#please cast scarlett and florence in more movies

[redspiderling]

Total Film Interview

OK. Guys. I realise my posts today have been particularly gloomy but. BUT. Something magical has come my way and I’d love to share it with you.

You know sometimes when talking (or raging) about Marvel, and most specifically about Natasha, it feels like throwing bottles into the ocean? 

You never expect an actual response (as in change, or improvement, or a hint that they’ve managed to connect with their audiences) that seems to be reflecting the subjects of the conversation. 

Well, imagine my shock, awe, and consequent excitement when I was reading the Black Widow cover story in Total Film, and for the first time in years I saw my thoughts reflected back at me from the creative team of the film!

Just a note before you begin reading: While there are obviously no outright spoilers through the interview, the director and the cast were entirely unafraid to describe what the film is about, in a fairly explanatory way. So if you want to be completely in the dark regarding the plot of the film, don’t read any further that this.

Seriously, this isn’t like the Endgame material where all we got was “it’s great go see it”, they really talked about the film and it was fucking glorious.

If you don’t want to be spoiled at all about this movie, let me at least assure you that after reading this cover story I am mostly convinced this film will be magnificent, and everything we’ve been wanting for Natasha for so many years (and probably some stuff we never thought we’d get to see on screen).

I don’t want to post the entire cover story because that’s just not fair to the magazine. But it was a very thorough piece and I can share with you the worthiest of quotes.

During the interview with Scarlett, she mentioned of course that she wouldn’t have been interested in making this film unless the story was good and to that, I quote:

The key was finding Cate Shortland. Marvel has made a habit of taking well-regarded indie directors [...] and giving them a multi-million dollar platform to tell superhero stories. 

Despite this, for Shortland [...] there was some hesitation at taking the job:

“Scarlett and I Skyped when I was in Australia. [...] I was still trying to work out whether I wanted to do the movie, because I just couldn’t believe that they were asking me. I just thought, What a strange mix. Me and Marvel?”

Hours of conversations were had but, eventually, the filmmaker was convinced this would be a character piece worth investigating. Shortland quickly began working with a Russian researcher to create background files for Natasha.

That was the first time that had been done in  years, she continues.

“And I remember Scarlett coming to me and saying God, I really am Russian. That was really great.”

Padding out Natasha’s background helped ground the character for Johansson like never before, and gave the writing ream new material to delve into.

Suffice to say that I literally squealed of joy when I read these lines. 

Guys, Cate has done a wonderful job already. Cate has made Natasha RUSSIAN. Something I’ve been bitching about for YEARS and yet never expected to see realised on screen.

Even better, laten during the interview Scarlett mentions that the time period was chosen specifically because there wasn’t anything major going on; and they wanted it to be a quiet time because, as Scarlett says: 

“for Natasha this was really an opportunity to not run and be self-reflective. And that’s when all this stuff creeps out.”

Digging head-first into Natasha’s story wasn’t simple. In fact, Johansson admits that the whole scripting process was “extremely stressful” because there was so much of the character’s past to explore. 

“We came to a big pitch that was super-existential and very poetic”

I’m not exaggerating when I admit that this was me reading those lines:

For the record, pitch is when your story is ready to be delivered to a producer, it’s basically the essence of the script.

Again, according to these interviews the story of the Russian family was in accordance with Feige’s vision for the film, and with the elements Shortland wanted to express through it as a story, that Natasha be viewed as a person “She’s not a superhero in those scenes; she’s a daughter or a sister.”

It’s also worthy to note that according to Scarlett they’ve made complex relationships with the other characters, tightly woven stories that are more complex than the relationships Natasha has had on film so far (I know, I know, the bar was set low, but still!)

And because Cate just had to give me another reason to love her: 

“Natasha has a fear of being loved, Shortland adds, “She’s really Teflon-coated, and she’s a fetishised character. So you don’t see, often, the depth to her. What we wanted to see was her forgive herself and allow people in. I think that’s really beautiful because it allows the audience to see her in a different way. 

What I wanted to make sure was that I connected her to the universe. I’m not talking about the Marvel Universe, but to a wider universe, so that the audience felt like she was connected to the spiritual world and she wasn’t just a woman in leather kicking ass, that she was a vulnerable, raw, angry, illogical creature who’d been damaged as a kid. How do you make sense of that as an adult? And how do you forgive those around you that have caused the trauma?

I was honest to God openly crying by this point.

Which means it’s a good thing I waited till I got home to read this, but believe you me, it gets better, because according to Weisz and Florence (bless their souls), if this material sounds heavy to you for a Marvel movie, that’s because it IS.

“This film is about the abuse of women... About Girls who are stolen”.

For Shortland, Natasha’s story naturally lean towards these more serious subjects due to the very nature of the character in comparison to the other avengers.

“She’s the only character that doesn’t have superpowers. We saw that as a strength, because she always has to dig really deep to get out of shit situations. And we just put her in a lot of hard situations. I thought about women walking to the train station being attacked, and what happens. Natasha’s like Clarice, from the Silence of the Lambs. It’s great, because when she holds her gun, it shakes. But she’s still really tough inside, and resilient. And I wanted to bring that to the character. So you��re not just watching her fly through situations, knowing she’ll get out of it. You want to see her grit and determination. And that’s what we got.

Guys, this is perfect. I already love this film. I know I will be eternally grateful to all these women for what they’ve done for us. If you can, please go out and get Total Film, they did an amazing job and they deserve to get some recognition. If I could I would frame my copy, as it is I’m putting it in a vault because I want to keep this because some day we’ll be writing articles about these people. 

It’s a huge cover story and offers a lot of information on the secondary characters as well (including Yelena who is a vastly different character to Natasha, and their reasoning behind those differences is exceptional).

[racefortheironthrone]

What do you think of MCU phase 4?

It was a hell of a presentation, wasn’t it? I have some thoughts:

Phase 4 is Bold, But Calculated

On first glance, Phase 4 seems like a crazily-audacious plan, stuffing ten projects into three years. My first thought was that Marvel was going to cannibalize its box office between too many projects, but when you separate out the kinds of projects being made, Phase 4 comes down to five movies over two years, which is more in line with what Marvel has been able to make work in the past:

May 1, 2020 - Black WidowNovember 5, 2020 - The EternalsFebruary 12, 2021 - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten RingsMay 7, 2021 - Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessNovember 5, 2021 - Thor: Love and Thunder

The subject matter of these films, on the other hand, remains quite audacious. The Eternals has an astonishing cast - Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek, Brian Tyree Henry, and on and on - but the underlying property is way more fringe even than the Guardians were at first. From the way that Feige et al. have been discussing it, this feels a lot like they’re trying to turn the Eternals into the Inhumans 2.0, as a way to plant the flag on Jack Kirby Space Weirdness before DC can get there with the New Gods. (Which would make it another part of the fascinating corporate saga that is Kevin Feige vs. Ike Perlmutter.) That makes sense, in that both are clearly drawing from Kirby’s fascination with Lost Civilizations and Alien Astronatus.

Shang-Chi (which I’ve written about before) is a similarly bold attempt to take a weird offshoot of Marvel’s 1970s fad-surfing and turn it into something bigger. As Palmer Haach notes, Shang-Chi is going to be written, directed by, and starring Asian and Asian-Americans amid “hopes that it will have a similar impact for Asian and Asian-American audiences as Black Panther did for African and African-American audiences.” 

And as with Black Panther, a big part of that is clearly mixing genres to produce both a milestone and a crowd-pleasing four-quadrant film - in this case, the rich legacy of Hong Kong action and gangster films. Tony Leung being brought in to play the “real” Mandarin (and probably Shang-Chi’s father) is no doubt a significant part of that effort. 

In other cases, Marvel is playing it (a bit) safer. Black Widow is, unless I very much miss my guess, going to be a sendoff for Scarlett Johansson and Natasha Romanov, where we’ll learn about her backstory, see her face-off against Taskmaster (which I’m thrilled about, he’s a great villain!), and see Natasha pass on the mantle of the Black Widow to Florence Pugh’s Yelena - continuing the theme of legacy that we saw in Far From Home. Thor 4 I’m particularly looking forward to as a big fan of Thor Ragnarok and Jason Aaron’s run on Thor; it’s also a great opportunity to see Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie finally get a girlfriend and Natalie Portman get to play female Thor after having to put up with the worst of Ike Perlmutter in Phase 2. Doctor Strange 2 remains something of a mystery, but I’ll talk about that in a bit.

Disney+ is Going to Be A Thing

That said, only part of the story is going to be on the big screen - the other half is Disney’s opening bid for its brand-new streaming service. Each of these shows are headed up by major talent (Falcon and Winter Soldier have Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, and Daniel Bruhl; Wandavision has Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau; Loki has Tom Hiddleston, natch; and What If? is going to be voiced by Jeffrey Wright and pretty much everyone who’s ever been in the MCU), which creates a very different environment for interaction between movie and streaming than we had back when Agents of SHIELD went begging for cameos and the Netflix shows could barely make passing mention of the MCU. 

Given that we’ve already been told that Wandavision is going to involve the Scarlet Witch meddling with the multiverse to bring Vision (or a Vision) back grom the dead, and that she’ll be showing up in Doctor Strange 2 (which in turn is going to center on the multiverse, with Strange and friends facing off against Nightmare in a quasi-horror movie), we’re already seeing signs that these shows are going to be much more integrated into the MCU than any previous efforts...which means shelling out for Disney+ if you want the whole story. 

At the same time, I think DIsney+ will give room for some interesting experimentation within the MCU. I’ve already talked about how What If? is a permission structure for playing with Marvel’s toys, but it also seems like Wandavision is going the same with the concept of the multiverse and that Hawkeye is going to be a trial run for replacing Jeremy Renner with whichever actress is chosen for Kate Bishop. 

Phase 5 is Going to Be Nuts

As if everything above wasn’t enough, it looks like Phase 5 is where things are really going to kick off. Not only is Phase 5 going to have to handle Captain Marvel 2 and Black Panther 2 and Guardians 3, but it’s also going to be where we see the Fantastic Four and the X-Men for the first time. Oh, and Mahershala Ali as Blade just to pay homage to the film that made Marvel possible.

On the one hand, it’s a bit of a disappointment that the next Black Panther and next Guardians are going to be a couple years off yet. On the other hand, I am glad that after the Fox merger, Marvel Studios are taking their time to get the Fantastic Four and the X-Men right after their recent poor handling.

[theprocrastinatingalien]

Superhero Movie News Roundup - New Mutants, Black Widow, Morbius and The Suicide Squad.

Hey Earthlings!  Back with a quick round up of recent superhero movie news.   So without obstacle, let's get stuck in.

NEW MUTANTS

This film, set in the X-MEN universe, has had something of a rocky road to get to the big screen... and that road keeps getting rockier. It was due in cinemas back in early 2018, pushed back to early 2019, and then a further knockback to later in the year.  It's also doubtful it'll even get to the 'big screen', possibly settling down on streaming channel instead. Before it can get that landing, there'll be some reshoots, with the plan to add a new character to the movie.

So here's the news... those reshoots haven't happened yet, in fact there doesn't even seem to be a plan for them.  What's making it harder is getting the existing cast back together, with word on the street being Anya Taylor-Joy has no interest in returning to set, having not had the best time the first around.   This might just be speculation, of course, but it doesn't seem like the planned August release will happen.  With Disney buying Fox, it'll be interesting to see how this movie fits into the grand scheme of things.

Personally, I feel that Marvel will draw a line across the X-MEN universe as we know it, wiping the slate (almost) clean for the mutants to enter the MCU. What's the 'almost'?  Deadpool.  The very nature of the character means Wade Wilson (and actor Ryan Reynolds) could enter the shared universe without a recast.   These NEW MUTANTS though, might be done before they've started.

MORBIUS

Over at Sony, following their first release in the Spiderverse - that doesn't actually involve Spider-Man - VENOM, pace is picking up at the next entry... MORBIUS, the Living Vampire.  Actor Jared Leto was confirmed to play the title character, and now we have a few more names to add. 

Adria Arjona has been added as Martine Bancroft, Morbius' fiancé. Former Time Lord, Matt Smith has signed up as Loxias Crown and most recently we have news that Jared Harris and Tyrese Gibson have joined the cast in unknown roles.

I'm not sure what I think of Sony's shared Marvel Universe. I didn't mind VENOM though, and I will certainly give MORBIUS a go, especially with the likes of Smith and Harris added to the mix.   The question is, does this mean those actors now can't appear in the MCU itself?

BLACK WIDOW

This week sees the release of the 21st MCU entry, CAPTAIN MARVEL, and then it really is just a short wait (less than two months) before the mega-event AVENGERS: ENDGAME. What comes after the phase three finale?  Well, phase four (or whatever it's going to be called) starts with SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME, but really after that very little is known.

2020 was obviously meant to kick of with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 3, but then James Gunn got the boot from Disney, and the project hurtled into limbo.  Word is Gunn's script will still be used and all the cast are onboard... there's just no director right now.  We also have rumblings that THE ETERNALS will fall in 2020, which would make sense considering one of the characters will be Thanos' bro Starfox… but right now all the interest is on BLACK WIDOW.

Scarlett Johansson's debut was way back in 2010, in IRON MAN 2, and could be seen as the leading lady of the MCU, with appearances in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and all four AVENGERS movies.  The fact we know this movie is coming doesn't spoil anything for the character in ENDGAME, as word is the film will take us through Natasha Romanoff's past, watching her train and go on missions as an assassin.

With a director (Cate Shortland) and writers in place, it's now time to look a potential casting - other than Johansson - and ignoring the rumours that either Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye or Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier could play a part in the movie - we now know that producers are looking for a female character, as close to 'Black Widow' type as possible to play second lead.

What's interesting here is we've got a rumour on who the front runner is for this character. Whilst Alice Englert, Dar Zuzovsky and Florence Pugh are supposedly up for the part, the name that leads the pack is... Emma Watson?  Yep, it looks like HARRY POTTER'S Hermione Granger could be joining the MCU as a kick-ass assassin. 

Not sure what I think of that, but I'll take it over the ridiculous rumour that Daniel Radcliffe could play Wolverine (luckily, just a joke the actor started)… but Watson isn't someone I'd have thought of.  Still, I have faith in Marvel and their choices, so if she does indeed sign on, I'll assume she's the best person for the job.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD.

I've already mentioned James Gunn being given the push from Disney, now unable to complete his GOTG trilogy.  Warner Brothers have welcomed him with open arms though, and he's be drafted in to roll out the Suicide Squad for another adventure.  As we know though, the DCEU is all over the place.  Ben Affleck is no longer Batman (can we please dispel those rumours that Robert Pattinson is taking on the cowl?!), and Amy Adams thinks she's done as Lois Lane.  Well, now we have another actor out of the mix... Will Smith will not be returning as Deadshot.  

It's a bit of a shame really, as I thought he was one of the best bits in the first film, right behind Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn - but scheduling conflicts mean Smith has bowed out... and we already have a new actor stepping into his shoes... Idris Elba.

I'm a big Elba fan, and whilst I'd rather the continuity of Smith's return, if we have to have a replacement, I'm more than happy with Elba's casting.  It sounds like Gunn is doing something of a soft reboot, rather than a direct sequel, bringing in a new batch of characters, Robbie will be back as Harley, and I should imagine (but don't know for certain) Joel Kinnaman will be returning as Rick Flagg. I'm looking forward to seeing Elba join Robbie in Gunn's take on volatile group... but I do have a big question... will The Joker be back?  If so, will it still be Jared Leto?  I mean, considering we've got a JOKER film starring Joaquin Phoenix coming, surely they can't do a recast and gives a third actor portraying the killer clown? Time will tell on that one.

That's it for now.  I'm watching CAPTAIN MARVEL on Saturday.  Fingers crossed it's a good one!

[aion-rsa]

Black Widow First Reactions Are In

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It’s been awhile since we’ve all been able to see a Marvel film in theaters. In fact, it’s been two years, two weeks, and one day since Spider-Man: Far From Home premiered. Now, Marvel’s Black Widow is set to end that pandemic-induced drought when it arrives in theaters (and on Disney+) Friday, July 9.

Marvel has restarted its blockbuster machine on television already, of course. WandaVision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and now Loki have all been creative and commercial hits for Disney+. But will the studio be able to recapture that blockbuster energy on the big screen with Black Widow?

Well, according to the first social media reactions, the answer to that is a resounding “yes.”

A handful of critics and Marvel fans have already seen the latest film starring Scarlett Johnasson as the titular Black Widow. The embargo for their social media impressions lifted today at 12 p.m. Here are what some Black Widow viewers had to say. 

#BlackWidow is one of Marvel's best solo films. Start to finish, the movie is great. Excellent surprises, emotional character moments, bad-ass action, and Scarlett Johansson finally gets to pour everything into the role. Director Cate Shortland nailed it. Bravo. pic.twitter.com/sgEkUW63cT

— BD (@BrandonDavisBD) June 17, 2021

Yes, #BlackWidow has a post-credits scene (Maybe 2, I think?)

— BD (@BrandonDavisBD) June 17, 2021

#BlackWidow was better than I thought it would be! Although there’s some excellent action, what pulled me in was the really powerful themes & character moments the film presented. Easily Scarlett’s best performance as Nat, and Florence Pugh is brilliant as Yelena. pic.twitter.com/CDjKJm4nVq

— Jacob (@JacobDFilm) June 17, 2021

Marvel movies are back and Phase 4 kicks off with the very entertaining and action-packed #BlackWidow. Giving us a long-overdue look at Natasha's backstory, with solid performances throughout and thrilling set pieces that demand you see this movie on the biggest screen possible. pic.twitter.com/Pr6qeBlSGQ

— Umberto Gonzalez (@elmayimbe) June 17, 2021

I got to see #BlackWidow last night, and as someone who has been waiting since 2010 to see Natasha Romanoff get her own movie, it was well worth the wait. The actions rips, the emotion hits and the new characters joining the MCU are standouts. MORE BLACK WIDOW MOVIES PLEASE! pic.twitter.com/R0JUHThSiF

— Hector Navarro (@Hectorisfunny) June 17, 2021

I watched #BlackWidow yesterday and it's as refreshingly different to other Marvel Studios releases as it is to just have these big movies back. The leads are awesome and the story does some unexpected things. It's the most adult MCU release yet, but still offers a few laughs. pic.twitter.com/ib9F0rX09t

— Rob Keyes (@rob_keyes) June 17, 2021

BLACK WIDOW is an adrenaline-filled spy film with tons of action, breakneck pacing & an engaging supporting cast. Seeing Scarlett Johansson finally & deservedly have her moment in the MCU feels great but Florence Pugh is the MVP. Nothing bold or daring but it will satisfy fans. pic.twitter.com/KKbzIgM9va

— Matt Neglia (@NextBestPicture) June 17, 2021

Black Widow is full of incredible action sequences & it is so good to see Natasha again — even if she feels like a side character sometimes. @Florence_Pugh steals the show. Her chemistry with Scarlett Johansson makes the movie what it is & provides a lot of laughs! #BlackWidow pic.twitter.com/2UhXsNpWBr

— Tessa Smith – Mama's Geeky (@MamasGeeky) June 17, 2021

#BlackWidow is another epic entry in the #MCU. The bond between #Natasha & #YelenaBelova is a solid anchor for the film, as is their #Incredibles-like dynamic with #Melina and #RedGuardian. Also, kudos to @MarvelStudios for making #Taskmaster more than just a faceless adversary. pic.twitter.com/XbJFbkUWp0

— The Reel Roundup (@BenMkWrites) June 17, 2021

#BlackWidow might be one of my favorite solo origin movies in the MCU. There's something about seeing Natasha finally get her story that made me emotional in all the best ways. Also, Florence Pugh was born for the MCU, and her dynamic with Scarlett is a triumph

— Nora Dominick (@noradominick) June 17, 2021

One thing that jumps out from these first reactions is how impressed many critics are by the film’s action sequences. As its characters have grown immensely more powerful in recent films, Marvel has sometimes struggled to properly depict the physics of all these fights among beings with God-like powers. Since Natasha Romanoff is a mortal spy, Black Widow has an opportunity to present more Earthbound and reasonable combat. Based on these reactions, it seems that the film has done exactly that. 

Comparisons to John Wick and James Bond films abound in these posts, which is certainly a positive sign for any vaccinated individual prepared to head back to the movies. These reviews also single out Florence Pugh’s performance as Yelena Belova. Director Cate Shortland has previously said that Natasha will “hand the baton” to Yelena as Black Widow in this film, and many viewers are excited at the prospect for more of the character in the MCU. Pugh is also on the verge of major movie stardom, if she’s not there already. Marvel was lucky to nab her when they did. 

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Of course, no list of first reactions to a film is complete without the presence of Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts writer and irrepressible troll Ben Mekler. Every time an embargo for a major movie is up, Mekler contributes a fake social media review and then delights upon seeing it included in these review round-up articles. Well, here you go, Ben.

Honestly blown away by #BlackWidow. It’s low-key one of Marvel’s finest – an emotional story with great performance and a high-stakes chase through a “Russian JCPenney” that might be one of the zaniest and most badass action scenes in MCU history. Fans are gonna love it

— ben mekler (@benmekler) June 17, 2021

Just to be clear, there is no chase through a Russian JCPenney in Black Widow. But perhaps there should be.

Black Widow premieres in theaters and via Disney+ Premier Access on July 9

The post Black Widow First Reactions Are In appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[jezfletcher]

The Oscars 2020

The last two years (2018 and 2019), I've managed to watch every single Oscars feature film, partially at least due to being in the US in the lead up to the Oscars, so being able to capture those last few films that seem to be nowhere else in the world besides a few bespoke cinemas in New York or Los Angeles.

This year, however, I knew well ahead of time that I wouldn't be able to do this, and as a result, my completist tendencies were broken enough to make me not even bother seeing all the films I could see. In fact, this year, I missed 7 films, 3 of which I couldn't find by any legitimate means, and 4 of which I could have seen but just went "eh...". Missing from the former category are the foreing films Corpus Christi and Les Misérables, plus Richard Jewell, which infuriatingly comes out in cinemas here in Australia on Thursday. The films I actively decided to skip were Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (I'd subjected myself to the first one, which was enough for me), the "live action" remake of The Lion King, Frozen II (only up for Best Song), and Breakthrough, an evangelical Christian film again only up for Best Song. I feel comfortable with my choices here.

I also, as usual, watched the short films, which I'll talk about at the end. This time, I watched all the Live Action and Animated films, and 3/5 of the short documentaries. The other two I couldn't find before the Oscars.

I'll probably be a bit briefer in my write-ups of some of these films than I usually am, mostly due to time pressure. But some which deserve it (both good and bad), I'll give the regular treatment to. Anyway, let's get started:

1. Knives Out

Topping my Oscars list this year is Knives Out, which was an absolute delight of a film. Often times, I enjoy finding the hidden treasures in the Oscars list: films like Away From Her, First Reformed, On Body & Soul or The Broken Circle Breakdown. But this year I have to give Best Film to one of the actual Best Film nominees. Because this was just a brilliant piece of filmmaking. At times, it delivers the best whodunnit story of the past decade, at others it feels like it's lampooning every whodunnit since Agatha Christie, but it's done with such joy and love with every frame that I couldn't help but watch this with a permanent grin on my face. It's an excellent cast they've assembled here, and you could talk about the pitch perfect performance from anyone, but you have to single out Ana de Armas as MArta Cabrera, the suspect who throws up when she tells a lie (I mean, what a concept), and Daniel Craig as the "southern gentleman" detective Benoit Blanc (I will watch a hundred movies revolving around him solving cases, please make this a franchise). What's more, the film kept me guessing right up to the end, thanks to a whip-smart script from writer-director Rian Johnson, one of the most inventive and exciting directors working at the moment. I wasn't exactly sure, before I started this writeup, what would actually end up at #1 this year, but seeing Knives Out at the top of the list I realise it should have been obvious.

2. Little Women

Another truly wonderful film this year was Greta Gerwig's Little Women. I'd seen Gillian Armstrong's adaptation from 1994, and loved it, but this is better. Taking the smart choice to tell the tale in non-linear time, it manages to cleverly pull together contrasts between the youth and early adulthood of the characters, and play on our sympathies in new and revelatory ways. In many respects, this film makes you see the story in a different light to any adaptation that's come before it, and it's a rare thing to be able to do that with such a canonical text; the result is honestly very moving in a way I'd not found from this story before. The performances throughout are excellent, of course, Saoirse Ronan is always very strong, of course, but I also loved the support, especially from Florence Pugh and Emma Watson, who is genuinely putting her early-years-of-Harry-Potter far behind her. Timothée Chalamet honestly always feels like he's playing the same character to me, but somehow it continues to be charming on screen. All up, an excellent, affecting film. Oh, and can we just mention how hard done by Gerwig can feel for not getting a Best Director nod? Hmm?

3. The Lighthouse

Thirdly, we have The Lighthouse, a nightmarish comic horror, which is completely predicated on being compelled by Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson. And I'm only human, so of course this worked for me. The two leads are brilliant here: Dafoe's lighthouse supervisor is a thrilling antagonist, with enough mystery to engage you. Pattinson's newcomer is unsettled in a way that mirrors the audience, especially as the film progresses. It's shot in stark, wonderful black-and-white, with a cinematic style that dovetails perfectly with the desolation and destruction of the film, while the 1:1 aspect ratio adds to the overall sense of claustrophobia. It's a quite singular film, one of the most original and interesting pieces of cinema I've seen in many years.

4. For Sama

Topping the documentary stakes this year is For Sama, a film set during the siege of Aleppo, from the point of view of a mother narrating the early life of her young daughter, born as the regime forces encircle, and ultimately recapture the city. It's quite a brilliant, emotional and affecting piece of filmmaking; one, I must admit, that I had to pause half way through to get myself together again. There are scenes here that are stark and harsh, such as the parents exiting the city for Turkey, avoiding the encircling army via back roads, all with Sama strapped inside a baby carrier on her father's chest. It was a beautiful exposition of life under siege, because it brought to the fore that shared human experience. It was an extremely powerful film, and one which I truly hopes ends up taking out the award in its category.

5. Pain & Glory

Next up we have a truly excellent film from Pedro Almodóvar, his best in many many years. Helming the performances is Antonio Banderas as an aging director dealing with a lack of creativity and a degredation in his health. Reconnecting with the actor with whom he most famously collaborated, he takes up heroin, and reminisces about his early life as a young boy, and the discovery of his sexuality. It's such a rich film, without an easy narrative. It's a film that, like life, shows the many turns and dead-ends that lead us to the present. Like I said, I think this is one of Almodóvar's best, and for a director with such a rich oeuvre, that's no small thing.

6. Parasite

Eveyone in the world seems to have been absolutely blown away by this film, in a way that I was not. That's not to say that this isn't a good film, because here it sits at #6 in my list of Oscar movies. But this feels like another entry in what's a really strong cinematic tradition coming out of South Korea at the moment. It doesn't help that I find Bong Joon-ho one of the less subtle directors from the country (for example, I deplored Snowpiercer, admittedly, a much, much worse film than this one). But even compare this film against another Korean film from last year, Lee Chang-dong's Burning, and this feels like an almost cartoonish portrayal of similar themes. I know, this writeup talks mostly about not-this-film, but I'm probably mostly talking about how much better Korean cinema is than this one example. Anyway, when Parasite inevitably wins Best Internation Feature this year, it will hopefully get more people interesting in the excellent cinema coming out of this country. And that's nothing but a good thing.

7. The Two Popes

I honestly found this film to be thoroughly engaging and amusing, and found myself rapt in the machinations of the elections of Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, as well as the theological debates between the two when Benedict was considering his resignation. It helps that the pairing of Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins is perfect, with each an ample match for the other. And the script sparkles with a cleverness that often wrings a wry smile from your lips. I very much enjoyed it—and while it feels like the kind of film which just rounds out the numbers come Oscars time, I hope that it will have the longevity it deserves.

8. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Another charmingly unassuming film, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood follows the story of an investigative reporter, known for being hard on his subjects, who gets assigned the task of interviewing beloved children's entertainer Mr Rogers. In this latter role, Tom Hanks is brilliant: so warmhearted and human that you get a sense of Mr Rogers both on and off screen (subtly different but no less magical in either). It's perhaps fair though that Best Supporting Actor is this film's only nod. Otherwise, it's fairly straightforward, but no less affecting for it.

9. Harriet

I was really pleasantly surprised by this film: a biopic of abolitionist Harriet Tubman from Kasi Lemmons, which has been received in fairly lukewarm terms by critics more generally. It follows something of a standard biopic format, but it always manages to ensure the story ticks along. I was thoroughly engaged throughout the film, and always enjoyed wherever the film was taking me. At least part of the appeal comes from the strong central performance from Cynthia Erivo (an O away from an EGOT, I'll point out), who presents the strength of Tubman with a human realness. A much better film than you've probably heard, if you've heard about it at all.

10. Marriage Story

Another very affecting film, that explicates the trauma that divorce can be, even when undertaken in the most amicable situation imaginable. It's the kind of film which feels a bit like an emotional workout. There are good performances throughout, especially, I feel from Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver in the leads, and weirdly, less so from Laura Dern, who actually gets a nod for Best Supporting Actress here (she was better in Little Women). She’s the short priced favourite to actually win it though, so good for her I guess.

11. 1917

Apparently the front-runner to take out Best Picture, this is indeed a good film, and a technically excellent one. It tells the tale of an impossible mission of two young men sent from the trenches into enemy territory, and does so in a carefully edited way to make it look like one continuous take. As a result, it gains a senss of immediacy and power that other films lack (especially ones which rely on rapid fire cuts to capture the madness of a battle). It's honestly one of the best war films I've seen in, well, probably ever. It's not a genre I generally like all that much, but the fact that this managed to find itself so high on this list is a testament to its quality.

12. Klaus

I found this an utterly charming animated film. It's from a new studio, created from ex-Disney animators whose goal apparently is to see if they could capture what traditional animation would have become had the big studios not all switched to computer animation instead. The answer is that it is quite beautiful, in particular the way they integrate the characters and the scenery. The film itself tells an alternative origin story of Santa Claus, and a redemptive tale of a rich playboy sent to prove his worth in the world (which doesn't work out exactly as you might expect). It's honestly just a lovely piece of film making. It perhaps feels like it's from a different age, and that's both to its advantage and disadvantage. But there's certainly something worthwhile in it. I'll honestly look forward to what Serio Pablos does next.

13. Toy Story 4

Hot on the heels of Klaus is Toy Story 4. You know the deal by now. Just when you think there's a nice easy place for ending the Toy Story franchise, they come up with another way to extend it, and it fits perfectly. Where 3 explored the themes of what happens to toys when their children grow up, 4 explores what happens when toys get lost or forgotten altogether. It also amusingly touches on the whole concept of toys becoming alive—what is a toy, and what is garbage becomes a key question of the film. It's also beautifully animated, with a level of detail which is exquisite—and yet it still feels like it's suitably within the style of the franchise overall. A good film. I feel like Toy Story as a whole could finish here happily. But I've felt that since the first film, and I've always been proven wrong. So, Toy Story 5, have at me.

14. American Factory

An interesting film, about a Chinese corporation which opens a factory in the midwest USA, thereby bringing back the vaunted manufacturing jobs to working class America. The conflict comes from the cultural disconnects between the expectation of the corporation and the workers, especially as there are moves to unionise the workforce. There's a lot to unpack here, especially when you consider the incentives that were given to the corporation to open where they were. But it's not overly political either—rather, it is, but it's presented in such a way as to appear neutral; letting you the audience make up your own mind. The fact that this is the first film produced by the Obama's production company is not lost on me.

15. Ad Astra

I'm honestly surprised this is as high as it is, because in many ways this is a bad film. There's some truly shockingly poor science and plot points in this, and the emotional connection of the film is weak. But what I honestly loved, and which I kept coming back to, is the world building. As we move out through the solar system, we see the wilder and less civilised reaches of space come through piece by piece. From the genteel comfort of a Virgin Galactic flight to the moon, to the rough and rugged outpost of Mars, to the isolation of a solo flight to Neptune. There's something so believable and meditative about it. But, like I said, the brilliance of this doesn't eradicate the bad parts, and if you don't particularly enjoy what I did in this film, it's easy to focus on jumping between spaceships through Neptune's rings using a door as a shield. I mean, jeez.

16. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

I really, really wish that Tarantino would realise what he's really good at as a filmmaker. And it's not violence or shots of women's feet, like he thinks it is. He is truly excellent in managing to extract tension and drama from otherwise benign and potentially overextended conversational set pieces. It's most infuriating in this film, because in so many ways, this film is excellent: one of his best, right up until the last sequence, when you feel as though Tarantino lost the will to resist his natural urges. It's such a shame, because it could have been the moment when you feel like Tarantino has matured as a film maker. But no, let's have a flamethrower, yeah?

17. I Lost My Body

An interesting animated film about a young man in Paris finding his own path in the world, juxtaposed with the bizarre counter story of a dismembered hand searching for its body again. It's beautifully animated, and actualyl quite emotional when it gets to its conclusion. Not the best animated film this year, but another that shows the interesting places animated film can go.

18. Rocketman

Another fairly straight forward biopic, but I feel one which does its job admirably. It's honestly a fairly intriguing story, and one which director Dexter Fletcher tells admirably. Especially good is the integration of the music into the picture, which is often something that feels janky, or else cops out by ensuring that all music is diegetic. Anyway, I thought a pretty good film all up.

19. The Edge of Democracy

Another good documentary, this one explicating the fight for democracy in Brazil, in particular the threat of corruption tainting otherwise socially responsible politicians, and the rise of the far-right in recent years. There are a lot of parallels to be seen in this film and other western democracies, and the story of Brazil is told to be both personal and universal.

20. Jojo Rabbit

I was honestly more disappointed in this than anything else, because the premise is wack, and I trusted Taika Waititi to pull it off. But it's tonally very odd, in a way that is obviously intentional, but which often means that its impact is blunted. I really wanted to be pummelled between the extremes of the humour and the horrors of the end of the Nazi regime, and this film feels like it pulls its punches at every turn, possibly because each element numbs the other. It's not all that funny, nor is it that emotionally impactful as a result, as much as it probably wants to think it's both. Anyway, it's a shame, because I wanted more from this.

21. The Irishman

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of Martin Scorsese. But I can appreciate his craft, and there's certainly something to be said for a film like this, which is genuinely very much the kind of picture he was making in his heyday. It's also a fine moment to get Pacino and De Niro back together, as well as a technical achievement in their de-aging, which is seamlessly done. But what you'll find I'm not talking about is the plot, or the characters. They're fine, but they don't grip me on a human level, and while it's kind of fun to watch the endless stream of gangsters arrive and depart, they leave very minimal impact. That's generally my problem with it, I guess. Epic in scope, but no space for real human connection.

22. Judy

A reasonable biopic, documenting the latter period of Judy Garland's life, leading up to her last marriage and death. It's a sympathetic portrait, in particular when engaging with Garland's early years (told in flashbacks). The main draw, of course, and the sole nomination it receives here, is Renée Zellweger in the lead, who can be quite challenging as an actress to me, but who here completely disappears into the role of Garland. The rest is only so good, but it's a fair nomination for Best Actress.

23. Ford v Ferrari

This film honestly has some things going for it, and I'm going to probably malign it unfairly for being too much of a banal historical drama in the way that biopics often can be. Partly, the choice of story is poor, because there's a true sense that Henry Ford Jr the Fourth or whoever he is, is a really nasty piece of work, and for too long in the story he is at least the force behind the protagonists, if not the protagonist himself. That really put me off to some extent, and managed to completely detach me from any true emotion in the story. Otherwise, it's a fairly straightforward, stock-standard success-against-the-odds underdog story. There's a place for that, but not a place near the top of my list.

24. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Eh, the discourse has already covered this for me hasn't it? This was a disappointing end to the Star Wars trilogy, especially after Rian Johnson had managed to inject something meaningful into the previous episode. But, there's still at least the spectacle to be had, and there's always something intrinsically enjoyable about spending time in this universe, even when it's done as blandly as this.

25. How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

I'm honestly not a huge fan of this franchise, although I have a soft spot for this particular film now, as it's the first film I've managed to watch all the way through with my son Hal (he is now an avowed fan of all things Toothless). This particular outing sees the village grappling with the question of what is truly best for the dragons themselves, especially as Toothless starts to find himself enamoured of a female Night Fury. It's perhaps an interesting place to take the film, thematically, but as with all of these films, what happens in between the big strokes of the idea is largely interchangeable.

26. Honeyland

It's probably actually a bit surprising that this is so low, because this is a very much acclaimed documentary, about a woman who lives off the land in North Macedonia, in particular using traditional techniques for gathering wild honey. The conflict arises when a nearby family tries to modernise the process, thereby damaging the natural hives on which the woman relies. There's things to enjoy about it, but aside from the obvious thematic elements, I found the film rather dour and tired. It's one of those films which has merit for merely showing that there are stories everywhere in life. But that wasn't enough for me this time around.

27. Joker

I was quite ambivalent about this film when I first saw it, but my ambivalence has turned one way rather than the other as time has passed, so it finds itself down towards the bottom of this list. Firstly, the good: Joaquin Phoenix is always a compelling presence on screen, and even when his characters are inscrutable as Arthur Fleck, there's something engaging about watching him doing his thing. But thematically, this film is a mess, especially in its engagement with violence, and its questions about the underlying discontent in the populace at large. You could read this as an indictment of the masses' willingness to be spurred to evil through a charismatic leader and bit of misinformation. But I'm more inclined to believe that director Todd Phillips just doesn't really know what he's doing, and so the film is unintentionally ambiguous on this. I haven't even gotten into the fact that plot-wise, it, shall we say, "borrows liberally" from Scorsese's The King of Comedy (actually, one of his best, despite my lukewarm Scorsese appreciation above). So yeah, in the end, the more I thought on this film, the less I liked it. Betting wise, you'd be a fool to go against Phoenix to take home the award though.

28. Bombshell

I was quite surprised at how much I didn't like this film, because I feel as though there was the potential for this to be a wonderfully astute indictment of a whole world. But instead, this took the very disappointing route of taking down Roger Ailes and not what he represents. There's a sense at the end of the film that everyone can dust off their hands and say "good job, sexism is solved forever". And this is not something that they engage with in this film—that is to say, they don't examine the fact that this is a potential interpretation. In fact, at the end of the film, the tone is more celebratory because "yeah, we won! The good guys won!". It makes the film feel overall very shallow or hollow.

29. Missing Link

Lowest of the Best Animated feature films, is this very underwhelming stop-motion number. Animation-wise, it's quite nicely done, and technically very strong. But the plot and the characterisations are very bland. Zach Galafianakis's sasquatch is annoying to the point of tears, and the other characters are stereotypes. There's not enough that's interesting in the film. That's the problem. I do feel a little bit bad for the film, because this was also an amazing box-office bomb. And it feels more like it just "wasn't for me" than it feels like it deserved to fail spectacularly. But, to be honest, I do think it has itself to blame for both.

30. Avengers: Endgame

A perennial entry towards the bottom of my Oscars list is the latest Marvel film, in particular the Avengers films. The problem with all of the Avengers films is that they cannot at all give enough screen time to any character to warrant their inclusion in the film, and as a result the whole film feels pointless. This is never more obvious than in Endgame, where they're attempting to both wrap up an entire era of the Marvel enterprise, and include all of the characters they've introduced to this point. I really, really, don't get the appeal, and I honestly think this is one of the messiest examples of the Avengers films. I would have thought the time travel aspect would have given me something to enjoy at least. But, no.

31. The Cave

Bottom of the list this year is a very surprising entry, but one which ultimately I felt I could justify being this low. It's another film from Syria, again telling of doctors working in a beseiged region of the country, this time Ghouta, as the forces of Bashar al-Assad bomb and attack. But this film was honestly, so unbelievably dull. It very much has the philosophy of "point a camera at something and see what happens", but very much misses out on constructing anything interesting from the resulting footage. There's a sense of, yes, claustrophobia and anxiety as the bombs come ever closer. But there's almost no narrative thrust. There's no human connection. There's not enough focus on any character to feel like you're connecting with them. I was unsurprised after this film, when I discovered that its director also directed Last Men in Aleppo, a documentary short I watched a couple of years ago, which also managed to turn what should have been an excellent idea into something boring. I think it's extremely telling that when there are two films covering such similar ground in the same year (as For Sama above does), one can be so emotionally devastating and one can be so dull.

Anyway, that's it for the features. As always, I also attempted to watch the short films. I didn't manage to see all of them this year, as two of the documentary shorts (St. Louis Superman and Learning To Skateboard In A War Zone (If You’re A Girl)) weren't available before the Oscars telecast. But the rest I'll present in order here from favourite to least favourite. But as always, all of these are excellent, and all (maybe apart from the bottom) worthy of your time:

1. Une Soeur (A Sister) (Live Action) 2. In the Absence (Documentary) 3. Hair Love (Animated) 4. Sister (Animated) 5. Brotherhood (Live Action) 6. Life Overtakes Me (Documentary) 7. Nefta Football Club (Live Action) 8. Memorable (Animated) 9. The Neighbors' Window (Live Action) 10. Saria (Live Action) 11. Daughter (Animated) 12. Walk Run Cha-Cha (Documentary) 13. Kitbull (Animated)

And, last, but not least, is my annual Oscars ballot. How would I vote if I could, and the only things I could vote for are the nominees? Read on:

Best Picture: Little Women Best Actor: Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory) Best Actress: Cynthis Erivo (Harriet) Best Supporting Actor: Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) Best Supporting Actress: Florence Pugh (Little Women) Best Animated Feature: Klaus Best Cinematography: The Lighthouse Best Costume Design: Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood Best Director: Sam Mendes (1917) Best Documentary Feature: For Sama Best Documentary Short: In the Absence Best Film Editing: Parasite Best International Feature: Pain and Glory Best Makeup & Hairstyling: Judy Best Original Score: Little Women Best Orignal Song: "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from Rocketman Best Production Design: Parasite Best Animated Short: Hair Love Best Live Action Short: A Sister Best Sound Editing: Ford v Ferrari Best Sound Mixing: 1917 Best Visual Effects: The Irishman Best Adapted Screenplay: Little Women Best Original Screenplay: Knives Out

And we're done. See you again next year.

[the-domestication-of-the-dog]

The 10th Annual L.A.O.K. Awards

Wow. Ten years of the Layokies. What a trip. I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to all five of my faithful fans for your readership over the years. In my first ever Layokies post, I named it the “1st (Possibly) Annual L.A.O.K. Awards.” I had no idea how long I’d be working at the Academy, let alone living in LA, but here we are. I bragged about seeing 180 movies that year. I just checked my Letterboxd stats for this year and it turns out I watched...180 movies. However, this year I hit a new personal best for new releases: 125. While this is about half as many as some people I know, some of the first Layokies were based on a field of 60 or 70 movies, so I’ve doubled up on my old self. Funny thing is, I can still look on other year-end lists and find many films I haven’t seen, and even some I haven’t heard of, so the field of films I’ve added are probably in the middle to bottom range of the pack. But someone out there has to watch Tolkien, Gemini Man, The Goldfinch, and Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, so it might as well be me.

In all honesty, my absolute favorite thing about living in Los Angeles and working at the Academy is access to watching movies and being around the general cinephile community, and even a bad couple of hours in a movie theater beats a lot else. Over Christmas break I saw Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in Shawnee, OK’s own Cinema Center 8. 

It was quite a trip going back to this theater after so many years and to think of the love of film that was fostered there. Alas, the picture was pretty muddy, and I’m almost positive they showed it in 2k. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Now, in penance for naming The King’s Speech Best Picture in my first year (lol), I give you five real good’uns for 2019:

Best Film The Farewell The King Little Women Parasite Uncut Gems

Sometimes I touch on a year being good or bad for film in general. Not sure about the whole, but I’ll call 2019 a real SEC year (aka stacked at the top and mediocre to poor the rest of the way down). While I would probably only give one title on this list must-see status (Parasite), these are all definite should-sees. The Farewell made me laugh and cry and cringe. One might even go so far as to say it “gave me all the feels.” The King gave me actual siege warfare and period-accurate haircuts. Little Women hit me with that structure, and at first I was all “hol up,” but then I was all “OK I see you.” Little Women also made me cry because I cry in movies now. (A quick aside, because while I absolutely loved Little Women, it’s not really going to come up again. If you liked the movie and haven’t read the book, please do yourself a favor and make it the next one on your list. You can’t know how great this movie is unless you know how good Beth is. Beth kind of got lost in this one, and you need to know Beth.) Parasite blew me away through its normality (who, having seen The Host, Snowpiercer, and Okja could have guessed that it wasn’t about some actual alien parasite??). And Uncut Gems was exactly as perfect as I expected it to be. And the Layokie goes to... The King

Faithful readers will know that one of my absolute favorite genres is ‘discreet conversation behind castle walls,’ and The King absolutely nailed it. It has everything: leadership position foisted on a worthy but flawed character who doesn’t want it, conversations in tents about battle tactics, love built on almost nothing but mutual respect, and most of all, Robert Pattinson doing a funny accent (it’s just a French accent, but he makes it quite funny). I would have already watched this again five times on Netflix, but I’m hoping and praying for an Oscar nomination that will never ever in a million years come in hopes that I can see it again in the theater during nominations screenings.

The Next Five Six 1917 Honey Boy The Laundromat The Lighthouse Marriage Story Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Best Actor Timothée Chalamet - The King Adam Driver - Marriage Story Paul Walter Hauser - Richard Jewell Joaquin Phoenix - Joker Adam Sandler - Uncut Gems

Another super stacked category this year. You might even say they’re *puts on sunglasses*...Stacked Actors. (<-- This is a really good joke for anyone whose favorite band from 7th-8th grade was The Foo Fighters.) These are all kind of obvious, so I’ll take a second to comment on Paul Walter Hauser and the fact that I gave out a very specific award last year titled “Refuse to Watch - Any More Clint Eastwood Movies” after trying and failing to watch The 15:17 to Paris on a plane (one of the worst pieces of filmmaking I’ve ever witnessed). Then this year Richard Jewell was getting such good buzz, and it seemed like such a good cast, and it was such a low-risk watch (on my second screen at work while doing spreadsheets), that I decided to shamefully renege on my earlier pronouncement and give it a shot. And...it was great pretty good! What is the deeal with Clint Eastwood?? He’s made some of my least favorite movies of the decade (Gran Torino, Invictus, Hereafter was a particularly awful stretch, Sully was pointless, and even parts of American Sniper, which was otherwise tolerable, were absolute cringefests). Anywho, I was very impressed by Paul Walter Hauser’s understated but perfect performance, in which he gets one good chance to blow up and yell at people--which you know I love. I hope he gets nominated, because it would be a great Oscar clip. (My ultimate dream job would be to pick the acting Oscars clips and I would be very very good at it.)

And the Layokie goes to... The Sandman (love that everyone is calling him the Sandman again)

I touched on Adam Sandler “A” in the Best Supporting Actor section of my 2018 Layokies post regarding his performance in The Meyerowitz Stories, lamenting that he hadn’t taken more dramatic roles after Punch-Drunk Love and hoping that good writer/directors would keep casting him. One more wish granted by the Safdie brothers. Adam Sandler’s talent is undeniable. He is truly one of the Great Actors of his generation. I really hope this is a respected-actor-making turn for him, but the upcoming roles on his IMDd--Hubie Halloween and Hotel Transylvania 4--don’t give much hope for the immediate future. 

Honorable Mentions Taron Egerton - Rocketman (but only for the phone booth scene) Shia LaBeouf - The Peanut Butter Falcon Noah Jupe - Honey Boy Robert Pattinson - The Lighthouse Jonathan Pryce - The Two Popes

Best Actress Ana de Armas - Knives Out Scarlett Johansson - Marriage Story Elisabeth Moss - Her Smell Florence Pugh - Midsommar Saoirse Ronan - Little Women

Found out last night from my resident celebrity expert Bridgette Smith that Florence Pugh is dating Zach Braff and it absolutely crushed me. 

And the Layokie goes to... Elisabeth Moss - Her Smell

Her Smell was the last 2019 film I watched before writing this post, and I was really just looking for something to pass the time. I had been wanting to see it for a long time and noticed it was on HBO, so I pressed play and planned to work on this post while I watched. I couldn’t. I was riveted. The writing, score, and sound design are incredible, but it’s all tied together by Elisabeth Moss’s performance. She’s excellent at being revolting but still has all of those qualities that made her Peggy. You can’t not like her, even though you fairly hate her. 

Honorable Mentions Awkwafina - The Farewell Cynthia Erivo - Harriet Lupita Nyong’o - Us (You know I love weird voices, you know I love actors doing weird voices and faces, but this was a bit much even for me. Reflective of Us on the whole, which I thought was interesting but really missed the mark.) Charlize Theron - Bombshell

Best Director Ari Aster - Midsommar Bong Joon Ho - Parasite David Michôd - The King Benny and Josh Safdie - Uncut Gems Céline Sciamma - Portrait of a Lady on Fire

And the Layokie goes to... Benny and Josh Safdie - Uncut Gems

Wired: New directors Tired: Old directors

Boy do I not understand the love for The Irishman and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I’m not totally against boring movies if there’s a good reason for it (Midsommar was actually quite boring), but these were some of the least compelling films I watched all year. On the other hand, you have these young directors coming out of prestige horror, Ari Aster, Robert Eggers, and to a lesser extent David Robert Mitchell and Trey Edwards Shults, making some of the most dynamic films out there. Reminds me of Roger Ebert talking about early Scorsese in Life Itself (which I can’t find a clip of). Then you have Benny and Josh Safdie doing Scorsese better than Scorsese with literally breathtaking shots like the one below. How they construct such amazing edits out of such disparate takes as the one in the still above is a wonder. They’ll go from five extreme close-ups in a row to a jaw-dropping shot of the inside of a jewelry store zoomed in from across the street. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg on what makes them the best filmmakers working right now. 

Honorable Mentions Noah Baumbach - Marriage Story Robert Eggers - The Lighthouse Claire Denis - High Life Greta Gerwig - Little Women Alejandro Landes - Monos Sam Mendes - 1917 Alex Ross Perry - Her Smell Joe Talbot - The Last Black Man in San Francisco Lulu Wang - The Farewell

Best Supporting Actress Laura Dern - Marriage Story Lena Headey - Fighting with My Family Lee Jung Eun - Parasite (The housekeeper) Meryl Streep - The Laundromat Shuzhen Zhao - The Farewell (Nai Nai)

And the Layokie goes to... Laura Dern - Marriage Story

Here’s one for the Laura Dern stan accounts: There’s no question that Noah Baumbach is a talented director of actors, but Laura Dern makes so much out of seemingly not a lot in this role. She truly embodies a wholly unique and three-dimensional character that could have extremely easily been one-note.

Honorable Mentions Lily-Rose Depp - The King Florence Pugh - Little Women Margot Robbie - Bombshell

Best Supporting Actor Timothée Chalamet - Little Women Willem Dafoe - The Lighthouse Shia LaBeouf - Honey Boy Al Pacino - The Irishman Robert Pattinson - The King

And the Layokie goes to... Willem Dafoe - The Lighthouse

For being all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT7uR4wNMJs

Honorable Mentions Bill Hader - It Chapter Two Tim Heidecker - Us Sam Rockwell - Richard Jewell Song Kang Ho - Parasite (the dad) Lakeith Stanfield - Uncut Gems

Best Original Screenplay The Farewell - Lulu Wang Her Smell - Alex Ross Perry Marriage Story - Noah Baumbach Parasite - Bong Joon Ho Uncut Gems - Benny and Josh Safdie

And the Layokie goes to... Parasite - Bong Joon Ho

Another genre we don’t get nearly enough of: comedies of errors. A script like this is as sophisticated as any mystery, political thriller, or...some other sophisticated type of script, like uh, I don’t know, they usually just say Chinatown or Witness. I did think it lagged a bit in the third act, but everything that came before it was so tight. Twist after turn after twist, so funny, so shocking. This is such a rare prestige crowd-pleaser that it really does harken back to Hitchcock; if a wide audience can get over watching subtitles, this has to have one of the lowest barriers for entry of any foreign film in a long time. Here’s hoping for a Best Picture Oscar nomination and a wide release. Uncut Gems played at Shawnee’s other theater (titled simply Movies 6), so it’s not that far out of the realm of possibility. But I know people in LA, even that work at the Academy, who won’t watch subtitled films, so getting people to actually go see it is another question. 

Honorable Mentions Peterloo - Mike Leigh

Best Adapted Screenplay Jojo Rabbit - Taika Waititi Joker - Todd Philips & Scott Silver The King - David Michôd The Laundromat - Scott Z. Burns The Two Popes - Anthony McCarten

And the Layokie goes to... The King - Joel Edgerton and David Michôd

It wouldn’t be the Layokies without me championing one film that no one else cares about. I just really really liked The King. Timothée Chalamet is so hot right now! How did this get so overlooked?? 😭

Best Documentary Apollo 11 Honeyland It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It Maiden Mike Wallace is Here

And the Layokie goes to... Maiden

As I’m in the process of producing a documentary right now, it pains me a bit that my top two picks in this category are almost entirely archival. I thought Mike Wallace is Here was so well done, and the director did some amazing things playing with aspect ratio. But Maiden came into port first. What is wrong with people who don’t appreciate sports? This xkcd comic (who I usually appreciate) makes me so angry. Tell the women who worked their asses off for years to claw their way into this male-dominated space and literally made the world a better place that their efforts were no more than a weighted random number generator on which to build narratives! Clearly the narratives are there, but it rarely has as much to do with the result of the competition as it does the effort that it took individual human beings to get there. See also: Undefeated (currently streaming on Netflix).

Honorable Mentions Fyre They Shall Not Grow Old Satan & Adam

Best Foreign Language Film Duh Parasite

Biggest Missed Opportunity Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (How the first live action Pokemon movie should have happened)

Not Even Close to Enough Monsters Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Most Unbelievable Cosplay Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers

Absolutely Crushing the Sensitive Dad Roles Billy Crudup in After the Wedding and Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

Good in Everything Too obvious, but Florence Pugh - Fighting with My Family, Midsommar, Little Women Robert Pattinson - High Life, The Lighthouse, The King Adam Driver - The Dead Don’t Die, Marriage Story, The Report, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Destigmatizing Fatness Award Dolemite is My Name The Laundromat Skin Almost Hustlers but then not (Lizzo got what, 30 seconds of screentime??)

#WasteYourAudience’sTime2019 The Souvenir The Proposal

Didn’t Actually Deserve to be Driven into the Ground Dark Phoenix The Kitchen

Just Plain Liked It Triple Frontier

Most Forgettable Tie: Tolkien and High Life (not for me, but it took me a full 10 minutes to convince Becca that she watched this, and I had to describe the masturbation chamber aka fuck box in a lot of detail before she got it, and I’m still not totally convinced she remembers it)

The Something Award Motherless Brooklyn

The Nothing Award Judy

Worst Movies 1. Rambo: Last Blood 2. Between Two Ferns: The Movie 3. Abominable 4. The Lion King 5. Godzilla: King of the Monsters 6. Wine Country 7. Jumanji: The Next Level 8. Frozen II 9. The Goldfinch 10. Pet Semetary

Best Scenes

Avengers: Endgame - The hammer, the portals, all the nerdy/normie BS, what can I say call me a basic bitch but there were some genuine holy schmoly moments in this that made it a really fun movie to experience in the theater

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - When Mr. Rogers uses the puppets on Lloyd

Captain Marvel - When she went full shit on ‘em

Climax - The opening dance sequence (the only thing that made this movie worth watching)

The Farewell - Too many to choose from, but I think my favorite moment in this movie was when they were taking photos of the fiances and another couple stumbled in on them, claiming they were lost. That couple leaves and we never see them again. These are the kinds of details that make movies come alive. Absolutely brilliant.

Gemini Man - The motorcycle chase (a rare scene actually made better by the high frame rate)

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum - The knife fight in the knife store

The King - The conversation between Hal and Catherine

Knock Down the House - When A.O.C. debated the incompetent proxy

The Last Black Man in San Francisco - Skateboarding into town

Little Women - The “break-up” scene between Jo and Laurie (not a spoiler)

Midsommar - The drug trip scene (not that I’ve ever done drugs but this was the most accurate drug trip scene of all time) and the Ättestupa ceremony. Also found out in the video linked above that Ari Aster pronounces it Mid-SO-mar?? I thought that was the dumb way to pronounce it but apparently I’m the dumb one. Also also, another amazing detail worth mentioning: I absolutely loved that every time they were in their community sleeping barn, there was a baby crying somewhere on the second floor that we never see. Such a perfect way to put the characters and the audience on edge and indicate that there’s something wrong here.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - While I didn’t care for this movie, the scene where Brad Pitt went to the movie ranch and when he fantasized about going to the film set were absolutely dripping with tension, which made them as just as riveting as the rest of the movie wasn’t

Parasite - When the other family comes home early

The Peanut Butter Falcon - The scene after they come out of the corn field and share one of their first genuine moments

Uncut Gems - *Sarah Palin voice* All of ‘em, any of ‘em. But seriously the finale with the Celtics game

Us - The initial home invasion and the visit to the Tylers’ home (Tim Heidecker and Elisabeth Moss)

The A.V. Club also does a best scenes list at the end of the year, and I love writing mine first and then seeing what they came up with. I’m always surprised at how many we match on. Just goes to show that a good scene is universal. I also enjoyed some of theirs that I overlooked here, including from Her Smell, Bombshell, Ad Astra (I almost included the moon chase myself and thought the baboon scene was equally compelling), and Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Stupidest Scenes Every other John Wick 3 scene

Deserves Discussion The Dead Don’t Die

This movie was a lot of fun. But then it also completely sucked? Not really a Jim Jarmusch fan in the first place, but this had so many awesome elements to it: a great cast, great soundtrack, really fun and unexpected ways of breaking the 4th wall, but then it was also pointless and boring. I would love for someone to tell me why this is a good movie after all, but judging by its complete absence from the end-of-the-year discussion (or any discussion), I’m guessing no one cares enough to mount that challenge.

Best Visuals Alita: Battle Angel Aquarella A Hidden Life Honeyland Midsommar Monos

Many LOLs It Chapter Two Jojo Rabbit Parasite

Best Song Ready or Not - The Hide and Seek Song (why was this not submitted?)

Best Soundtrack Waves - Never have I already known so many songs on a film’s soundtrack; it’s almost as if Trey Edwards Shults is another white guy around my age with the same interests as me...

Worst Accents Midway

Started But Never Finished Cats Cold Case Hammarskjold Genndy Tartakovsky’s ‘Primal’ - Tales of Savagery  The Highway Men High Flying Bird Queen and Slim Spies in Disguise

Didn’t See Ash is Purest White Atlantics The Beach Bum The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (still really want to see this one) Clemency Diane Invisible Life Luce Shadow Synonyms Transit Woman at War

Absent on Purpose Pain & Glory Ford v Ferrari I think these are the only two contenders that I’ve seen and haven’t mentioned. I actually liked both of these movies quite a bit. Just didn’t stand out for me in any one category I suppose. But then also: Booksmart Brittany Runs a Marathon Just Mercy The Mustang

Hah!

[hottytoddynews]

The 89th Academy Awards will telecast live from L.A.’s Dolby Theatre Sunday, hosted by late night’s Jimmy Kimmel and presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, recognizes excellence in cinematic achievements in the film industry as assessed by the Academy’s voting membership. But … and there always is one … there’s the rub. 

The Oscars air on ABC, beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT and run to or past three-and-a-half hours. Prior to the Awards, there’ll be lots of glitz and glamour with the red carpet arrivals.

Compared to last year and its lack of diversity, this year it’s the difference of day v. night – with an overload of all sorts of diversity. To avoid another brouhaha, the Academy initiated numerous changes in the make-up of the committees and membership [increasing the youth or younger factor].

2016 was also a big year for indies – several of which made it into the Top Nine.

The Academy welcomes the nominees in 24 categories and presenters with these words: No matter who you are or where you live, movies bring us together. Through indelible, fearless performances you extraordinary actors help make it happen. And the world listens. [Bring to the screen your tired, your poor, your huddled masses and let it infuse them with buttered popcorn, Sno-caps, and ice-cold Coke.]

There’s a new prez and not all of Hollywoodland is pleased with DJT, so expect loud protests and anti-testimonials. Several stars have announced they won’t attend; however, by attending, they could make an impact and be heard worldwide.

The Oscars, live and on tape, are seen by an estimated 35 million worldwide. At press time, President Trump and Pope Francis haven’t been added to the presenter’s list or weighed in on the nominations – some of which must displease both.

The fate of Best Picture is in the hands of the Hollywood caucus. Leading the pack in nominations are “La La Land“ (Lionsgate) received a record-tying 14 (1950’s “All About Eve” – and 1997’s “Titanic“ also achieved this distinction). “Arrival” and “Moonlight” (A24/Plan B) came in second with eight.

Actress in a leading role will be the category where the winner could be anybody’s guess. There’s been so much hype about Emma Stone in “La La Land,” but Isabelle Huppert turned in a memorable performance in “Elle“ (Sony Pictures Classics), and the incredible Natalie Portman turned herself inside out to create a harrowing impersonation of “Jackie”(Fox Searchlight), our former first lady. Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep continued to break records with her 20th nomination (Best Actress, Supporting Actress) for “Florence Foster Jenkins.” 

Over in the men’s category, Casey Affleck outshined older brother, rising to star status at the top of the pack with his extraordinary performance in Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester by the Sea“ (Amazon Studios).

Often it’s puzzling how nominators nominate. For instance, when she is billed as a co-star in bold lettering and carries at least, if not more, of the screen adaptation of August Wilson’s Tony and Drama Desk-winning Fences, starring the leads of the 2010 Broadway revival, Tony-nominated Denzel Washington and Viola Divas, how does two-time nominee (“Doubt,” “The Help“) Davis get regulated to the Supporting Actress category? And wasn’t Jeff Bridges an equal star with Ben Foster and Chris Pine in “Hell and High Water“? 

Presenters will include: five-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams, Oscar winner Javier Bardem, Oscar winner Warren Beatty, Golden Globe winner Gael Garcia Bernal, Oscar winner Halle Berry, Oscar and Golden Globes winner Faye Dunaway, Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio, GG nominee Scarlett Johansson, Dwayne Johnson, Oscar nominee Felicity Jones, Oscar and Drama Desk winner Shirley MacLaine (seven nominations), David Oyelowo, Oscar and Tony winner Mark Rylance, two-time Oscar nominee Emma Stone, Oscar winner Charlize Theron, and Oscar and SAG winner and Golden Globe nominee Alicia Vikander.

Artists will be “Waitress“ composer [and soon-to-be-star of the musical] Sara Bareilles, performing the In Memoriam tribute. Auli’l Cravalho and Lin-Manuel Miranda will sing the nominated “How Far I’ll Go” from Animated nominee Moana, Rock’s John Legend, who was featured in nominated La La Land will perform “City of Stars” and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” Sting sings “The Empty Chair” from “Jim: The James Foley Story” (HBO); and Justin Timberlake will perform “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from “Trolls” (Dreamworks Animation).

Honorary Awards were bestowed to Jackie Chan, the Hong Kong martial artist; Oscar-winning British editor (“Lawrence of Arabia,” many more) who has four nominations; veteran casting director Lynn Stalmaster; and Frederick Wiseman, Emmy-winning documentarian and international theater director.

Oscar certainly hasn’t always been perfect, so you might anticipate an upset. “Citizen Kane,” now considered one of the greatest movies of all time, didn’t catch on with audiences of its day, but it got a Best Picture nod – only to be outgunned by the Welsh mining drama “How Green Was My Valley“ Best Picture. Star Orson Welles co-wrote the screenplay with the great Herman J. Mankiewicz, but through some maneuver Welles got sold credit and, on winning, didn’t even have the largesse to mention, much less credit Mankiewicz [which may have marked the beginning of his slow downfall].

Could there be a tie as in 1969, when two Best Actress winners were announced: Katharine Hepburn/”The Lion in Winter“ and Barbra Streisand/ “Funny Girl.” With Hepburn absent, Streisand had the stage all to herself for her famous quip, “Hello, Gorgeous!”

Could there have been a more celebrated film and director in 1973 than Francis Ford Coppola and “The Godfather,” which captured Best Picture. However, it was Broadway’s Bob Fosse who grabbed the director gold for the screen adaptation of Best Picture nominee “Cabaret.”

The Academy Award, nicknamed “Oscar,” was first presented in 1929. Tickets were $5, 15 statuettes were awarded in a dinner ceremony that ran 15 minutes. The annual Awards were broadcast on radio in 1930; and first televised in 1953. Bob Hope became the host dejour. The Oscars are now seen live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed online.  

Open those darn envelopes, please. Got your ballot? Vote. Let the winner be your winner! Nomination highlights:

Best picture Arrival, Fences, Hackshaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea,and Moonlight

Actor in a leading role   Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea; Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge; Ryan Gosling, La La Land; Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic; Denzel Washington, Fences

Actress in a leading role  Isabelle Huppert, Elle; Ruth Negga, Loving; Natalie Portman, Jackie; Emma Stone, La La Land; Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

Actor in a supporting role Mahershala Ali, Moonlight; Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water; Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea; Dev Patel, Lion; Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals Actress in a supporting role Viola Davis, Fences; Naomi Harris, Moonlight; Nicole Kidman, Lion; Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures; Michelle Williams,Manchester by the Sea Directing Damien Chazelle, La La Land; Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge; Barry Jenkins, Moonlight; Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea; Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Documentary (feature) 13th, Fire at Sea, I Am Not Your Negro, Life Animated, O.J.: Made in America

Foreign language film Land of Mine, Denmark; A Man Called Ove, Sweden; The Salesman, Iran; Tanna, Australia; Toni Erdman, Germany Animated feature film Kubo and the Two Strings; Moana; My Life as a Cougarette; The Red Turtle; Zootopia

For the full list of nominations, visit www.oscars.com. For heightened drama watch those scary moments when winners exit the stage all pumped with adrenalin and are ambushed by Kelly Ripa sticking a mike in their face.

At www.oscars.org, check out the full list of nominees and play against your friends in the Official Oscars Challenge; and participate in Oscars Backstage 2017, a second screen experience where you choose from four channels pulling from more than 20 cameras on the red carpet and backstage at the Dolby.

Ellis Nassour is an Ole Miss alum and noted arts journalist and author who recently donated an ever-growing exhibition of performing arts history to the University of Mississippi. He is the author of the best-selling Patsy Cline biography, Honky Tonk Angel, as well as the hit musical revue, Always, Patsy Cline. He can be reached at ENassour@aol.com. 

Follow HottyToddy.com on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat @hottytoddynews. Like its Facebook page: If You Love Oxford and Ole Miss…

The post The Best Of 2016 Vie For The Gold At The 89th Academy Awards Telecast Sunday On ABC appeared first on HottyToddy.com.

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Meet the New Characters in Marvel’s Hawkeye Disney+ Series

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With WandaVision on the way, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier nearly ready to drop, Marvel’s next Disney+ series, Hawkeye, has flown a bit under the radar since its announcement. That changed yesterday, with new set pictures and a massive casting drop. But who the heck are all these characters? And what might the cast tell us about the story? We have some guesses, and only a couple of them involve the Circus of Crime.

Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld)

Probably the biggest news is the finally official confirmation that Kate Bishop would be a co-star of the show. Hailee Steinfield plays this possibly future Young Avenger as she joins her namesake hero (Jeremy Renner) on a quest through New York City.

Bishop was created in the comics by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung as part of the 2005 Young Avengers team. She’s the daughter of obscenely wealthy and inattentive Manhattanites, who discovered her father was a bad sort, was the victim of an assault, and became a martial arts/weapons prodigy because of it. She joined the Young Avengers when the team attempted to save her and hundreds of other guests at her sister’s wedding. The fledgling heroes screwed it up, and Kate ended up saving everyone with her martial prowess.

At the time, Clint Barton was dead, so she took on the name Hawkeye to honor his place in the Avengers. She eventually moved to the west coast and opened up her own detective agency/branch of the Avengers, and is now the far more popular Hawkeye.

For purposes of what looks like this story, she became a good friend/little sister to Clint, and he called her in to help him fight off various criminals trying to steal his apartment building from him.

Eleanor Bishop (Vera Farmiga)

Eleanor Bishop is Kate’s mother. She spent most of Kate’s childhood estranged from Kate’s father, Jack, until she supposedly died on a trip to Colorado. It turned out her husband, Derek, was deeply involved with Marvel’s supervillain underworld, and she was trying to get away from him when she was killed.

Her death was suspicious, though, and when Kate was older, she started investigating her father’s ties to Madame Masque as a means to discover if he had a hand in Eleanor’s death. She discovers some evidence that her mother may be alive, but not before her and Clint get into a scuffle with Masque and her team that ends with everyone getting away, and Masque’s mysterious partner being revealed: Eleanor herself.

We’ll stop there because it gets weird after that (Eleanor is a half-vampire on the board of the Masters of Evil don’t sweat it), but for the purposes of the show, Eleanor is alive and working with the same very bad people Kate’s father was, only for revenge.

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Kazimierz Kazimierczak: Clown (Fra Fee)

Kazimerz was created as part of the beloved Matt Fraction/David Aja run that much of this show seems to be drawing from. He was born into a Polish circus family that met tragedy and led to him emigrating to the United States. He lost another friend in an explosion, and that caused a break in Kazimierz, leading to him killing people indiscriminately and eventually farming out his services as a mercenary.

Kazimerz worked with a number of New York crime groups to clear out Clint Barton’s Brooklyn apartment building, and was part of the climactic battle between the Hawkeyes, the apartment residents, Lucky the Pizza Dog, and the Tracksuit Draculas. Please note that as awesome as that sentence is, the execution of the comic is even better.

Jack Duquesne: Swordsman (Tony Dalton)

The Swordsman is enjoying something of a renaissance lately. Jack Duquense was one of the Avengers’ earliest villains, a drunk gambler who taught Clint Barton how to fight with bladed weapons as a member of the Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders. He bounced back and forth between good and bad, joining the Avengers under false pretenses as a double agent for The Mandarin, then turning on the bad guys, then returning to a life of crime, then eventually completely reforming and joining the Avengers full time.

He sacrificed his life in battle with Kang the Conqueror to save his teammate Mantis, after which he was resurrected in a Coatati (alient sentient plants) body and it turns into a thing in Empyre, but that’s probably irrelevant to the Hawkeye show.

Read more

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Unless there’s an intergalactic war between the reunited Kree/Skrull empire and the plant people, but that seems like more of an MCU Phase 6 thing.

Yelena Belova: Black Widow (Florence Pugh)

This is the other big news from the cast announcement. Yelena Belova is a fellow Red Room trained Russian assassin (along with Scarlett Johannson’s Natasha Romanoff), and it looks like she’s taking over as the MCU’s Black Widow after the upcoming movie.

Clint and Nat have a long history in the MCU, and an even longer one in the comics – Nat is, along with Mockingbird, one of Clint’s most important exes, and the crux of the very good Tales of Suspense story from a few years back that saw Hawkeye and Winter Soldier teaming up. However, that was Natasha, not Yelena, so it remains to be seen exactly how this new Black Widow will fit into Clint’s life.

Maya Lopez: Echo (Alaqua Cox)

ECHO IS AWESOME. She is a deaf, native, good Taskmaster – she has “photographic reflexes”and can replicate anything she sees. However, she was primarily a Daredevil character until New Avengers, when she was revealed to be the first character in the Marvel Universe to wear the Ronin outfit – the same Ronin costume that Clint was wearing in Avengers: Endgame. She’s also the daughter of…

Willie Lincoln: Crazy Horse (Zahn McClarnon)

Crazy Horse worked for The Kingpin and died at Wilson Fisk’s hands, but as he passed, he made Fisk swear to raise his daughter. Fisk did, giving Maya the best of everything, and sending her to the best schools before bringing her in as an assassin he pointed at Daredevil.

When she discovered that he was Matt Murdock (who Maya was involved with in her civilian identity), she realized the lies Fisk had been telling her, and left his service. She later reappeared, disgraced, as Ronin, and joined the Avengers. She met Barton through her Avengers work, and they eventually slept together during Secret Invasion.

Lucky the Pizza Dog (unknown)

Lucky is a VERY GOOD DOG. If you don’t believe me, just look.

📷 | Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop and Lucky The Pizza Dog on the set of “Hawkeye” on December 2, 2020 in New York. 🏹 (Credit: @CreamOrScream) pic.twitter.com/qxNNzwmT9Y

— Hailee Steinfeld News (@HSteinfeldNews) December 2, 2020

Lucky is a good pup who Clint liberated from the Tracksuit Mafia during their squabble in Brooklyn. Lucky was also the POV character for one of the best issues of a superhero comic of all time, Hawkeye #11.

Hawkeye doesn’t yet have a premiere date, but we expect it in late 2021 or early 2022.

The post Meet the New Characters in Marvel’s Hawkeye Disney+ Series appeared first on Den of Geek.

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