompson reports, Allen's changed the title to Nero Fiddled. Riiiight.
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In case you haven't heard, Lifetime is stepping out of its comfort zone of original cancer movies, royal couple dramatizations and New Adventures of Old Christine reruns to develop a Lady Gaga biopic called Fame Monster: The Lady Gaga Story. In celebration of this news, Movieline asks its readers to find their best casting (meat) hats and choose the best actress to portray Stefani Germanotta in her cable close-up!
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