| It's Tuesday, and I thought last night's 3.6-magnitude earthquake in mid-L.A. was just the sound of Rex Reed walking out of Mother! Hello from Los Angeles, where we're watching Oscar's foreign-language race heat up, channeling Shonda Rhimes as she channels Oprah Winfrey, and scratching our heads about John Stamos's next big gig. BONJOUR, OSCAR Major players in Oscar's foreign-language category are starting to stake out their territories, ahead of the Academy's October 2 submission deadline. On Monday, Cambodia selected Angelina Jolie's child's-eye view of the Khmer Rouge era, First They Killed My Father, as its official submission. Though Jolie has held dual American/Cambodian citizenship since 2005, the choice of a Western woman director to represent the Southeast Asian country is unusual, and brings both the actress's star power and Netflix's deep pocketbook to the foreign-language race. Meanwhile, the French Oscar committee has picked Robin Campillo's AIDS activism drama BPM (Beats Per Minute) to represent the country over Michel Hazanavicius's Jean-Luc Godard tribute, Redoutable, Screendaily's Melanie Goodfellow reports. BPM, which The Orchard will release stateside, won the Grand Prix at Cannes and major plaudits from critics—including's V.F.'s Richard Lawson, who called it "broadly enlightening and piercingly intimate." Also in the mix are Ruben Östlund's Swedish Palme d'Or-winning art-world satire, The Square (Magnolia), and Sebastián Lelio's Chilean transgender drama A Fantastic Woman (Sony Pictures Classics). The Academy has grown more international with its two recent classes of invitees—how the increasingly global group evaluates its most cosmopolitan category will be something to watch. GOING TO SHONDALAND V.F.'s Yohana Desta writes: On Sunday night, Shonda Rhimes—like many of us—watched as stars like Lena Waithe, Donald Glover, and Riz Ahmed made Emmys history. Waithe became the first black woman to win for comedy writing, Glover the first black man to win for comedy directing, and Ahmed the first Asian man to win a drama acting statuette. But while Rhimes—a triple nominee herself who somehow still hasn't won an Emmy—was happy to see progress being made, she finds it painful that we're still marking firsts like these in 2017. "It's embarrassing, frankly," she told me in an interview Monday. "It feels embarrassing that we are still in a place in which we still have to note these moments." Hear, hear! Rhimes herself is at the forefront of changing the industry in this regard, pushing inclusive stories about powerful, but complex women who steer their own ships. In our chat, she discussed the importance of pushing back against the Old White Men Rooms at studios, her new Web site, her career-driving Oprah advice, and her gig as the creative director for Dove's Real Beauty Productions. TOO SPICEY V.F.'s Laura Bradley writes: You know what they say: if you can't take the heat, keep Sean Spicer out of your kitchen. CBS's late-night hosts, Stephen Colbert and James Corden, both landed in hot water on Sunday night and Monday morning thanks to the former press secretary. Colbert's choice to bring Spicer on stage at the Emmys was met with immediate backlash, while a photo of Corden kissing Spicer on the cheek at an after-party went viral—and not in a good, Carpool Karaoke kind of way. Both hosts have been accused of normalizing Spicer. Colbert reportedly knew the joke would be controversial, and it seems likely he'll address it on Tuesday's Late Show—his first new broadcast in over a week. As for Corden, he apologized on his own show Monday night, joking, "I need to learn now to shake hands." That apology—which mixed humor with sincerity to somewhat confusing effect—might not be enough for some critics, but we'll see how much damage control Corden really has to do, if any, when ratings come out. SING OUT, STAMOS! | | V.F.'s Hillary Busis writes: Who will give me a golden ticket to Los Angeles, so that I might witness what sounds like it could be the most-bonkers event ever to hit the Hollywood Bowl? On November 3 and 4, the venue will play host to a live celebration of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, featuring Stranger Things and It standout Finn Wolfhard as Charlie Bucket, sultry singer (and daughter of Rob Schneider) Elle King as Veruca Salt, Giancarlo Esposito (!) as the Candy Man, Weird Al Yankovic as the Oompa Loompas (!!), and—get this—John Stamos as Willy Wonka. I know. I know. The production will also be presented with "Smell-O-Rama," whatever that means. (Apparently, scratch-and-sniff golden tickets are involved.) Erin Nyren from Variety has the full rundown of details, but really—even knowing just that much, are you not entertained? GAGA OPENS UP Described out of its Toronto International Film Festival premiere as "searingly raw" and "surprisingly emotional" by V.F.'s own Julie Miller, the Netflix documentary Lady Gaga: Five Foot Two has debuted a new trailer that reveals just how intimate a glimpse it is into the life of the pop star. "Paranoia, fear, body pain, anxiety," Gaga tells Beats 1 host Zane Lowe about her reasons for being out of the spotlight in recent years. Having recently postponed her world tour due to "severe physical pain," Gaga is opening up about her personal life more than ever before, and the documentary—which debuts on the service September 22—appears to be a major part of that process. Watch the full new trailer here. That's the news for this overcast Tuesday in L.A. What are seeing out there? Send tips, comments, and Everlasting Gobstoppers to Rebecca_Keegan@condenast.com. Follow me on Twitter @thatrebecca. |
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