next_to_normal | Entries tagged with movies

I went to an Oktoberfest party a couple weeks ago (it is that time of year), and to go along with the theme, I baked a German Apple Cake to bring. (I told my mom I made it and she responded, "What makes it German? My recipe is a Jewish apple cake, I bet mine's better." Well, the Germans add cream cheese frosting, so...) I cannot vouch for its authentic Germanness, but I can certainly vouch for its deliciousness. I followed the advice of the commenters and didn't bake it for the full 55-60 minutes. I was a little concerned about whether it'd be not totally baked in the middle, but it was more like slightly underdone brownies than raw dough.

And now, books!

Forever Free, Jim Halderman: Okay, so this is clearly a series with diminishing returns. I mostly liked the first book, was rather ambivalent about the second (which was not actually a sequel of any kind), and now the third, which IS actually a sequel to the first book... I just... don't even know where to start. It starts off pretty slow, catching up with the characters from the first book twenty years later and establishing their life on their new planet (by sapping them of every characteristic that was interesting or unique about them, and these were not terribly fleshed-out characters to begin with). Then it picks up when they decide to go back into space and things start to go wrong, which was a plot I was actually interested in, both for the perils of the space journey and for the potential changes in the far future society once they returned. But then before any of that gets to develop, it just goes completely off the rails and then the book ENDS. It's like the author had no idea where to go with the story so he just threw in a literal deus ex machina or four and said, "Screw it, I'm finished."

To All the Boys I've Loved Before, Jenny Han: This is a DELIGHTFUL YA romance about Lara Jean, a quiet, reserved teenager who writes love letters to boys she likes that she never means for them to read. Except, of course, they do and things get all topsy-turvy for Lara Jean. I actually watched the movie before I read the book, and I think I like the movie better (and if you haven't seen it yet, get thee to Netflix immediately). But the movie has a pretty firm ending, whereas the book has a definite cliffhanger as the beginning of a trilogy, which makes it harder to evaluate. (The movie ALSO has adorable leads - I knew Noah Centineo from The Fosters, but Lana Condor is new to me, and both are great.) But I'm definitely going to keep reading.

The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual and Organizational Accountability, Rogers Connors, Tom Smith, and Craig Hickman: Meh. This one was assigned reading for work. It's got some good (if not revolutionary) points, although the Oz framework is pretty hokey and forced. Mostly, though, it just emphasized how dysfunctional my old workplace was and how glad I am that I'm no longer there!

A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles: Set in the 30 years after the Russian Revolution, this book follows a Russian aristocrat who was stripped of his title and placed on "house arrest" in a Moscow hotel by the new Bolshevik regime. When I was describing the plot to one of my friends, she said, "Like that Tom Hanks movie where he lives in the airport?" And, I mean... kinda? But with a lot of Russian politics and literary references thrown in, lol. It's all about the life he builds within the walls of the hotel and the various staff and hotel guests who become his family. The writing is vividly descriptive, with beautiful imagery and colorful characters, with an unhurried, contemplative pace, which (like all Russian novels) occasionally makes it feel a little too long, but definitely worth a read.

Current Mood: chipper

I managed to see six of the nine Best Picture nominees, and since tonight is Oscar night, I better talk about them before everyone loses interest (too late - does anyone even pay attention to the Oscars?).

In the order I saw them:

1. Dunkirk - I saw this in IMAX at the Air & Space Museum, which IMO was definitely worth it. This is the kind of movie that benefits from an immersive viewing experience. One of my friends said she didn't like Dunkirk because she couldn't follow it, but I didn't have that problem? I don't know if it's because I knew ahead of time that it was nonlinear or I've just seen a lot of Christopher Nolan movies. As far as war movies go, it feels like Saving Private Ryan without the emotional beats or character development, but that's not a criticism, really? It's not telling that kind of story, but what it is interested in doing - exploring, like most Nolan films, the perception of time - it does very thought-provokingly. At any rate, I liked it better than the other Dunkirk movie this year.

2. Lady Bird - I liked this one. It's not as splashy as some of the other nominees, but it's a sweet coming of age story, and the relationship between Lady Bird and her mother is really well played by both actresses. I think it's vaguely autobiographical, and the characters and setting all feel very real and familiar. Especially if you were a high school drama nerd, it is cringingly familiar, lol.

3. The Post - While it's not a bad movie, I couldn't help but think that they focused on the least interesting aspect of the Pentagon Papers, and that there were at least three other movies in there that I'd much rather be watching. The challenge of movies like this is to create a sense of tension and stakes when you already know the outcome, and this one never quite gets there. The movie is also trying to say something about the free press and the conflict that arises when politicians run in the same social circles as the media who cover them, but it sort of ends up feeling like the stakes are that Meryl Streep's friends in Washington won't talk to her anymore if she publishes their secrets. I know this was a rush job - Spielberg reportedly got the idea around Trump's inauguration, and the movie was out by the end of the same year - and it feels like the script could've used at least another pass or two. Bonus points, however, for framing it as a direct prequel to All the President's Men, thereby establishing a Washington Post Cinematic Universe.

4. The Shape of Water - I liked this one a lot more than I expected to based on the trailers, which just made me go "WTF is this even?" It's very well done and it has a lot of interesting things to say, buuuuut one of those things is "lady fucks a sea monster," and, well. Interspecies romance has never been my thing. I'm sort of surprised it's as favored to win as it is, but I guess the Academy is down with the fish sex. On the other hand, I guess if you are into those fandom AUs where Spike has wings and Buffy is a shapeshifting werebear or dragon!Tony Stark and unicorn!Steve Rogers are a couple, then this is the movie for you?

5. Get Out - This is the one I am super shocked it got nominated. I mean, it's so great, but (a) it's a horror movie and (b) it's challenging in a way that you'd think the (mostly-white) Academy voters would find uncomfortable? It's a little hard for me to judge, because by the time I saw it (after it came out on Netflix), so much about it had already seeped into the pop culture lexicon that, while not being spoiled exactly, I knew pretty much what to expect and how to feel about it. But then, so did the Academy, so maybe the fact that it came out so early in the year is actually a benefit, even though it's not the typical timing for an Oscar movie?

6. Darkest Hour - Someone on an NPR podcast (I think) described this as "like if you made a movie retelling Lady Bird from the perspective of Lady Bird's dirtbag boyfriend," and OMG it's so true. It's a less interesting and unnecessary perspective on Dunkirk, soured further by the fact that it cheats - as a biopic, while I'm not expecting total historical accuracy, I DO expect that pivotal moments on which the entire climax of the movie hinges not be totally made up! What is even the point of telling this "true" story if you have to make up the main character's crisis of confidence AND the scene that inspires him again?

I did not get to see Call Me By Your Name, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, or Phantom Thread, mostly due to traveling when my movie-watching friends went to see them. I hope to see the first two, at least, when they're available on Netflix. It does make it difficult to predict a winner, since Three Billboards was one of the front-runners.

Current Mood: sick

I was updating Goodreads today and noticed that I have done the reading challenge every year since 2011, every year have set my goal at 50, and only ONCE have I actually achieved that goal (2012). LOL. So this year, I finally caved and lowered it to 45. I want to try to write more, and also encourage myself to read, so I'm going to try posting about books again (and maybe movies and TV, we shall see how it goes). I am making an effort once again to see all the Oscar Best Picture nominees, so I will probably talk about them at some point? I've seen 4 out of 9 so far.

Also, PSA: Being Erica is now available on Hulu!!! Guess who is doing a rewatch. (It's me.) I was thinking of looking for a new therapist, but this is actually better, lol.

Anyway! Here's what I read in January:

Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese: This was a book club selection - possibly the last, lol. At our last meeting, we discussed making it a "getting-together club that occasionally reads books," because it was too much to keep up with. So this book may possibly have the honor of being the one that finally broke my book club. I ultimately liked it, but it was very slow to get into, and I can understand why some of my friends gave up. The portrayal of Ethiopian culture and medical practice is interesting, but the writing is verbose and uneven - some parts are skimmable, others are engrossing. (It's also, fair warning, just plain gross at times - the author is a physician and sometimes goes into explicit medical detail.)

Turtles All the Way Down, John Green: Not a fan. I really liked Will Grayson, Will Grayson and The Fault in Our Stars, but even for John Green, the "teenagers having pretentious philosophical conversations and not sounding even slightly like actual teenagers" was too much in this book, lol. I also bumped HARD on the main character, who has OCD/anxiety/some cocktail of mental illness that makes her obsess over getting C. diff (among other things). I know it's a mental illness and therefore it's not rational, and maybe I'd be more sympathetic if it were literally anything else she was fixated on, but I have HAD C. diff. A C. diff infection triggered my Crohn's, which has had a not-insignificant impact on my life, so I kind of have zero patience for this character's imaginary C. diff bullshit? But perhaps if you like John Green and do not have medical baggage, you will enjoy it more than I did.

All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation, Rebecca Traister: I saw this recommended on Twitter, but now I can't remember by whom. Anyway, being a single lady in my 30s, I have been thinking a lot about the issues this book raises - like, am I normal for not being married yet, not wanting kids, etc. but not having a Sex and the City-esque social life, either? (Answer: probably.) The book covers topics like careers, female friendship, sex and dating, and single motherhood. It looks at some of the benefits of marrying later, or not at all, the societal expectations around marriage and babies, but also the race and class differences that may make marriage a more or less appealing option for women. It's ultimately not an argument for being single, but rather for more choices for women. Recommended regardless of your relationship status.

Current Mood: busy

Hi y'all. Still alive over here. Sometimes I feel like maybe it's time to close the figurative doors on this place, since all I seem to do is use it to reassure people that I remain among the living, and to detail my body's ongoing efforts to the contrary. Mostly, I wish I had more to SAY, but I just don't have the energy to, like, think about things, lol. Which sounds lame and stupid, because it seems like dealing with physical pain shouldn't impact my ability to review television shows or make icons or whatever else I used to do, but... it does.

I'm still doing about the same - lots of pain, lots of Percocet, no progress on the Entyvio. I'm starting another new clinical trial, but have to taper off the Prednisone first (which I am happy to do, goodbye hairy moon-face!) so it'll be about a month before I get the new drug. At least it's open label, so I know for sure I'm getting real medicine and not placebo.

Anyway. It also seems ridiculous to post holiday pictures now that it's MID-JANUARY, but whatever, here's Chelsea wearing a fancy bow for Christmas:

( Read more... )
I meant to do the end of the year meme, if only to help myself keep track of all the TV I watched, but... meh. I also contemplated doing the hair meme that was going around, but then I remembered I'm allergic to selfies and so I don't actually have any good photos of my hair to post. Not that my hair is really interesting enough for a meme, anyway.

Uh, bad news for some of you: I FINALLY got around to watching Mad Max: Fury Road, and I found it pretty meh? Like, it was fine as an action movie, but I don't get all the wild love for it? I can see why the prominence of female characters in this kind of movie would make a lot of people excited, but, like, is that it? It seemed like there was a ton of backstory that was just... not explained (like why any of this was happening, lol) and it kind of surprised me that people who, on the whole, tend to place a high priority on STORY loved it so much when it's basically 2 hours of non-stop action with the barest minimum of plot to justify it. Maybe it's just not my genre, or I had too high expectations because it seemed like the entire internet flipped their shit over it. (I will say this: flaming guitar guy was as hilariously weird and fantastic as I'd been led to believe.) So, tell me what I'm missing, Internet!

I watched MM:FR as part of my Oscar movie challenge - my friends and I are attempting to see all the Best Picture nominees. So far, I've seen 3, the other two being Spotlight and The Martian. I LOOOOVED The Martian. It probably shouldn't have been in the Comedy category for the Golden Globes, but it WAS pretty hilarious, and Matt Damon is fantastic. We as a society really ought to stop leaving him in dangerous places, though. It's costing an awful lot in money, effort, and lives to keep retrieving him.

Current Mood: sick

Much like the film itself, this post has become far more sprawling and unwieldy than it was ever intended to be, so I might as well post it now before I lose the plot completely. I reserve the right to change my mind on some things once I manage to see it a second time.

( All the spoilers )

Current Mood: accomplished

Hello again. So, I was sick and miserable through most of March - including my birthday :( - and then I started new drugs and now I'm feeling better and also have learned how to give myself injections, which is a thing I have been avoiding for like 5 years, but it turns out it's not that bad. (It probably helped that prior to the first shot, I was so sick I was like, "I will literally stab myself with anything if it will make me feel better.")

I also went to Boston (less snow than I expected!).

A month's worth of links:

* Sutton Foster talks about turning 40 and passing for 26 in her new series, Younger.

* Masters of Sex gets a July premiere date.

* This video is from a few weeks ago, but it's so adorable it deserves to be linked: Robert Downey Jr. gives a 7-year-old an Iron Man bionic arm.

* Homeland is once again changing things up for the next season.

* Here's two parts of an interview with Joss Whedon talking about Avengers: Age of Ultron. Plus, an article on the supertwins, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, and a cute behind-the-scenes featurette.

* With Mad Men ending soon, here's an oral history of the show, an interview with creator Matthew Weiner, Weiner and Kiernan Shipka talking about Sally Draper, an interview with Jon Hamm, and one with John Slattery.

* The rumors are true: The X-Files is coming back for a six-episode limited run.

* Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper talk about working together, and Jen mentions that the next X-Men movie will be her last.

* For those of you who've always thought Arya Stark would make a great companion, you're in luck - Maisie Williams is guest-starring on Doctor Who this year.

* In other fandom crossover casting, Arthur Darvill will be on the Arrow/The Flash spin-off.

* Trevor Noah will be taking over hosting The Daily Show. No idea how he'll be as a host, but his stand-up is hilarious.

* The Americans has been renewed for season 4.

* This is a great piece on Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany, which includes references to "licking the butter" - which seems like it should be a euphemism for something but is not.

* Behind the scenes on Community season 6 on Yahoo.

* A really long, but great read from one of the writers of Lost about the early years of the show.

Current Mood: okay

* A major embargo on Age of Ultron articles has apparently been lifted, so there's a ton of interviews with Joss Whedon, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Joss again, Joss and Jeremy together, Evans and Jeremy, and basically the entire cast. And, of course, here's the new trailer.

* The Agent Carter showrunners talked about the season finale. And the Agents of SHIELD team talks about the upcoming half-season.

* I gotta say, I can't blame James Gunn - this awards season definitely felt like it was ragging on superhero movies (and the premise of awards-favorite Birdman didn't help). And, I mean, no one's saying Guardians of the Galaxy deserves to win an Academy Award (even if I liked it about a thousand times more than Birdman), but it seems kiiiiinda disingenuous to be mocking superhero movies when your nominees include Batman, Doctor Strange, the Hulk, the OTHER Hulk, Gwen Stacy, J. Jonah Jameson, and ROCKET FUCKING RACCOON.

* Kyle Chandler talks about Friday Night Lights and his new Netflix series, Bloodline.

* One more interview with Mike Schur about the Parks & Recreation series finale. Plus, an oral history of the show and an interview with Amy Poehler.

* Zachary Quinto is guest-starring on Hannibal, plus we now have a premiere date for season 3.

* The CW is planning an Arrow/The Flash spin-off with kind of an odd (IMO) collection of supporting characters from the two series. Like, I can see why they would want to build a spin-off around each of these characters individually, but I really don't get why they're all in a show together? Maybe it'd make sense if I read the comics.

* There's a trailer for Community season 6, and naturally it is a spoof of the Age of Ultron trailer, lol.

Current Mood: sick

* Alison Brie talks about how supportive Yahoo is of Community.

* Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould talk about Better Call Saul.

* Andy Mientus talks about playing the Pied Piper on The Flash. Also, The Flash and Arrow creator Greg Berlanti talks about LGBT characters and introducing diversity to the world of superheroes.

* Director Thomas Schlamme talks about The Americans, Manhattan, and of course, The West Wing.

* The showrunners of The Americans are also talking about their show. Plus, eight reasons to love The Americans (not that you guys need them because you're all obviously watching, right?) and an interview with Holly Taylor.

* Marvel news: Hayley Atwell talks about Agent Carter. There's some new stuff in the Age of Ultron TV spot. And David Tennant is playing the villain in Netflix's AKA Jessica Jones!

* Apparently the internet is actually in charge of casting things now, because Chris Pratt might be starring in an Indiana Jones remake.

* For further evidence of this theory, I present the all-female cast of Ghostbusters. I am particularly thrilled about Kate McKinnon (on whom I'd have an immense crush, except that her Justin Bieber impression is so spot-on it creeps me out).

* Emma Watson will play Belle in a live-action Beauty and the Beast.

* The Fantastic Four trailer looks... um... generic? If you didn't know this was based on a superhero comic, it kind of just looks like a sci-fi disaster movie? I really feel like the gritty realism is a mistake. I mean, look, I don't love the original movies or anything (other than my bb Chris Evans), and I don't think anyone would mistake them for good movies, but why bother making a Fantastic Four movie if you're not going to embrace the inherent ridiculousness? This should be Fox's Guardians of the Galaxy.

Current Mood: okay

* Via

umadoshi, some speculation on Black Widow's MCU backstory based on the Age of Ultron trailers. I have to admit, much as I want Natasha's origin story, the mere mention of "how much Joss Whedon looooves his trained-as-a-weapon, mentally-brainwashed ballerinas" makes me go NO NO NO HANDS OFF DON'T TOUCH DO NOT RUIN THIS FOR ME WITH YOUR GROSS FETISHES, JOSS.

* Here's the live-blog of the Agent Carter TCA panel, as well as the Community panel.

* Also a live-blog of the Parks & Recreation panel, and an interview with Michael Schur about Parks & Rec's final season.

* Season 3 of Hannibal won't be on until the summer. It will also involve a time jump long enough for someone to get married, and Richard Armitage has been cast in a key role.

* Zachary Levi will star in the Heroes reboot. Oh, Zac. Why.

* Jennifer Lawrence interviews Eddie Redmayne and it's adorable.

* Bradley Whitford is guest-starring on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Yay!

* The cast of The West Wing reunites for the second annual Big Block of Cheese Day.

* More Twin Peaks cast announcements.

Current Mood: exhausted

* Here are live-blogs of the TCA panels for Better Call Saul, Mad Men, Orphan Black, and Vampire Diaries/Originals, plus a write-up of the Arrow/Flash panel. And speaking of the latter few shows, the CW renewed basically everything in its line-up.

* Grant Gustin talks about The Flash and his musical theater background. Plus, here's some Flash casting news and a teaser featuring Andy Mientus!

* Someone is leaving The Vampire Diaries (AGAIN, lol. I don't know why they bother announcing it anymore. They'll just bring 'em back in a season or two).

* Better Call Saul finally got its first extended look with a new trailer.

* The Tom Hiddleston/Hugh Laurie BBC miniseries The Night Manager will be airing on AMC in the US.

* Shameless, which just began its 5th season last night, has already been renewed for a 6th.

* Kyle MacLachlan is officially on board for the Twin Peaks revival.

* Gillian Flynn is hinting at possibly writing a sequel to Gone Girl. I know a lot of people didn't like the ending, but I can't imagine that'll be more satisfying.

* New Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer.

Current Mood: tired

Agent Carter premieres tonight (right now, in fact, if you're on the east coast), so there are plenty of articles and interviews about it. Early reviews seem to be largely positive, and I've enjoyed what I've seen so far. Hayley Atwell is outstanding and should be in all the things. If only Agents of SHIELD had been this good right out of the gate...

ETA: Here's the trailer for Ant-Man that aired at the end of the episode. Meh.

I don't have any other links, but rather than hold those until I have enough for a full post, I figured I'd better post them now if I want any semblance of timeliness. So instead I'll fill the post with links to recipes I've tried recently.

My Christmas cookie baking this year wasn't terribly adventurous. I jazzed up a standard chocolate chip cookie with some Reese's chips, but otherwise, my only new recipe was for Pecan, Sea Salt & Caramel-Filled DelightFulls Brownies. I'm a big fan of the salted caramel trend, so this was right up my alley. Two suggestions: first, my mother thought the brownies were a bit dry and recommended her secret ingredient (adding chocolate syrup in the batter) to make them more gooey. And second, I wouldn't bother with sprinkling the DelightFulls on top - they didn't bake into or melt enough and mostly fell off when I cut up the brownies. Just mix 'em all in the batter at once.

On Sunday, I tried a recipe recommended by

per_aspera_ad_astra - Slow Cooker Sugar and Roasted Garlic Pot Roast Sandwiches. I am kind of nervous about leaving the crock pot on while I'm not home (Chelsea has zero sense of self-preservation, she will walk across the stove, lick hot pans, and once got too close to a candle and singed her fur, so I would not be surprised if she managed to knock the lid off the crock pot and curl up right in the damn thing). It's a shame because I love the concept of a meal that does all the work itself and you just come home and eat it. And this one was really good! At least I'll have leftovers.

And then tonight I made Risotto with Shrimp and Peas, which I was less impressed with. It wasn't bad, just kind of bland. I probably should have realized this, but if you're not going to add any real spices or flavors to your risotto, you really need better ingredients than boring shrimp and peas. I could see this being improved with scallops and asparagus, maybe, or a bit of white wine in place of some of the broth.

Current Mood: happy

I mean, yeah, whatever, Merry Christmas happy holidays blah blah, NOW ONTO IMPORTANT THINGS.

I saw it. I did not hate it. I did not love it, but I did not feel compelled to scream or throw things in the theater or otherwise cause a scene, so let's call that a win.

Short version: When the movie was over, my mom and I turned to each other and said, "Meh."

Long version: ( Read more... )

Current Mood: blah

So, who watched Peter Pan Live! on Thursday night?

I thought it was technically better than The Sound of Music - for one thing, Allison Williams can sing AND act, and she gave 110% enthusiasm-wise (meanwhile Christopher Walken was kind of just doing whatever the fuck he wanted, lol, which I'm not entirely sure was "acting," per se, but was definitely entertaining). The sets were fantastic (no cardboard Alps here!), and psychedelic crocodile notwithstanding, in general the production values were clearly higher, like they'd actually put some thought into the filming of it.

But overall it kind of left me cold? Mostly because I have zero attachment to the musical (this was actually the first time I'd ever seen it), whereas The Sound of Music has the nostalgia factor, and because you could probably write a whole doctoral dissertation on the creepy and occasionally bizarre gender narratives. (It didn't help that Williams as Peter came across very much as a grown woman pretending to be a prepubescent boy rather than actually capturing the childishness of Peter, which made the flirty scenes with Wendy seem like more of a story of lesbian awakening than anything else. Which, to be fair, is a much better story than "flying asshole kidnaps girl to clean up after his pack of bratty overgrown man-boys.") Oh well. At least they tried to make it less racist?

IDK, I think it was probably not the best choice of musical, so no matter how well done it was, it was never going to have the kind of impact The Sound of Music did. (In case you'd forgotten - like I did - NBC has already locked in The Music Man for next year.)

Anyway, links!

* Marvel casting announcements: Benedict Cumberbatch is Doctor Strange (which we all kind of assumed) and Krysten Ritter is Jessica Jones.

* Jed and Maurissa talk about Agents of SHIELD and the upcoming mid-season finale.

* A piece on the sad state of network sitcoms.

* Newly-bearded Aaron Tveit talks about playing John Wilkes Booth in Assassins.

* Interesting profile of Robert Downey Sr.

* The secret history of chocolate chip cookies! I had no idea it was so scandalous.

* Full audio of Anna Kendrick singing "On the Steps of the Palace." This is the one where Sondheim tweaked the lyrics because she was actually singing it on the palace steps rather than afterward.

* On Reese Witherspoon and our tendency to box movie stars into a particular image, and then be surprised when it turns out they are multi-faceted people, just like the rest of us.

Current Mood: lazy

* Lots of Into the Woods stuff from broadway.com - an interview with James Corden and Emily Blunt (I am trying very hard not to be that guy, but I hate nearly every line reading in that clip at the beginning, lol). And here's Meryl Streep with a different clip (Bwuh? Blue moon?). Also a behind the scenes video, which includes a lot of singing. I will confess to being very impressed with Lilla Crawford's singing, but I desperately wish we'd gotten to hear her line, "You could not, Mr. LIAR!" in that scene with Jack, because that is probably the most-repeated line in my house, lol.

* Stephen Amell and Grant Gustin talk about the Flash vs. Arrow crossover, which starts tonight on The Flash and continues tomorrow on Arrow.

* Parks & Recreation has a schedule for its final season, and I am kinda bummed that it'll be up against The Flash on Tuesdays, because clearly I like them both.

* Much as I enjoyed the Suicide Squad's appearances on Arrow, I had little interest in the announced film, but the just-announced cast is insane: Jared Leto and Margot Robbie as the Joker and Harley Quinn? Will Smith as Deadshot??

* Finally, we get our first real look at Better Call Saul. It's... eh.

* Unless you live under a rock (or don't care about Star Wars), you've probably already seen the teaser for Episode VII. I... don't particularly care about Star Wars - I mean, I liked the original trilogy, but I hated Phantom Menace and never bothered with the rest of that trilogy - so I'm kinda just meh until they show me some Luke, Leia, and Han. The one thing that did give me nostalgia feels? The theme song.

* An interview with Agents of SHIELD EP Jeff Bell. I admit, I rolled my eyes pretty hard at the idea that Ward is "the new Spike." I hate to break it to you, Marvel, but Ward is about 10 times less interesting, and Brett Dalton is about 100 times less talented than James Marsters, and since being a villain is the only thing that's made him more than a talking block of wood, I don't know a single person who wants a redemption arc for Ward.

Current Mood: blah

* The Into the Woods cast is doing interviews. Here's Meryl Streep and James Corden (funny they both mention new songs that ended up getting cut), and Anna Kendrick. Plus, here's a Q&A panel with the whole cast.

( Under a cut because I blathered far too much )

* And more reminiscing from the original Broadway cast.

* It's confirmed: Michelle MacLaren will direct Wonder Woman.

* James Gunn has some good points about putting the cart before the horse in developing shared universes.

* Another interview with Natalie Dormer about Mockingjay and Game of Thrones.

* Here's the trailer for next week's Flash vs. Arrow crossover. The cast of both shows also did a Q&A at a special screening of the two episodes - here's part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 of the panel.

* I think Matthew McConaughey would make an excellent Randall Flagg in The Stand.

* A series of interviews with Damon Lindelof about the first season of Lost.

* Here's a trailer for Agent Carter.

* The Jurassic World trailer looks hilariously ridiculous. Chris Pratt riding a motorcycle flanked by velociraptors! If at any point during this movie, he actually RIDES A DINOSAUR, automatic five stars.

Current Mood: anxious

* Some interesting actors being considered to play Jessica Jones and Luke Cage in their respective Netflix series.

* Such a random thing to come from Playboy, but I will take any opportunity to revisit the short-lived series Kings.

* Here's a trailer for the new live-action Cinderella movie from Disney.

* Better Call Saul finally has a premiere date. So does The Americans.

* Adam Pally is leaving The Mindy Project.

* Really interesting account of how Mike Nichols and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? helped to change the MPAA rating system.

* Cecily Strong is hosting the next White House Correspondents' Dinner. Good for her.

* Here's a clip of Meryl Streep singing "Stay With Me" from Into the Woods.

* There's also a trailer for Pitch Perfect 2.

* Donald Sutherland compared Jennifer Lawrence to Joan of Arc and Jesus. Look, we all love JLaw, but that's a little ridiculous even as hyperbole. (On the other hand, now I kind of want a Joan of Arc movie starring Jennifer Lawrence?)

Current Mood: amused

* Peter Capaldi is confirmed to be coming back for the next season of Doctor Who. Not that anyone really expected he wouldn't, since there's usually much more fanfare when a Doctor leaves and a new one is cast, and also we just did that at the beginning of THIS season. But. You know. In case you were worried. No confirmation on Jenna Coleman, however.

* If you're a fan of The Americans or Masters of Sex, you may be happy to hear that The Millers was canceled, thus freeing up Margo Martindale and Beau Bridges to return to those (much better) shows.

* With Mockingjay coming out soon, Jennifer Lawrence and the rest of the cast are out in full force. JLaw talks about the crazy ways her life has changed since accepting this role and makes plans to fight crime with Stephen Colbert, or possibly commit crimes as part of her downward spiral. Director Francis Lawrence discusses the pressure of being Philip Seymour Hoffman's last film, Sam Claflin talks a lot about his hair, and Natalie Dormer is her usual fierce self as always.

* Marvel has cast Daniel Bruhl to play an unspecified villain in Captain America: Civil War. No idea who he's actually playing, but here's some speculation, which also indicates that the Winter Soldier will still play a major role in the film. You know, in addition to Tony Stark being around, and Cap possibly having a whole new team, and introducing Black Panther... Man, this is going to be one really crowded movie; I'm not sure why they're even bothering to call it "Captain America" at this point.

* This is why it took so long to get Dancing Baby Groot merchandise.

* Rob Marshall and James Lapine talk about adapting Into the Woods for the film. I do not appreciate being told to "chill out." This is only THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MY CHILDHOOD YOU ARE MESSING WITH HERE. That is, like, barely an exaggeration, you don't even know.

* First promo for Peter Pan live. Apparently, they are making quite a few changes from the original musical, but some of that's about making it less horribly racist, so I think even the purists would find it hard to argue with that one.

* Fantastic discussion of Connie Britton's career and magnificent hair.

* Interesting piece on how certain casting choices provoke outrage, what the threshold is for authenticity, and why some ethnic minorities get lumped together.

* Mandy Patinkin sings and talks really fast and says the Inigo Montoya quote on 60 Minutes.

Current Mood: tired

* AHHHHHH! There was an Into the Woods reunion!! If, like me, your reaction to the movie is "How uneasy I feel," you can listen to the original Broadway cast singing songs from the show and reminiscing.

* There will be a stage version of The Hunger Games. Somehow.

* In the movie version, Jennifer Lawrence was apparently traumatized by having to sing in Mockingjay.

* Community is adding two new cast members for its 6th season.

* Now that The Newsroom is coming to an end, Aaron Sorkin claims he's done with television. So you can relax now,

pocochina.

* Of course, Sorkin will probably be very busy rewriting all the curse words out of A Few Good Men so that NBC can air it live.

* Not one, but two interviews with Adrianne Palicki about playing Bobbi Morse on Agents of SHIELD. Plus, Clark Gregg talks about this week's episode.

* Graceland has been renewed for season 3.

* I really enjoyed Room, and the movie looks like it'll have a great cast, though getting a kid who can play Jack will be key.

* Michelle MacLaren would be an excellent choice to direct anything, so I'd be happy if she directed Wonder Woman.

* Is it me, or does Katie Cassidy just look wrong as Black Canary? Maybe it's because Laurel's never been that kind of character, and/or because Sara was the Canary first, but it's just very weird to see her all dominatrix-leathered up. She looks like Laurel play-acting at being a superhero rather than actually being one.

* Out actors from Arrow and The Flash talk about the increasing presence of LGBT actors in superhero shows.

* Really cool write-up from

jae of The Americans set visit.

* More about The Librarians. I LOL'd at Christian Kane talking about how he had to learn how not to hit people. (In his defense, he is really, really good at hitting people.)

* Another article praising John Oliver's Last Week Tonight, because it is just that excellent.

Current Mood: amused

* Agent Carter has an official premiere date, plus here's a preview that aired during Tuesday night's Marvel TV special.

* Hayley Atwell may also be appearing in Ant-Man, presumably in a flashback and not her Winter Soldier old lady make-up.

* This article on how Agents of SHIELD got good touches on some of the same things I mentioned in my last post.

* Showtime is developing a TV series in which partisan divides bring America to the brink of civil war. So, practically a documentary.

* Eddie Redmayne talks about playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

* Jon Stewart talks about his directorial debut, Rosewater.

* Neil Patrick Harris did a fascinating podcast interview promoting his book, in which he talks about... pretty much everything.

* Toy Story 4 is definitely happening, y'all. Start stocking up on tissues now.

* Here's an oral history of Sports Night.

* The new Into the Woods trailer actually features singing. You know, I had a dream (nightmare?) last night that I went to see it with my parents and it was AWFUL. And we ended up walking out, and I asked my mom how long we lasted and she looked at her watch and was like, "Twelve minutes." But it had felt like HOURS.

Current Mood: chipper

Ugh, is Firefox being super buggy lately, or is it just me? (Or my computer, or the amount of tabs I keep open, lol.) It keeps freezing up so that I have to force-quit and restart. I had to do it about three times today and lost a significant portion of my linkspam and THAT MAKES ME ANGRY.

* I think this is a new trailer for Mockingjay. IDK there have been so many.

* Much as I'd like to see Cristin Milioti with her own sitcom, I haven't been too impressed by A to Z and can't say I'm sad to see it cancelled.

* Brian Williams is kind of hilarious talking about his daughter Allison playing Peter Pan in NBC's live show.

...I definitely had one other link in this section pre-crash, but I can't remember what it was, so DAMN YOU FIREFOX.

And the usual slew of Marvel things:

* ICYMI, here's the Age of Ultron preview that aired during last week's Agents of SHIELD (it's the trailer recut with the party scene that apparently was shown at Comic-Con this summer), and I don't know why they didn't just make this the trailer in the first place, because it is exactly the humor and team interaction the other one was lacking.

* Plus, here's the badass lumberjack Steve clip from the Marvel announcement, and, although it's mostly clips from existing movies, there is actually already a teaser for Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 and Part 2, which let's not forget are four and five years away, respectively, because that is not in any way reasonable.

* And someone gave away their cameo appearance in Age of Ultron, which I'm assuming is supposed to be a surprise, but kinda makes sense given what we know already.

* Hope you weren't expecting a standalone Black Widow or Hulk movie, because neither of those is happening. Try again maybe in Marvel Phase 20?

* Here's the official Agent Carter preview, which is the same as the one I linked earlier, just with less of someone filming their TV with their iPhone, lol.

I also meant to talk about Agents of SHIELD during my Arrow/The Flash flailing, but didn't get around to it. ( Read more... )

Current Mood: annoyed

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Close enough to normal to get by

Entries tagged with movies

September books (and movies and recipes)

Oscar movies

Books and things

The monthly "I'm not dead yet" check-in

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Well that was another impromptu hiatus

Pre-colonoscopy linkspam

Lots of people talking about TV

Hey look, another linkspam

Linkspam

Agent Carter-y linkspam + Cooking

I have seen Into the Woods!

Peter Pan + links

22 Linkspams 'til Christmas...

Thanksgiving linkspam (and Into the Woods angst)

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Linkspam and TV talk