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This is apparently still happening, with Blanchett and Sorkin looking for the right director, according to TCA presentation today

Why not just have Sorkin direct it. His direction was the good thing about Molly's Game.

Story from Deadline

I'd much rather have the film directed by someone like Bennett Miller (just a guess I'm throwing out there of someone who's executed upon films where big actors are playing iconic historical personalities) if there's any concern at all around how Sorkin would be able to handle the tone of the picture. I haven't seen Molly's Game, but with a film like this it's far more important that these characters feel correct (especially if there's material from the show re-shot) than anything in the script.

But knives is right, Molly’s Game was better directed than it was written, believe it or not

I have no comment on the comedic or writing abilities of Aaron Sorkin at this time

domino harvey wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2020 11:22 pm But knives is right,

domino harvey wrote: Tue Jan 14, 2020 11:22 pm But knives is right, Molly’s Game was better directed than it was written, believe it or not

Glad to know I'm not alone on this. While I was wary of Sorkin's directorial prowess going in, I left shocked by how good the film looked. Especially compared to the shockingly grating, leaden script no amount of craft or performance was able to elevate to being even tolerable.

It's Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem - both mega-talents, but not the 100th people I'd think of for this. Then again, Sorkin's involvement has my expectations low to begin with, and as a big Lucille Ball/I Love Lucy fan, maybe this film just isn't going to be for me.

I'm hoping the whole film focuses solely on this incident.

At least no American actors will be harmed in the production of this monstrosity.

If the casting process you followed brought you to this, of what use was the casting process?

When was the last time anyone was excited by the prospect of seeing Kidman in anything?

That shitty Fox movie?

domino harvey wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 11:11 pm When was the last time anyone was excited by the prospect of seeing Kidman in anything?

She was probably the best performer in Big Little Lies, which was obviously stuffed with those

domino harvey wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2021 11:11 pm When was the last time anyone was excited by the prospect of seeing Kidman in anything?

Maybe I'm the one in a bubble here, but this is kind of a wild statement to read as someone constantly exposed to the rabid fanbase for her amongst queer film-watchers, which remains strong even as she does dreck like Bombshell or The Prom. To more directly answer your question, I concur with mfunk that she's great on Big Little Lies and I thought she was very funny in Killing of a Sacred Deer, plus I look forward to seeing her in the next Robert Eggers movie.

I mean, I didn't like either film, but I 100% watched Destroyer and The Paperboy solely because she was in them and her approaches to the roles were at least interesting. I'll say the same for Big Little Lies, which I really disliked aside from her performance- a perfect (and quite fearless) depiction of a wife in a DV relationship (the dynamic with the therapist was equally on point)- and was enough to make the series worth watching. I also admired the approach she took in Bombshell, which I wrote up more in its dedicated thread, but I thought was a humble choice to remain outside the spotlight in an enigmatic restrained perf- almost like she was trying not to get an Oscar nom for the sake of being true to the reality of the character in the process.

I'll also say that her work in The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Stoker were excellent and fun exhibitions of how she can tailor her skillsets to supporting archetypes in a way that manages to subvert their normally thin layers into full-dimensional memorable, engaging perfs.

She's one of the best and at least most iconic actresses who ever lived

Agreed, I could go on about all her earlier work (hell, I love To Die For because I think she sells the film almost independently, which I know will turn some heads!) but had to join the choir of defending the specificity of her recent 'slump', though I understand where the question was coming from

I wasn't questioning her talent, just that I can't remember the last time I was excited to see her in anything (which was my question, not if she's been good in anything lately) and can't say I've seen a lot of it from anyone else here or elsewhere-- though the Narrator Returns is quite right that there may be spaces unexplored by me that are more attuned to and excited for her signing on to a movie

For some reason I thought we had a threadsplit dedicated to Kidman but I'm thinking of a conversation that started with this and maybe some defending in the Britta thread. Anyways, I was trying to answer your question from the position of her presence getting me excited to see a film I had no interest in otherwise, rather than being excited to see a film that she was a part of because the merit of the picture and Kidman were interwoven more closely. But I can think of only a few other actresses, and all of them younger, who will get me to see a film based on their star presence alone

Yeah, I think your answer was a good one, TWBB - there are a ton of films I've had increased interest in because of Kidman, although perhaps not because she was a tentpole in a huge Hollywood release. Doesn't sound like how Sorkin/Amazon are going to be approaching this one, anyway. Expectations remain low, merely because of the subject matter being treated with sort of a clueless flippancy, but would love to be proven wrong.

Someone on Twitter suggested that Kathryn Hahn would be the correct choice to play Lucille Ball and now I can't get that missed opportunity out of my mind. Beats Blanchett by a mile, let alone Kidman

mfunk9786 wrote: Tue Jan 12, 2021 8:23 pm Someone on Twitter suggested that Kathryn Hahn would be the correct choice to play Lucille Ball and now I can't get that missed opportunity out of my mind.

Now that's some inspired casting

Meh. What's next Burns and Allen . Say goodnight Lucy