Meryl Streep has previously sung on screen (most recently for Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion), but the upcoming Mamma Mia!is the first real musical of her 30 year career. Why all the singing and dancing, and why now? “It was to prove Pauline Kael wrong,” insists Stuart Jeffries.
In this Guardian interview, he suggests to Streep that her decision to take a lead role in this likely summer blockbuster was nothing but a long-delayed strike against the film critic who decades earlier complained that Streep acted only “from the neck up.” Amazingly, Streep essentially shrugs and says, “Yeah, maybe”––and then goes on to tie Kael’s criticism of the actresses body language to the film critic’s ethnic/economic insecurity. The actual, speculative diss after the jump.
We’ve spent the past three weeks previewing films that are going to be premiering at SXSW, but the festival also has a conference component, with four days packed full of panels. Karina (that’s me) will be speaking on the Blogs, Buzz and Buddy lists panel on Sunday at 3:30. I’ll also be moderating a panel at 1pm on Monday called Deal or No Deal: The Road to Self-Distribution.
As far as panels that don’t actually require me to operate a microphone are concerned, I’m really excited about the Jeffrey Tambor Acting Workshop. Yes, George (and Oscar) Bluth himself is going to let us in on his “process.” Even cooler, he’s gonna do it by coaching Hannah Takes the Stairs stars Greta Gerwig and Kent Osbourne through a reading of an excerpt of John Patrick Shanley’s The Dreamer Examines His Pillow. Yes, seriously. The magic happens at 1pm on Sunday.
There are tons of other great events going on and no one can attend them all, but after the jump you’ll find a list of a few I have my eye on. If you’re on a panel or have panels you’re particularly excited about, let us know in the comments.
I’ve already detailed the last (and best) 17 minutes of yesterday’s Daniel Day-Lewis tribute; I’ve been stalling on recapping the previous hour-and-43 because they were somewhat less impressive. I’ve seen four films since yesterday morning, including a very solid Cannes winner and a much-discussed work of warsploitation by an American master, and nothing has excited me as much as that single reel of There Will Be Blood.
Earlier in the day, I wondered how the tribute would approach Day-Lewis’ unique star persona, and keeping an eye on that element kept me entertained even when the discussion between Day-Lewis and moderator Davia Nelson faltered. At one point, Day-Lewis praised a former professor who allegedly taught him to suppress the mechanics of acting by asking him to imagine a hazard sign with the words, “Danger–Actor at Work.” Which is odd, because the excerpts of Day-Lewis filmography shown almost immediately before that anecdote reek of the kind of showiness that makes a viewer (and an Oscar voter) think, “Wow! Now THAT’S Acting!”
Word just came down the wire that Marc Forster has been hired to direct the next James Bond movie. According to Variety, the FInding Neverland director will “start work shortly” on a script polish with Paul Haggis, who wrote the (I think) very good Casino Royale and directed the (I think) very bad Crash.
It’s an interesting choice, considering Forster’s films a) tend have a lot of showy/Oscar bait-y roles for actors. and b) he has not previously directed anything resembling a franchise or mega-budget action film. But what does it mean? Reports surfaced earlier this year that Bond 22 (according to IMDb, it’s still untitled) will be a “direct sequel” to Casino Royale. The hiring of Forster could be an indication that the film take Casino’s “Bond is only human” angle even further, thus requiring a director who knows how to focus on an ordinary interpersonal drama set within an extraordinary circumstance (ie: Stranger Than Fiction). Still, the film’s primary IMDB “plot” keyword is “weaponry“, so I can’t imagine we’re talking about *too* much character drama.
If you’re a Bond fan (and, really, I think anyone who claims they get zero pleasure from these films is a dirty liar), you should check the Bond & Beyond group here at Spout. Or, if Forster’s casting has you super psyched (or super skeptical) about the sequel, you can start a new group devoted to Bond 22. Either would be a good place to talk about one of my favorite mashup videos, embedded above.
Meryl Streep has previously sung on screen (most recently for Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion), but the upcoming 
We’ve spent the past three weeks previewing films that are going to be premiering at SXSW, but the festival also has a conference component, with four days packed full of panels. Karina (that’s me) will be speaking on the Blogs, Buzz and Buddy lists panel on Sunday at 3:30. I’ll also be moderating a panel at 1pm on Monday called Deal or No Deal: The Road to Self-Distribution.
