A few days ago Variety‘s Clayton Davis posted a likely Best Actress list, and believe it or not he had Anora‘s Mikey Madison in tenth place.

Davis actually ranked her behind Emilia Perez‘s Karla Sofía Gascón, whose performance is definitely supporting and who will absolutely lose if she runs in the Best Actress category. (Was I right about Lily Gladstone?) And behind Challengers‘ Zendaya, The Substance star Demi Moore and Maria‘s Angelina Jolie. And behind Lady Gaga‘s unseen performance in Joker: Folie à Deux.

The hard-working but out-to-lunch Davis doesn’t seem to understand how good Madison’s performance is. But I do, and so will everyone else when Anora opens in mid-October.

HE Cannes review:

Sean Baker’s Anora (Neon, 10.18) is a loud, coarse and emotionally forceful film, mostly set in southern Brooklyn (an area close to Coney Island and Little Odessa) with two side journeys to Las Vegas. It’s entirely about straight white Russian trash, and yet a certain amount of soul, grace and dignity are allowed to emerge at the very end.

It’s basically a social-conflict, family-values story (written as well as directed by Baker) about money, sex, arrogance, rage, outsider sturm und drang and a truly bountiful blend of incredible bullshit, screaming hostility and straight talk.

The first act is exasperating (mostly vulgar behavior by profligate 20something party animals) but once a certain family gets involved…look out.

The Anora battle is between the cynical, sex-working, Russian-descended titular character (Mikey Madison, who played the hysterical, screechy-voiced Susan Atkins in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) who prefers the colloquial “Ani” vs. a demimonde of vulgar, grotesquely wealthy Russians, principally Mark Eydelshteyn’s Ivan, the wasteful-idiot son of a Russian oligarch, and one or two none-too-bright Armenians.

And yet it ends on a note of honest emotional admission and revelation even. There’s actually a decent dude in this film, played by Yuriy Borisov…a Russian fellow who isn’t a ferociously propulsive wolverine…imagine.

Madison is a revelation — she deserves to win the Best Actress prize. Out of the blue, her career has been high-octaned and then some.

On top of which Anora isn’t the least bit wokey — no militant trans or gay stuff, no #MeToo currents, no POC or progressive castings, no 2024 Academy mandate inclusions for their own sake and in fact blissfully free of that whole pain-in-the-ass checklist mindset.

Donald Trump wanted a clear No. 2 — a loyal attack dog, and that’s what he has — a blend of William Miller (Barry Goldwater’s 1964 running mate) and a bearded, combative, ultra-MAGA Dan Quayle snakebite fuckface.

Earlier today (7.15.24) Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against Donald Trump, ruling that “this whole case collapsed when former President Trump got shot in the ear last weekend.”

Seriously, Cannon said that Special Counsel Jack Smith ‘s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.” Despite this dismissal (Cannon is a total blowjob whore for Trump), Smith has the option to appeal the dismissal to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to try to have Cannon’s ruling overturned.

Or the summer of 2020. She’s probably been advised not to out the “turn down the diversity” director, but if you listen between the lines (what’s up with her swollen upper lip?) Fox quit a project in question because casting-wise, the just-arrived director is more into cultural authenticity than diversity-for-its-own-sake. Something like that.

@juliafox

SMDH

♬ original sound – Julia fox

The glasses and the hair style are fine — obviously a statement that says “I have not only discovered my eccentricity but journeyed into the 1950s homo realm of William S. Burroughs.” But tucking in a sweater that I wouldn’t wear with a gun at my head…..noooooo!!

Lieutenant Howard Hunter on Hill Street Blues, Dr. David Howser in Doogie Howser, M.D., Cpt. Stan Jones on Brooklyn South? All those characters are fine…whatever. But for me the late James B. Sikking is only the high-powered-rifle assassin in Point Blank.

Sikking was the guy who killed Lloyd Bochner‘s “Frederick Carter” and Michael Strong‘s “Stegman”…remember?

Unlike Thomas Matthew Crooks, Sikking’s downtown L.A. assassin was an excellent shot.

Born in 1934, Sikking was only 32 when he appeared in John Boorman‘s noir classic.

What is wrong with those saying that the motive behind Thomas Matthew Crooks‘ firing at Donald Trump is mystifying or doesn’t add up?

Has there ever been an assassin or would-be assassin who hasn’t been described as a quiet loner? Who wasn’t seen as a nerdy, socially inept outcast? Who hadn’t been bullied by fellow students?

Isn’t it totally common for sudden-explosion shooters to have been identified as bad dressers (i.e., high school audio-visual squad)? As quiet dorks with weird senses of humor? “Nice” but extra-quiet, kept to themselves, etc. No girlfriend, etc. Apparent virgins.

Crooks was obviously a standard-issue, tied-up-in-knots nutter who kept it all inside. He “would sit alone at lunch,” etc.

Remember the haunted, enraged expression of that nerd-squad guy who shot Ronnee Blakely in Nashville? Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick…boom.

Daily Mail summary: “Crooks tried out for the school’s rifle team but was turned away because he was a bad shooter, said Frederick Mach, a current captain of the team who was a few years behind Crooks at the school.

“Jonathan Myers, a member of the team around the time Crooks auditioned, said there was something ominous about him back then.

“‘He didn’t just not make the team, he was asked not to come back because how bad of a shot he was, it was considered like, dangerous,’ Myers told ABC News.

“Fellow classmate Jameson Murphy added: ‘He tried out…and was such a comically bad shot he was unable to make the team and left after the first day.’

Crooks reportedly once fired a shot that “missed [the] target by almost 20 feet.”

Poor Shannon Doherty has passed at age 53. She’d been grappling with cancer for nine years. Breast cancer, lymph node cancer, chemotherapy, remission, etc. Then the cancer returned four years ago (i.e., February 2020), and the stage four kind…Jesus. 13 months ago she announced that she had brain cancer and that things had gone terminal. Tough luck, brutal gauntlet. Sorry.

And then she passed on the same day Donald Trump was shot. Doherty, Aldous Huxley and C.S. Lewis. Again, sorry.

R.I.P. Shannen Doherty, who has tragically died from breast cancer at 53. Yes, she was best known for 90210 and CHARMED but to me, she’ll always be Rene from MALLRATS. My heart goes out to her friends and family… pic.twitter.com/nD0jHRVU5R

— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) July 14, 2024

Dear @MSNBC, @CNN, and especially the @nytimes.

Watch every second of this — and reconsider your reporting of the Trump shooting.#TrumpIsNotFitToBePresident pic.twitter.com/C1OdZgQzyW

— JΛKΣ (@USMCLiberal) July 14, 2024

I tried re-watching Spike Lee‘s BlacKkKlansman the other night…couldn’t last. What was I thinking when I reviewed it six years ago in Cannes? I’m sorry. I was taken in by the bravura Trump-trashing ending,

“You can feel the fire and rage in Lee’s veins in more than a few scenes, and especially during the last five minutes when Lee recalls the venality of 2017’s “Unite the Right” really in Charlottesville, which ended with the death of protestor Heather Meyer, and reminds that Donald Trump showed who and what he is with his non-judgmental assessment of the KKK-minded demonstrators.

“Lee paints Trump with the racist brush that he completely deserves, and it makes for a seriously pumped-up finale.

But that doesn’t change the fact that BlacKkKlansman is basically a police undercover caper film, based on Ron Stallworth’s 2014 novel (“Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime”).

Nor the fact that tonally it sometimes feels like Starsky and Hutch or even to some extent like John Badham‘s Stakeout, especially as it involves the main cop protagonist falling in love with a girl (in this case an Afro’ed black activist played by Laura Harrier) who shouldn’t know what he’s up to, but whom he eventually confesses to. In this sense John David Washington‘s Stallworth is Richard Dreyfuss in the Badham film, and Adam Driver (as partner Flip Zimmerman) is Emilio Estevez.

At times the film also reminds you of some Clarence Williams III scenes from The Mod Squad.

Set in 1972, pic isn’t literally about Stallworth joining the Ku Klux Klan but a stealthy undercover investigation of the Klan, initiated when he was the first black detective in the history of the Colorado Springs Police Department.

After initial correspondence with the Klan, Stallworth received a call in which he was asked if he wants to “join our cause.” Stallworth answered affirmatively, and in so doing launched an audacious, fraught-with-peril inquiry.

SPOILER-ISH BUT NOT REALLY: Right away you’re telling yourself, “Yes, I know this actually happened and that Lee is using the facts in Stallworth’s book, but it made no sense for Fallworth to be heavily involved in this operation.” And it just feels crazy as you’re watching one crazy incident after another.

Problem #1 is that throughout the film Stallworth talks to KKK members on the phone (including wizard David Duke, played by Topher Grace) and so Zimmerman, pretending to be the Real McCoy, has to sound like Stallworth as much as possible. Except this is a dicey game that’s unlikely to fool anyone. Early on a local KKK leader tells Stallworth that his voice sounds different, as it obviously is.

If I was Stallworth’s supervisor I would tell him he’ll make a mistake sooner or later and that he’s too much of red flag, and that the smart move is for Zimmerman to carry the ball alone.

Problem #2 comes when a KKK member spots “a black guy” (i.e., Stallworth) behind the wheel of a car that’s following as he drives with Zimmerman. Brilliant tactical maneuvering, Stallworth!

Problem #3 happens when Zimmerman is told by a suspicious klan member to submit to a lie-detector test, and so Stallworth, knowing that Zimmerman’s in a tough spot, runs up to the KKK member’s house and throws a rock through a window…it just seems nuts for Stallworth to have done that, given the likelihood that the klan might wonder why a black guy happened to be nearby.

Problem #4 occurs when the same looney-tunes KKK member looks up Stallworth’s address in the phone book and pays him a visit. Stallworth answers the door and for a couple of minutes he and the KKK member eyeball each other.

Problem #5 happens when a Colorado Springs police supervisor insanely orders Stallworth to provide security for David Duke during a visit to their city. Before you know it Stallworth is in the same room as the same KKK member who knocked on his door, his identity protected only by a pair of shades. And then he takes them off before posing for a Polaroid photo. It’s just crazy — no undercover cop would behave this way.

All this aside, BlacKkKlansman is edgy and involving as far as it goes, and occasionally quite funny from time to time. It’s a reasonably good film, and I love that Lee shoots Trump between the eyes at the end, but people calling it “great” need to calm down.

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Posted on 2.4.23 — 17 months ago:

For the first time since he was branded as a sexual cannibal-animal and wham-banished from the film business, Armie Hammer has presented his side of the story.

Ignore the Variety summary by Elizabeth Wagmeister because the Air Mail piece is about a lot more than just about the usual contrition and spin (i.e., “I was bad, and now forgive me”). What Hammer contends and what he offers in terms of compelling evidence is highly persuasive.

I’m not going to summarize the main points of James Kirchick’s 2.4 Air Mail article as anyone can read it (it’s not paywalled), but there’s no question that anyone with an open mind will emerge with their previous impressions strongly challenged.

I read the article this morning, and many of the accusations against Hammer look kinda flimsy now, I can tell you that.

At the very least readers will conclude that Kirchik’s piece has downgraded Armie’s status from that of an alleged monster and ruthless rapist-carnivore to the much less odious label of admitted former asshole (an asshole in recovery, I mean) who knows where the BDSM attraction came from (i.e., sexual abuse as a powerless youth).

The article claims that Hammer’s primary sin was using his power as a rich, famous actor in his 30s (“power imbalance” being a major #MeToo felony these days) to sexually overwhelm various younger women and then (this is what really got him in trouble) ghosting them when he decided to abruptly or whimsically end the affairs like that.

Which is similar to what what Ansel Elgort was lynched for also — ghosting the of-legal-aged “Gabby” after being intimate with her a couple of times.

Message to everyone: “Ghosting” a lover really hurts and often leads to revenge moves. If you want to move on, save yourself a lot of trouble by conveying this in some kind of half-considerate way.

We all agree that ignoring a safe word is an awful thing to do, and this charge hasn’t been specifically addressed in the article (or maybe I read it too fast) but the sexual behavior of Armie and the various women who participated, so to speak, is addressed and explained. Hammer raped no one, he says — it was all a consensual game with rules and a particular script laid out in advance.

Hammer seems to be mainly guilty of behaving like a sexual obsessive. He certainly didn’t chew on anyone’s rib or cut off a woman’s toe and put it in his pocket….none of that crazy stuff.

Excerpt #1: “The Hammer case raises questions about the media. Virtually without exception, the press has treated the accusations from Hammer’s professed victims, no matter how fantastical, with utter credulity. As recently as last October, for instance, a story in New York magazine claimed that Hammer stands accused of ‘possible cannibalism.'”

Excerpt #2: “One prominent Hollywood figure has decided to speak out unreservedly in Hammer’s defense. ‘I found him to be so polite and so well mannered and so nice and so funny and so real,” says Howard Rosenman, the veteran producer of Call Me by Your Name. ‘And don’t forget, I spent time with him a lot, both in Crema and on the road, when we were on the Oscar trail. So all of [the allegations are] just pure bullshit, and yes, he deserves a second chance.’

“Rosenman, who is gay and has been involved in some of Hollywood’s most important gay-themed films (The Celluloid Closet, Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, Milk), sympathizes with Hammer as someone whose sexuality was once considered taboo. ‘It’s been puritanical,” Rosenman says of the media’s prurient coverage. ‘The kink-shaming is just awful. I, as a gay man who had sex for many, many years with many different kinds of people, understand this better than anyone.”

“In a recent podcast interview, Luca Guadagnino said that he ‘cannot wait to work with Armie as soon as I have a great role for [him].'”

Excerpt #3: “When I ask [Hammer] if he takes inspiration from his mentor Robert Downey Jr., who was arrested multiple times in the late 1990s on drug charges and spent several spells in jail, his answer turns toward the mythological: ‘What I would say is this: There’s examples of people who went through really difficult times and experienced what [the author] Joseph Campbell would call ‘the hero’s death.’ And the hero must die so the hero can be reborn again.’

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