Link Catches Us (As We Catch Up)

The Fighter
In Contention Sports Illustrated names The Fighter "the best sports movie of the decade." I guess they're using that 2001-2010 definition. Hate that. I like to end with the 9s.
Low Resolution Speaking of The Fighter. Check out Joe Reid's awesome post "The Art of the Skank"


Cartoons
Milo oh, this is lovely. Toy Story 3 by the numbers. Tons of infographic pleasure... if thinking about how bank accounts of Pixar executives gives you pleasure that is.
The Exploding Kinetoscope FYC: Arguments for the Extermination of the Human Race. (Wow, someone hates Shrek even more than I do!)
EW Inside Movies Anne Hathaway knows her awards history. Texts Jake Gyllenhaal on his first Golden Globe nom. (Even I had forgotten that he wasn't nominated there for Brokeback)
Blog Next Door What the Disney villains teach us.

Mackie & Washington. Yay.

Randomness
Invisible Woman asks you to see Night Catches Us starring Kerry Washington and Anthony Mackie. We plan to, yes we do. Soon.
popbytes Oprah Winfrey must be stopped; Hugh Jackman injured
Salon "Why is Disney hiding the original Tron?"
Little Gold Men the Coen Bros talk to Vanity Fair about True Grit

The Social Network
Remember when everyone was writing about that movie nonstop? It's happening again. Scanners does a comparison with Carlos, another richly layered movie winning critics prizes, and Nick at Nick's Flick Picks has shared ten intriguing thoughts in two parts.The Toronto Film Critics Association just gave it another "best of the year" citation.

Year in Review
Vulture "25 Best Performances That Won't Win Oscars" from Tom Hardy (Inception) to Alexander Siddig (Cairo Time). It's a great list overall but totally spoiled by two little girls, one of whom was genuinely great in another movie this year, so why not make it that one (Yes, Mia Wasikowska's The Kids Are All Right performance is > Alice In Wonderland times 1,000,000)
Twitter "The 10 Most Powerful Tweets of 2010" from Haiti relief to Conan O'Brien half-assed
10 Best and 10 Worst from one of our favorite critics Tim Robey at the Telegraph.

Finally... 

Remember way way back (ok, only two years ago) when I invited you to the wedding of "Boobs & Abs". They've split. Yes, The Green Lantern and The Black Widow are divorcing.  Speaking of Scarlett Johannson, Jon Favreau is leaving the Iron Man franchise. Given that ScarJo's performances feel more listless than ever these last few years, how about Sofia Coppola for Iron Man 3's directors chair. Maybe the fanboys wouldn't appreciate it but at least they'd get some great shots of Black Widow's ass. Plus that f/x related scene in Coppola's Somewhere, with Stephen Dorff interminably stuck in the makeup chair, is one of the best moments in that inside Hollywood movie.

Yes, No, Maybe So: "Green Lantern"

Another round of insta-judgments. Just add trailer. Suddenly we know if...

• yes) we're buying tickets
• no) we're shunning the movie, or...
• maybe so) withholding the judgments until we have more info.

Maybe so is usually the correct answer. Sometimes great trailers lead to disappointing movies. And sometimes virtually every piece of marketing for a movie will practically beg you not to see it when you might actually like it if you do  (*cough* TANGLED... more on that soon).

But it's hard not to pre-judge. Commercials invite you to do just that.

In brightest day... in blackest night... 

Ryan "Sexiest Man Alive" Reynolds stars as the Hal Jordan incarnation of Green Lantern. There have been many Green Lanterns, both before and after him but Hal is the most famous.

Yes. For those of you who are unaware, Green Lantern is actually not just any old superhero. He's powerless. The power is in his ring, a mystical device, and though he's superheroic, he's but one of many. In a way he's like an anonymous everyman worker-bee hero. It's an interesting twist on the typical one-of-a-kind hero concept if you stop to think over it. Which is why I was hoping some really crafty creative type would've pitched this as Green Lantern Corps to some cable station, and made it a really intelligent sci-fi multiple worlds series using something complex/multi-dimensional like Battlestar Galactica as inspirational role model rather than IronDevilSpiderBatSuperHulkMan. Instead it looks like we got...

No. ...just another Superhero Origin Flick. You've got your boyman who is suddenly given the gift of great power and he has to learn adult responsibility and heroism while some bland but beautiful girl encourages him from the sidelines. Sound familiar? It should. And: YAWN. I get that we need our hero myths. But do they have to be so similar every time? Also I laughed so hard this afternoon when @MediaObsessed said on twitter

Blake Lively as a fighter pilot? Oh Hollywood, sometimes penises should not be allowed in casting decisions.

HEE. So so true. I was worried about the casting from the get go. Ryan Reynolds is somewhat talented but there is something a touch blande/assembly line about him... like he's the photograph of a star rather than the flesh and blood actuality (though we totally thank him for the approximation of flesh part). When you add the Hot Girl of the Moment as the love interest it starts to just seem really... generic, like no one had a vision other than a Hulk-like grunted directive "Make Tentpole. Smash Puny Box Office Records."

Maybe So. Er... uh... I got nothing this time. It just looks so generic. It doesn't even look like good eye candy. The visual effects are generic too. It's hard to imagine this even being in contention for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars for 2011. Unless it's a really weak year. They do have 5 visual effects slot now. My point is this: I curse the day that CGI made filmmakers so lazy about the aesthetics of power. Why do all spells, mutations, powers, mystical or scientific equal gaseous colorful swirls?

I'm not interested. I'm a no. I know I complain about superhero movies a lot but I actually love superheroes. Like most boys and some girls, I grew up adoring them. I just want their movie doppelgangers to have more individualized personalities and to be made with real care for the big screen.

You?

Burlinque

Behold: The Poster for Burlesque. I think the marketing department deserves kudos for managing to pay homage to both of their leading ladies simultaneously in a way that's flattering to both. Although the hot pink "they airbrushed my face" quality won't be a sale for everyone.

Linques
MTV Whoa! Darren Aronofsky originally conceived of Black Swan and The Wrestler as a single film. Now I'm even more intrigued.
Hollywood Crush Bradley Cooper and Ryan Reynolds as action co-stars? Media to swoon.
In Contention Isabella Rossellini to head Berlinale jury
Stale Popcorn Gypsy 83. I never hear anyone talking about this movie so I had to link up. Way too underseen for something so heartfelt.
MNPP Good morning. Hey, I love bookshelves, too. They scream "I am what I am."
Serious Film "Pulled from the Wreckage" Fine acting in terrible films
Cinematical freaks out over the amount of stunts in Mad Max: Fury Road
Awards Daily on the current cynicism and the Oscar race.
Movies Kick Ass picks his favorite Emmy dresses. Christina Hendricks was probably mine. But I'm a sucker for attention grabbing cleavage ... and lavender come to think of it... and redheads (come to keep thinking of it). Triple success.


Go Fug Yourself on Diana Agron's (Glee) Little Women look on the red carpet.
PopWrap first official image of Kristen Bell in Burlesque. They think she'll be the most quoted character.
Geekscape asks "What if The Expendables had an all female cast?" Answer: Nathaniel would've seen it twice already. (P.S. A female version is so not a bad idea.)

And finally The Awl asks a question that's really been haunting me lately "Why is American selfishness so widespread now?" It's been a disheartening summer -- lack of empathy everywhere. I think you can even see this in reviews of movie dramas. People just have no time or patience for other people's heartache.

OK that's too depressing to end with.

How about By Ken Levine's (who knows from television) Emmy recap:

You realize of course that you watch a lot more television than the people who made these decisions? If it weren't for screener DVD's, many Academy members would still be voting for HILL STREET BLUES.

Ha. Good one.The only reason they're lazier than Oscar voters is they can be. Movies tend to be, like, ineligible after their debut year.

"you may link, there's nothing to it. But I simply cannot do it alone!"

Tribeca Film I have a new weekly column there "Best in Show" where I'm extolling the virtues of MVPs in new movies. First up: Tom Hardy in Inception.
Mr Dan Zak wants Angelina Jolie to adopt him, loves her in Salt.
The Observer top 10 movie cameos. Wide range of years here, so, yay.
Totally Looks Like Whoa. Keanu Reeves & Tchaikovsky.


In Contention Wait. What's this? Fresh rumor hell that Margaret (2005) starring Anna Paquin might finally see release. I'd rather not hope again given that they're saying 2011.
i09 okay I kind of think this Green Lantern movie is going to be terrible. BUT. This is so sweet/adorable: Ryan Reynolds reciting the oath for a kid at Comic Con.
Playbill the musical adaptation of Pedro Almodóvar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is getting a starry cast for Broadway: Patti Lupone, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Sherie Rene Scott. Yay and also yikes. How can it live up to the film? A lot will depend on how strong the musical score is. And unfortunately film-to-stage transfers haven't seem to view the song score as that important, trusting on name brands to sell the show (see also: Addams Family, Legally Blonde, etcetera)

Finally, let's wrap up with Caroline O'Connor ("Nini" from Moulin Rouge!, don'cha know) performing Chicago's Velma Kelly intro "All That Jazz"



Yes! Caroline is bringing her all singing all dancing one-woman'ish show (there are back up dancers) "The Showgirl Within" to London this fall. Wish I could see it. (I expect a full report from at least one of you Brits reading The Film Experience in the dark out there.) I once had hoped to interview all 'Four Whores of the Apocalypse' from Moulin Rouge! (2001) though I never got very far. My favorite film of the Aughts celebrates its 10th anniversary next year, so I'll have to return to it in a big way. It's been a few years since I last watched it now.

Send in the (Green) Clowns

I'm off to a slow start this morning. Sometimes it can't be helped. Enjoy this first photo of Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern while I hook up my coffee IV, finish Oscar page revisions, and write about Inception... all while humming Sondheim's brilliant A Little Night Music score. What a mashup that will be.

BTW, loved the Broadway show last night. Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch are theater legends for a reason. Peters was exceptionally moving during "Send in the Clowns" -- I've never heard a Broadway audience go that quiet, basking in every nuance of that spectacular inimitable voice of hers -- and very funny hamming up the comedic portions of the show. There's this line in the second act about watching the summer sky smile, where Elaine Stritch says "That smile was particularly broad tonight." That line reading just killed. It felt like an affectionate elbow to the cast surrounding her that evening. Stritch was so funny that the young actress playing her granddaughter regularly had to wait a few extra beats to be heard above the laughter. Since this 1973 Stephen Sondheim musical is based on Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) and the film version of the musical in 1977 starring Elizabeth Taylor isn't definitive by any measure, I wonder why it doesn't get a second cinematic go? It couldn't be that expensive to mount since it basically only involves a few locations: mostly people's bedrooms and the grounds of a country estate.

"Desiree" via Eva Dahlbeck (55), La Liz (77), CZJ (09) and Bernadette (10)

All you need is a great actress of a certain age with a killer voice and a good comedic supporting cast. Plus beautiful costumes and careful outdoor cinematography. You're good to go. Do justice to the show's humor and the actress-playing-an-actress theatrical pathos and you've got Oscar nominations for Actress, Supporting Actress and a few tech categories at least.

[Trivia Tangent: Because we've been talking about the EGOT and the triple crown lately due to the upcoming Emmy awards, here's how that shakes out. As you know Catherine Zeta-Jones just won the Tony for this role so she only has to win an Emmy to get a triple crown. Bernadette, replacing her, has multiple Grammys -- or does she? -- and Tonys. She's been nominated for Emmys but hasn't won and the Oscar (let alone a nomination) eluded her even at the heighth of her fame in the late 70s / early 80s when she was in the mix at the Golden Globes winning for Pennies From Heaven and nominated for Mel Brooks' Silent Movie. Elaine has a Tony and multiple Emmys. No Grammy or Oscar.]

Switching gears*, to say the least...

I'm still sad there's going to be a Green Lantern movie instead of a Green Lantern Corps cable series. That could have been the next great complex and fascinating sci-fi television series to follow Battlestar Galactica with the right team. Instead I fear it will be a generic superhero movie franchise. It certainly looks generic. We need another great sci-fi series on television way more than we need another superhero movie.

If you had a power ring, what kind of things would you make it do? I mean, besides conjuring up free Broadway tickets.

*I apologize for the schizophrenia of this post. Everyone knows that superheroes and musicals don't go together.
*

RCL: Icy Linney, Hottie Mirren, Canadian Ryan

I couldn't sense excitement out there for my weekly random celeb lineup posts but, all the same, I have to commemorate the Tonys one last time since they were practically Golden Globe-esque last night with the TV & Film stars.

<-- Exclusive Unretouched Photo!
Tonyless veteran Laura Linney congratulates newbie ScarJo on her Tony win. [Apparently Scarlett has never seen Mystic River or The House of Mirth. Ice cold blood puts the rose in those dimpled cheeks. Beware.]

I do want to say though, just as a corrective for what I'm seeing on the web, that The Lovely Laura Linney and Viola Davis don't fit the 'screen stars slumming it inbetween jobs' group situation that Tony voters love but stage aficionados rage against. Viola and Laura are both bonafide stage troupers. They've been doing it for years and if the movie roles ever dried up, it's likely that they'd be perfectly content to hit the boards full time. Linney, by her own admission, prefers it to screens big or small. It's just lucky for us that she can adjust her scale to fit any medium. That's not something just any actor can do. Many have tried but few are as adept at all three as she.

So let's get to dresses...

Best Dressed!

I'm not trying to be cheeky putting the original Wicked stars Kristin Chenoweth & Idina Menzel together in best dressed, I just think they deserve it. Cheno looks great in white and can work a micro dress with the best, even somehow managing non obscene pratfalls in them. Speaking of obscenity: Imagine how much Wicked could charge for tickets if Cheno & Idina were to return however briefly after their post-Wicked fame? Idina, of the less flashy personality, makes up for it with this intricate dress. I hope they took a photo together last night, but I haven't seen it if they did.

Update: They did and here it is (Thanks Emma!)

♪ ♫ It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend... ♪

And let's hear it for two women who have decaying portraits hidden in attics on their estates: Bernadette Peters, 62, who stepped out of some greco-roman sculpture garden complete with curls, and Dame Hotness, 64, in a super flattering dark blue scooped neck gown.

One of the best moments last night was when Mirren shouted out to the people "in the gods". I had somehow never heard this expression before but it's apparently a reference to the balcony (i.e. the cheap seats).

Not So Much

I understand that Jada Pinkett Smith is a relatively fierce woman... but divatude aside, do you really wanna risk comparison to that icy hotness of one Vera Farmiga on Oscar night of all things. It's the same dress in the same color family but chopped in half for a woman who's 7 inches shorter and needs to show leg for the illusion of length. I think Blanchett is auditioning in character as DAZZLER for the next X-Men film. (Yes I made that up. Marvel still has some B list characters left before they get to Alison Blaire.) Sherie Rene Scott seemed to forget that when movie stars are invading your domain you have to pick it up a notch. I mean this is pretty but it's awfully casual when you're celebrating a personal success like Everyday Rapture at an awards show. And finally whenever I look at ScarJo's gown -- which I want desperately to like -- I hear Heidi Klum saying "It looks cheap, no?" Maybe it's the color that's making me think of a glittery dress that some young Vice President of Marketing might wear to her corporate Christmas partay.

You know Cate was all like...

'I have lots of gold but not this kind. Gimme.'

I should note that men were also walking the red carpet last night including 'Canadian Who Lives With Me' and 'That Man That's a Movie Star That I Get To Sleep With Every Night.' It's been nearly 24 hours since the Tonys and I'm still reeling at all the new ways the actresses have found to say "my husband" at awards shows. I only wish we could have heard Helen Mirren's new way of describing Taylor Hackford.

Ricky Martin, who no longer needs any euphemisms, was also present.

Ricky & The Canadian That Lives With Scarlett Johansson

Last night was ... odd.
Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Cate Blanchett, RYAN REYNOLDS

Sundance Day 4: I Am Buried, Love!

An easy day for me after the day 3, 5 film marathon (scroll down). I saw just 2 films. There would've been 3 but for a bus mishaps. Boo. Have also developed an irritating persistent cough. I blame all this fresh mountain air. My lungs are citified.

lo sono l'amore (I Am Love)
I'll have more to say about this Italian stunner as it approaches release but I'm too sick to parse it at the moment. So for those of you who are tweetless, I share this exchange between Guy Lodge and I.


I've rediscovered here at Sundance that I tend to respond best to visually driven films. Another critic I sat with at I Am Love complained that it kept him at a certain remove and that's totally true so long as you're speaking about its narrative or dialogue but the emotional content was all in its at first stately and then increasingly baroque rush of images and score. B+/A-? [I also suspect that I liked The Runaways better than most because I dug the visuals from director Floria Sigismondi, another contestant in the long line of great music video directors who made their way into feature films. But that's a story for another post.]

One more thing about I Am Love. I find it amusing that the initial foreign poster and the American poster are basically the same thing but for the star-f***ing.


Not only do three characters get cropped out to focus on the nuclear family, but it's also becomes all about Tilda Swinton. The font obscures the other actors and loops around to create a Bust of Movie Star. Place her sculptural beauty on your mantle.

...by which I mean buy a ticket when the film opens later this year.

Buried
The announcement that this accurately named thriller had been bought by Lionsgate -- who made (tidal) waves for the Sundance acquisition Precious last year -- came shortly before the screening for critics. I don't usually do this but I spent some of the movie and a good deal of time after the movie, thinking about how they could possibly market it. The movie takes place entirely inside a coffin with Ryan Reynolds as the unfortunate American truck driver trapped inside. He wakes up to this nightmare at the beginning of the film with only a cel phone and a lighter (and unfortunately all of his clothing). Spanish director Rodrigo Cortés displays enough technical creativity here in sound, lighting and shot differentiation that the gimmick is sustained surprisingly well. But how will they ever do a trailer without revealing the onion being peeled as it were? The fun (if such a thing can be called fun) is in how the story, predicament and politics are parceled out. And if you see a lot of that in the trailer... B

P.S. [*light spoiler*] I'm tempted to pettily subtract a grade due to the completely unimaginative voice casting. You'll never believe this but ubiquitous character actor Stephen Tobolowsky (in one of the voice roles) plays an asshole! Shocking right? When you hear that voice you simply know, thereby ruining one of the film's nastiest surprises.

The Two Sandras

I didn't imagine this year for Sandra Bullock. Hollywood isn't often kind to its romcom superstars once they near 40. Meg Ryan got the boot at 39 once Proof of Life and the Russell Crowe affair scandal hit. Global love for Julia Roberts cooled at around 37 as soon as she did, speaking figuratively, in Closer. By standard pop-culture/Hollywood timetables everyone will be pretending they never loved Amy Adams, Drew Barrymore and Reese Witherspoon between the years of 2012 and 2015. This is all both a real shame and expected for careers built on warmth and *new romance* appeal in an industry that privileges youth over talent and in a country that's youth-obsessed. Aging is tough enough in real life. Imagine how tough it is for celebrities who are asked to constantly embody our romantic dreams and beauty ideals? But things are getting better for actresses in the grand scheme of things. I mean, the media powers-that-be used to take shots at actresses as early as their mid30s. The resurgent bankability of Meryl Streep is a well-documented and hopefully paradigm shifting success story. Though very few people have ever been able to measure up to Streep at any age, I still consider it a good sign.

Sandra Bullock's age (45) is a non-issue for a super mom story like The Blind Side, which has just become her biggest hit ever (if you don't adjust for inflation -- otherwise it's probaby still Speed) but I thought it was one of the more interesting components of The Proposal, which I finally got around to watching this weekend.

The hit comedy does a rather awkward dance (once very literally -- I don't wanna talk about that dread drumming rap sequence!) trying to juggle its slapstick impulses with its heart-tugging. But it's easy to forgive its messy and crude storytelling since its a project that lives or dies by charm and chemistry. Ryan Reynolds & Sandra have both. Thus, big hit!


Most screen romances between older women and younger men (Ryan is 12 years younger) not only notice the discrepancy but they obsess over it. This one doesn't. The ubiquitous "cougar" pejorative never enters the picture. Instead, the idea that She's the Boss sucks up any and all heteronormative panic that the movie can muster. [Spoilers!] The movie is so nervous about this power imbalance that it effortfully and repeatedly tries to right this "wrong". It has to take place on Reynold's turf (his parent's home) and by his rules (he rewrites her "deal" very quickly) and has to even present him as both the dominating sexual and emotional force of the relationship. It even has to reveal that he's also wealthy. The Proposal is so nervous about this power imbalance that it literally cedes him all the power in the relationship by film's end; Up to and including the totally embarrassing and highly improbable off camera co-worker shout out "Show her who's boss!" when the couple seals their surprise romance with a kiss. [/Spoilers]

Never mind that that kind of public display would get you fired at most corporations (especially since they are technically boss and subordinate -- imagine the legal liabilities) for this is a fantasy. And maybe it's a fantasy that the movie never makes an issue of her age either, but it's still the movie's sole step in a progressive direction. Otherwise the screenplay of The Proposal is pandering regressive stuff throughout. I wanted to offer it up like a helpless fluffy puppy for a bird of prey only... well... it's hard to hate on account of all the cuteness.

Rather surprisingly Sandra's broad comic moments were my least favorite part of the performance. And comedy is her bread and butter. The movie opens with a baldly obvious 'You loved the Devil Wears Prada. You'll love this too!' set up. 'Sandra is a bitch on wheels! Watch her subordinates freak out when she enters the building.' It's a "gird your loins!" comic set piece only it's not funny. Bullock is no Streep. The problem is that Bullock is not very good at playing bitchy. This only worked for her in Crash and then just marginally so. Her screen persona is too warm and cuddly. The thaw of the ice queen is only a fascinating onscreen trope when the queen is believably chilly. She's better at the small comic awkwardness of how and when to touch her fake fiance. Ironically, I thought she was much stronger in the dramatic parts of the film, where she reveals her loneliness, or when she tells Reynolds "I'm scared" when she admits her romantic feelings.


And weirdly, I find the reverse true of The Blind Side: While her overall restraint is admirable (there's a lot of cartoonish mugging, both dramatic and comedic, surrounding her) she's not a gifted enough dramatic actress to make the adoptive mother all that interesting. The true selling point is her indisputable star charisma, which she's smart enough to trust to do the heavy lifting / film carrying. What's finally endearing about the character is the tiny accumulation of comic details. She rarely pushes a laugh line but she still gets laughs.

in conclusion
Sandra Bullock "The Blind Side" > Sandra Bullock in "The Proposal"
(but her Blind Side comedy > Blind Side drama and her Proposal drama > Proposal comedy)
it's so confusing!

but
The Proposal > The Blind Side
(totally. though it's a low stakes contest)

Which Sandra do you prefer? And would you have nominated her for that comedic Golden Globe? Or do you still think she was best in Speed (1994) and While You Were Sleeping (1995) because... maybe I do.
*

Ryan Reynolds & Scarlett Johansson Sure Must Love Comic Books

Finally I can stop doctoring photos to produce various actors as Green Lantern. Ryan Reynolds won the coveted Green Lantern role for summer 2011's big superhero pic, so this faux poster to your left is my last. (whew) I assume he's playing "Hal Jordan", the silver age Green Lantern, though many have donned the emerald ring. But the casting of a 'star' defeats the angle on this movie that would've worked best... GLC. Green Lantern Corps. Hallo?!

Press coverage seems to indicate that the finalists were Bradley Cooper, Jared Leto and Justin Timberlake (?!?). I feel a little bit bad for Jared Leto in particular right about now since his career is so off the rails and a superhero franchise might have been just the thing for bringing a bit of normalcy back in to balance out all the rock star posing and erratic acting career. Plus he's already played a "Jordan" and it might've been fun to mentally flash over to Angela Chase's besotted gaze whenever anybody called his name in the new movie. To Angela Chase, Jordan Catalano was a superhero, you know.

The film will supposedly* be directed by franchise-friendly Martin Campbell who has two James Bonds, two Zorros and two Edge of Darkness (TV series and now a film) under his belt already. He's not averse to double duty so if* the film opens or when it opens in 2011 expect a 'Martin Campbell signed for Green Lantern 2' announcement.

Scarlett Johansson & Ryan Reynolds have been married for 9½ months now. In that short time the cartoonishly-perfect specimens ("boobs & abs") have gone completely gaga for comic book movies. Since they've been married The Spirit and X-Men Origins: Wolverine have opened in theaters and they've signed for Deadpool, Green Lantern and Iron Man 2 (where Scarlett will play The Black Widow). At this rate they're going to name their first child "Stan Lee" or "Diana Prince". Useless trivia: Both Ryan and Scarlett are the youngest (well, unless you count Scarlett's twin) of multiple siblings and they might adopt. Stay tuned.

*With superhero movies, especially with DC heroes, you shouldn't truly bank on it until the actor is in the latex and standing in front of a green screen. Ryan Reynolds was also supposed to play The Flash (the movie never started filming) and he's also supposed to reprise his X-Men Origins: Wolverine role as Deadpool in a spinoff. I suspect that that movie won't happen either.

I Propose...

... that one shouldn't scream whether one collides accidentally into naked Ryan Reynolds or naked Sandra Bullock. If you take questions of tastes in starring vehicles out of it, isn't this a win win whether you're stage right or left? My weekly column at Towleroad is up with a very brief rundown of: this week's new releases, Woody Allen's rare gay characters, remake news including The Bride of Frankenstein and Fame and Judd Apatow's penis and its resemblance to Sir Ben Kingsley. He said it not me. I apologize for him.

Regarding this weekend's releases: What are you planning to see?