Read On is a regular feature in which The Dissolve’s staff recommends recent film pieces. Because there’s always someone writing something notable about the movies somewhere on the Internet.
Grantland’s Mark Harris on how Selma got smeared:
“DuVernay’s view of the uses of history and of (mis)representation is not careless in [the Malcolm X scene] or in the movie; it’s clearly thought through. The onscreen typed summary is a perfectly deployed example of how something can be factually correct (meeting with a ‘Negro militant’ is, literally, what Coretta King is doing) without being true; the movie, by contrast, finds many ways of being true without being strictly factual. That is exactly what good historical drama must sometimes do, and must be given permission to do, including in this scene itself, in which DuVernay has a character express an understanding that his presence and his motives may have to be slightly distorted in order to achieve a greater truth and justice.”
Vulture's Dan Reilly tracks Leslie Jones’ rise to Ghostbusters:
“In 1987, unbeknownst to her, a friend entered Jones in a ‘Funniest Person on Campus’ competition, which Jones ended up going through with — and winning. ‘When I walked off that stage,’ she said in 2011 about the life-changing event, ‘I had all the intentions of being the next Eddie Murphy.’ ”
Indiewire’s Bill Desowitz explores the making of the Times Square scene in Birdman:
“ ‘It was a fun scene that releases all the tension and anxiety and insanity from the previous Times Square scene,’ Lubezki admits. ‘He's not wearing his wardrobe -- he's almost naked -- and the ticket lady doesn't recognize him, and then he encounters a lawyer and the actor that's trying to sue him. The entrance was lit minimalistically but then the lobby area where they have the bar is lit with golden light and is rich and large and has chandeliers and you feel the weight of the theater on top of him. He's like this little insect being crushed by the old theater establishment.’ ”
Our lovely contributor Kate Erbland talks to Sleeping With Other People director Leslye Headland over at Cosmopolitan:
“'I was actually in a horrific place in my life after Bachelorette came out. I was so depressed; I was so alone. I wasn't dating anybody; I was literally wondering, Should I check myself into a psych ward? Which I don't think is that unusual for a filmmaker — you have to be so crazy to do this job. I was just so suicidally depressed.'
‘Was that because of Bachelorette?’
‘It was definitely because of that, but it was also because of some romantic stuff that was happening in my life. I had no love in my life at all, just none. I felt so lonely, and I know so many women feel that way. I went away to write a script. I went to Big Sur with no phone service and was just there for a couple weeks, and I wrote all day and all night, and out came this romantic comedy.’ ”
Plus, the rest of today’s biz-ness:
- France’s César Award nominations include Marion Cotillard, Juliette Binoche, and Kristen Stewart
- Friday The 13th and Paranormal Activity 5 pushed back; Rings gets a Nov. 13 release date
- Miles Teller and Margot Robbie will host the Oscars’ Scientific and Technical Awards
And a Sundance roundup! (Yes, today, this has its own section.):