Links: Glenn Shadix (RIP). Plus Jones, Cronenberg, Captain America

/Film first set photos of January Jones as Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class. As I believe I've stated before I love this casting. But it does seem wierd that she is already pigeonholed as "sixties girl". Will this be our first true period piece superhero flick or am I forgetting something? At least they're trying something slightly different with this one.
All Things Fangirl relives the glory of (500) Days of Summer last year with summer concerts in the now featuring JGL and Zooey Deschanel.
Cinema Viewfinder There's a Cronenberg blog-a-thon going on that I didn't know about. Shame. I don't really understand the format to get to the article contributions but I'm certain there's good things to read there. I shall investigate further. Love that David Cronenberg.
/Film long interview with Never Let Me Go director Mark Romanek.
Film Business Asia the upcoming London Film Festival (we'll be covering it again) has a healthy selection of Asian films.
Sina Andy Lau. Let him eat cake (for an early birthday celebration)
Topless Robot would like you to calm the f*** down about that picture from the set of Captain America.
DListed Henry Cavill on the set of The Cold Light of the Day

Finally, in my weekly column over @ Towleroad I've got a brief bit about The Romantics and yet more links including the sad news that character actor Glenn Shadix passed away two days ago. He's best known as "Otho" from Beetlejuice but when I think of him I nearly always think of that funeral scene in Heathers..."ESK-I-MO!!!" I also lovelovelovelove the two-faced Mayor from The Nightmare Before Christmas which he voiced. He hadn't been seen on the screen much lately but he was actually blogging just last week.He will be missed but he sure will live on through those comedy classics.

20,000 Links Under the Sea

Daily Transom Ebert to pen memoir in high six figure deal.
In Contention looks at how Robin Hood (2010) got all mucked up in development.
Guardian an explicit erotic drama starring Emmanuelle Béart and her husband shunned by Cannes. Ugh. How will we ever see it now? They are so so pretty.
Movie|Line suggests that executives pounce on the Cannes hot ticket 101 year-old Manoel de Oliveira.


The Atlantic a tale of two comebacks: Mickey Rourke and Robert Downey Jr.
Cinema Blend Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski (of The Matrix fame) may be making a hard R gay military romance drama? Interesting.
Just Jared Tarsem Singh on Henry Cavill (in his new picture The Immortals) "Hey, I'd f*** him."
A Socialite's Life Tom Munro's celebrity portrait book. If I had a gajillion dollars I'd always have these big glossy photo books lying around.
Quiet Earth nsfw clips from the new Gregg Araki flick Kaboom.
i09 Every time i even see a new clip from a Twilight movie I want to see them even less. How is this possible? Here's Dakota Fanning all red eyed and quietly evil if you're into that.

Finally, The Hollywood Reporter shares yet another project for David Fincher. This time he'll be remaking the adventure film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. 20,000... brings Fincher's future features in development to a grand total of 12 (according to IMDb). I guess that $125 domestic gross for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button got Hollywood all horny. The first of the dozen we'll actually see is the Facebook story The Social Network which should be completed anytime soon. Remember when David was still making music videos. Or when people thought his feature career was doomed before it began due to Alien³'s reception (so underrated) or when he couldn't get arrested at the Oscars despite making films as good as Zodiac and Fight Club. Ancient history!


Wonder how much money the studio will give Fincher for the octopus alone? Water movies are notoriously expensive to make (Waterwold... Titanic... The Abyss...) so I bet this gets an even crazier budget than Button to begin with and then we'll hear endless internet reportage about it's ballooning disastrous budget during production.

14 Links (I Started and Couldn't Stop)

Gawker Harry Potter pr strategy: well behaved role model stars
TransGriot excerpts from Kerry Washington interviews. She's on the circuit for her transsexual role in Life is Hot in Cracktown.
SLatIFR 'The Kings of Cinematic Schlong' ...and yes Ewan McGregor is accounted for
Cinematical a certain heiress is being sued for not promoting a movie that paid her a cool million. Serves the filmmakers right, really. Roles in movies are meant to be played by actresses.
Old Hollywood a classic quippy moment with Shelley Winters, also known as Shirley
JoBlo first still for Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Playlist is tired of Henry Cavill missing out on every A-List role he's been considered for (The Green Lantern being the latest). They have a point. He does look like this...


I Need My Fix yet another product endorsement for Scarlett Johansson. You know, I wouldn't be at all surprised if she retires at 30 to raise children with her gazillions of dollars
In Contention yet another Oscar contender from within An Education? I'm feeling good about predicting it in several places since April I am. But this is the first I'm hearing about supporting actress. Probably should add Rosamund Pike to the list.
Risky Business doesn't get where Entourage is going with their latest fake movie, The Great Gatsby directed by Martin Scorsese.


off cinema
Getty Images Cat Island! Somebody book me a ticket
Towleroad has a great lengthy interview with military hero Daniel Choi (he's one of the guys being kicked out because Obama is so fond of inaction on "Don't Ask Don't Tell")
Movie|Line looks at the new contestants on Project Runway. This show has been gone so long that I almost don't care. Which is really weird for me.

Finally...
Fin de Cinema shares a list of the 'Best films of the 90s' from the Criterion Forum. It's somewhat bizarre. On first glance it skews difficult, hipster, art film, cinephile with Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man and Wong Kar Wai's Chungking Express up top.


But if this is the type of films they're going for why the hell is [safe] not in the top ten? It's better than either of those. Beau Travail's low ranking #63 -- on an art film list no less -- is also completely unacceptable (though I count that as a 2000 film since that's when it arrived in both France and America after 1999 festival showings)
*

Whatever Works at ShoWest

Here's another report from Film Experience regular Rosengje from sunny Vegas where ShoWest is closing. She has just seen Woody Allen's latest Whatever Works (previously discussed here)! I am green with envy. Let's jump right in to her slightly spoilerish thoughts.

In many ways, Whatever Works is an amalgam of all of the neuroses and preoccupations that have defined Woody Allen's previous films. Larry David plays Boris, a misanthrope who fled his "rational" marriage to live downtown in isolation, teaching chess to children through methods that involve repeated name-calling and knight-throwing. Boris's life is thrown into turmoil by the arrival of Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood), a runaway from Mississippi. Melodie is eventually followed by her mother (Patricia Clarkson) and father (Ed Begley, Jr.).

Patricia Clarkson storms into the movie after approximately 40 minutes, and plays a role in many ways comparable to Penélope Cruz's tempestuous Oscar-winning Maria Elena. While I was initially skeptical of Allen's treatment of Wood as a young Lolita, Clarkson actually plays the much more sexualized character. After showing up on Boris's doorstep in a hot pink ensemble (scrunchy included!) fit for the Southern pageant circuit, she is quickly awakened to the culture of New York. Naturally, this involves sex and art. In an interesting inversion of the much discussed relationship between ScarJo, Javier Bardem, and Penélope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Clarkson moves in with two men without giving it a second thought. Her character transitions from praising Jesus to opening an exhibit of nude collages. Clarkson is dynamic and sexy and once again demonstrates her unbeatable range. I don't think it is any stretch to consider her worthy of this year's Oscar race.

Patty sandwich! Apparently Woody is really into threesomes now.

The rest of the cast is also effective, pulling the humor out of frequently dark material. David's character first seems like the typical Allen prototype, but there is a bitterness to him that reminded me more of Max von Sydow in Hannah and Her Sisters. Evan Rachel Wood is very likable, but the vitality of her performance is trounced by the arrival of the inimitable Clarkson. Begley Jr. gives a hilarious turn, and Henry Cavill is both endearing and smarmy as a late love interest for Melodie.

The biggest stylistic change Allen makes in this film is having Boris directly address the audience. The film opens with a lengthy treatise on the character's views on death and the cretins that populate the world. We end with a similar address, but this time it is tinged with a kind of optimism unique to Woody Allen. The character's refrain of "whatever works" takes on a slightly sweet quality. I suspect audiences and critics will debate the sincerity of its happy ending. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and believe it provides the same level of insight into the director's fears and desires that many pegged on Deconstructing Harry.

I'm encouraged to hear rosengje's positivity regarding Patty Clarkson (she who really needs an Oscar) but maybe she'll have to get there from Shutter Island instead? Would they really reward a similar role to last year's winner to get back-to-back Woody Allen Best Supporting Actress citations?

Film Experience podcast guest Katey also liked what she saw, speaking highly of Evan Rachel Wood's performance, too. I am so eager to see this. I have to have my annual Woody.
*

Yes We Link

Time Out New York Paul Rudd in the Hot Seat. His penis is a rhombus!
IFC checks for zombies. Yep, they're still shuffling around
Bauer Griffin marvels at Julianne Moore sans makeup
Sunset Gun on It Happened One Night
My New Plaid Pants is looking forward to more of Sam Worthington & Henry Cavill. In togas no less
Coming Soon Spielberg and Will Smith might remake the gory Asian crime drama loved by everyone (but moi) Old Boy
Thompson on Hollywood Doubt reviews + Oscar
Bright Lights investigates Norma Shearer
Acidemic when bad scores happen to good movies

Small Screen
Defamer gives Joss Whedon fans yet more to worry about ... and Dollhouse hasn't even premiered yet
Defamer More gay drama from Grey's Anatomy. I don't even like or watch that show (if I can help it) but I find all the behind the scenes vitriol and confusing conflicts over the past couple of years eyebrow raising. Someday someone will write a terrific showbiz tell-all. What a nightmare that set must be.

Politics
As Little As Possible whips up a terrific personal "Election Reflection"
Sign this Petition This site has a rundown of California's Prop 8 battle but the best part is the brief history lesson on the Mormon church and their reversal from oppressed to oppressor. I love this ol' chestnut from the Mormon prophet Brigham Young (pictured right, img src , with 21 of his wives):

Marriage is a civil contract. You might as well make a law to say how many children a man shall have, as to make a law to say how many wives he shall have.

Marriage is apparently no longer a civil contract for Mormons but a sacred one man / one woman institution... except in heaven where it's still a one man / sisterwives type deal. Ah, the pungent stench of hypocrisy.
*