The thing isn’t that Alec Baldwin has intensified his defense of Woody Allen by comparing Dylan Farrow‘s accusation to that of Mayella Ewell‘s in To Kill a Mockingbird, but that Movie City News has characterized Baldwin as “seized by the need to comment.”

In other words, MCN apparently believes that Baldwin’s opinion is unfortunate, impolitic and possibly ill-considered. Or something along those lines. No offense but Hollywood Elsewhere believes that Movie City News’ characterization is cowardly and contemptible, especially if you consider the facts.

My sense of things is that last night’s SNL sketch about the Aziz Ansari bad-date episode, which I wrote about on 1.14, was off the mark. Opinion is not sharply divided between urban men and women but mildly divided, and so generally speaking Ansari has not been beheaded in the court of liberal public opinion. He probably behaved like an entitled, sexually indiscreet asshole and upset the unnamed woman in question (i.e., “Grace“), but at the same time the woman in question failed to handle the situation with even a semblance of backbone. If she didn’t like what was going on with Aziz, it was simply a matter of standing up and clearing her throat and saying “okay, no worries, you’re an okay guy but I’m calling myself an Uber.” So Ansari just needs to lay low for a while, and then he’ll come back with a new show and everything will be more or less jake…right?

To what extent are Academy members hanging on the opinions of the London Critics Circle Film Awards? If they’re seriously in doubt about which Fox Searchlight film, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri or The Shape of Water, should win the Best Picture Oscar then perhaps today’s LFCC decision will tip things toward Three Billboards. Maybe.

Martin McDonagh’s drama won a triple crown in London tonight, nabbing prizes for film of the year, actress of the year (Frances McDormand) and scriptwriter of the year (i.e., himself).

Call Me By Your Name‘s Timothee Chalamet was named actor of the year, The Florida Project‘s Sean Baker won the director of the year trophy, and poor, pushed-aside Dunkirk was honored as the British/Irish film of the year.

A 1.28 N.Y. Times story by Brooks Barnes and Melana Ryzik examines Woody Allen‘s precarious financial situation as far as future films are concerned, and particularly in the wake of several #MeToo statements of support and allegiance for Dylan Farrow, who has continued to accuse Allen of having molested her in 1992, when she was seven.

The article all but sidesteps the substance and veracity of Farrow’s accusation. It merely reports that several actresses and actors have publicly said they believe Farrow, and that (many?) other actors in the film industry would probably be reluctant to work with Allen henceforth.

The piece reports that U.S. distribution of Allen’s A Rainy Day in New York, which was financed by and is due to be distributed by Amazon, is in doubt.

“The company has not made any decisions about the film’s future,” Barnes and Ryzik report, “but Amazon is having serious conversations about ending its relationship with Mr. Allen, which could leave the movie without distribution, according to two people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.”

They also report that Amazon currently “has contractual obligations to Mr. Allen and the film,” according to an Amazon-related source.

Allen’s “artistic vision may be out of step with the times,” the article states. “His last four films have flopped at the North American box office, taking in a cumulative $26.9 million — roughly half of which goes to theater owners — while carrying a collective $85 million in estimated production costs, not including marketing.”

In Steven Soderbergh‘s The Limey, Nicky Katt‘s “Stacy” delivered an improvised bad-attitude riff while he and Joe Dallesandro watched a TV show being shot. “Why don’t they make shows about people’s daily lives?,” Katt said. “That you’d be interested in watching, y’know? Sick Old Man or Skinny Little Weakling. Big Fat Guy…wouldn’t you watch a show called Big Fat Guy? I’d watch that fucking show.”

(l. to r.) Blaze director/cowriter Ethan Hawke, Ben Dickey, Alia Shawkat during Sundance Film Festival press conference.

That was 18 and 1/2 years ago, which was kinda lucky in a way because today you’re not allowed to say “big fat guy” in a movie as this would constitute fat-shaming, and anyone deemed guilty of writing or saying this would be eternally banished from the film industry and forced to move to somewhere in the hinterland to work in fast food.

Nonetheless the ideal actor to play Big Fat Guy finally turned up in Park City last week — Ben Dickey, who plays country-soul singer and songwriter Blaze Foley in Ethan Hawke‘s Blaze.

Last night Dickey won a Special Jury Award prize for Achievement in Acting, and so he’s on the map for a short period. Dickey isn’t John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles but he’s definitely a galumph, and he’s tall and lumbering and exdues that sittin’-on-the-front-porch country charm without breakin’ a sweat. His performance as the unsung Blaze Foley (here’s my review) is relaxed and winning and settled down. Dickey also played Jim East, a calorically-challenged friend of legendary lawman Pat Garrett (Ethan Hawke), in Vincent D’Onofrio‘s The Kid so he’s not some flash in the pan.

If anyone has a script out there for a series called Big Fat Guy, now is the time to strike. Dickey doesn’t have a Wikipedia page but contact him somehow and propose a package.

Several films that met or exceeded the criteria for “woke” excellence at the secular, politically correct, mountain-air Sundance Film Festival were honored this evening. All hail the PRPIA (People’s Republic of Progressive, Inclusive Agendas) along with those who’ve embraced the right kind of change-oriented, Time’s Up-embracing, gay-celebrating, forward-looking social values that Sundance culture approves of.

The only Sundance ’18 films that were honored this evening and which I personally saw and liked were Ethan Hawke’s Blaze and Jeremiah Zagar‘s We, The Animals.

To what extent will the films honored this evening penetrate or at least become known among the sprawling, sea-level culture of megaplex popcorn-munchers and couch streamers? Five words: The twains will never meet.

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION: Grand Jury Prize: The Miseducation of Cameron Post; Audience Award: Burden; Directing: Sara Colangelo, The Kindergarten Teacher; Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Christina Choe, Nancy; Special Jury Award for Outstanding First Feature: Reinaldo Marcus Green, Monsters and Men; Special Jury Award for Excellence in Filmmaking: I Think We’re Alone Now; Special Jury Award for Achievement in Acting: Benjamin Dickey, Blaze.

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION: Grand Jury Prize: Kailash; Directing: Alexandria Bombach, On Her Shoulders; Audience Award: The Sentence; Special Jury Award for Social Impact: Crime + Punishment; Special Jury Award for Creative Vision: Hale County This Morning, This Evening; Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking: Minding the Gap; Special Jury Award for Storytelling: Three Identical Strangers.