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

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

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

Hit Me With Your Best Shot. X-Men (2000)

Last week I told you about a new series "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and as a preamble I suggested X-Men (2000) for today. I'd already paid visual homage here. I am happy to report that someone took me up on the challenge. Two someones. Against the Hype has an interesting post and I must say I'm surprised by the visual choices -- I didn't see Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison) coming -- though the Angels in America reference kinda spooked me because of Bruce's Oscar nomination and deathbed scene from Longtime Companion (1990). Anyway, I adore the final shot Colin chooses which he calls

Singer’s most auteurist shot in the whole movie, and it’s so weirdass and INLAND EMPIRE-like

Being INLAND EMPIRE-like is a good thing, yes. But you'll have to click over to see it. I'm not giving the game away.

Terence at Much Ado About Nothing also responded with a shot of everyone's favorite blue shape shifter. That's gonna hurt! Finally, Bad MoFo offers up this shot which I also think is cool. Love that that's basically the opening strike for an action sequence, sometimes simple is best.

If anyone else is playing the game, comment or e-mail me and I'll revise the post and link up. "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" will air on Wednesdays at 9:00 PM going forward. Up next: August 4th SHOWGIRLS (1995) August 11th ANGELS IN AMERICA (2003), August 18th BLACK NARCISSUS (1947). Get watching and join us for the visual sharing.

"Hit Me With Your Best Shot"

It's a new participatory series! I've been thinking lately about favorite images from movies: How they happen, what they say about the viewer, whether they represent the movie as a whole or if they're just our preferred vision of the movie. It's deep thoughts vs. eye candy, essentially, or both at once if you're lucky. This train of thought started chugging down the track when I highlighted this image from X-Men (2000) a couple of weeks back, which I think the best in the film.


It just says so many things about the movie plus it's damn pretty to look at.

So for the month of August, I'll be experimenting with a "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"™ series. I'll select my favorite screenshot from a movie and I'll link up to anyone who does the same on their own blog, twitpic, tumblr, flickr, whathaveyou. It'll be a veritable orgy of screenshots from the movie. We can see what different people see in the same movie! You can just post your favorite image or post and write about it... or post more than one if you're the indecisive type. You can do whatever you'd like... bend the rules to make it fun for yourself if you need. I'd love it to be participatory but even if it's just me posting an image, I hope you enjoy. Here's the schedule. I hope you'll play along.

The Schedule

• Fri, July 30th X-Men (2000) [instant watch]
  The Warm Up. If you happen to feel like sharing your favorite image from that mutant superhero movie, e-mail me once you've posted it, and I'll do a X-Blog link roundup starring you that evening.
  
• Wed, August 4th Showgirls (1995)
  The Debut. Because all blog series should begin with this movie, right? And I wanted to start with something familar.
  
• Wed, August 11th The HBO Adaptation of Angels In America
  You can choose one image or one from each "chapter" or one from Pt. 1 Millenium Approaches and one from Pt. 2 Perestroika. It's a freeform event. Participate in whichever way you want. I'm currently writing a piece for a magazine on this so it's on my brain. Let's make it a hive brain to prepare for the Broadway revival in the fall.
  
• Wed, August 18th Black Narcissus (1947)[instant watch]
  A little Deborah Kerr. I've been meaning to watch this for years and years.
  

We'll see how that goes. Maybe it'll be fun? It it's not, we'll wrap up on August 18th. It's an experiment. Play along!


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Hugh Jackman is Sleeping. (And Other X-Men Memories)

Shhhhhh. It's a day of rest and Hugh Jackman is sleeping. Let him be.


Wait. Anna!? What are you doing?!? Don't tiptoe up to deadly people while they're having nightmares.


AakHHGGGgghHNnnHhh! ouch

Well, don't say we didn't warn you. Anna Paquin is always hovering carelessly around killers, isn't she? Whether they be clawed or fanged. The girl can't help it.

The X-Men movie franchise was launched 10 years ago in July 2000 and I watched it again last week with the intention of celebrating it with lots of prurient screencaps of Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Romijn and some discussion about the casting for X-Men: First Class (2011) aka Muppet Mutant Babies or "it's time for yet another reboot" but the time got away from me, it did. But better late than never for a couple of observations.

In some ways the original X-Men is a tentative mediocre movie: the budget limitations are obvious, Halle Berry is as lost as you remembered (though Storm is a strangely minor character), and the central evil plot is just dumb. But in other ways it's undervalued.

It makes smart choices about narrowing its focus for a first film (centering on Wolverine & Rogue) and the one character it totally reimagines -- that'd be Mystique -- is a major success.


What's more director Bryan Singer actually makes use of the widescreen in his mise-en-scène sometimes. Too few filmmakers do, just shoving everything into the center of the frame or shooting everything in relentless close-up. Even action sequences are shot with a preference for close-ups these days (see Inception for an up-to-the-minute example) but, much like musical numbers, they're more memorable and coherent when they include whole bodies in the frame.
And even if some of Singer's tricks get a bit repetitive, such as the out of focus introduction of characters in the background, they're aesthetically pleasing.

X-Men was lensed by Newton Thomas Sigel, who is Singer's constant collaborator. This is my favorite shot in the whole movie, Wolverine lost in the X-Mansion, bewildered by the new sites.


Isn't that a beauty narratively speaking? And Jackmanically speaking?

P.S. The Film Experience will be back tomorrow with Craig's Take Three column. I'll personally be scarcer than usual in the next week (off-web deadlines) but there will still be daily postings. We'll figure it out. We just keep putting it out there even though we don't have the recuperative powers of Logan/Wolverine. We sure could use them.

Happy 4th of July!

Be safe out there!
The Film Experience will be back tomorrow. Enjoy your festivities whatever they may be.
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don't wanna link, don't wanna touch...

♪ ... just smoke one cigarette and hush
don't call my name, don't call my name, Roberto ♫

Stuff No One Told Me Love this. Disney and Porn = eternal human frustration.
MNPP Everything you ever need to know about life... you can learn from Psycho (1960)
Antagony & Ecstasy looks back at the evolution of Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy in a summer blockbuster history series
Cinematical Paul Rudd, soon to be the Idiot Brother, gets four fine funny actresses as co-stars

Emma Frost illustration by Adam Hughes

Movie|Line the angsty drama of 'how will Sandra bullock follow that Oscar?' Methinks her team is thinking too hard. Nobody wants her doing prestige pics.
Socialite's Life Matthew Morrison (Glee) recording a solo CD. I'd be thrilled to buy this (his voice is amazing -- check out the CD of Light in the Piazza for proof) but for the fact that he's gettin JustinTimberlakey with it. Yawn.
What's Good/ What Blows the dismaying punishment of Charlie Sheen.
Cinematical Michael Fassbender has his choice of two supervillain roles. Which will he go with? Either way he ends up opposite a fine actor (James McAvoy in X-Men: First Class or Jamie Bell in Spider-Man)
Empire speaking of X-Men... seems that Rosamund Pike may be up for the part of Emma Frost, the White Queen. Now that is a casting decision I can really get behind. Love both the actress and the character.
I Need My Fix True Blood season premiere brings the stars out. Is there a more attractive cast on television?
The Big Picture looks at the critic vs. audience divide on Splice.
Boing Boing more on recent silent film discoveries. I always get so excited to hear about found films
In Contention could "Shine" be an Original Song hopeful at the Oscars? I'm still struggling to understand what everyone else sees in that highly praised Waiting for Superman documentary (I didn't like it) but I agree that it's probably going to be up for the doc Oscar.

More on Lady Gaga's "Alejandro"
my piece yesterday in case you missed it
Low Resolution "Instantly Dated Thoughts"
The Critical Condition "Theft and/or Borrowing"
The Critical Condition ...and an interesting follow up piece about the cultural awakenings that happen in our youth.
Flavor Pill "Guide to Madonna References"
Rolling Stone director Steven Klein talks about the video, avoids the Madonna question.
popbytes (I do a brief weekly column here now). The video got me thinking about freaky movie nuns.
Guardian rounds up the groups claiming offense.
The Atlantic Katy Perry vs. Lady Gaga "The Battle of the Bras"