I Am Link

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--- He's Strange - Sometimes the obvious choice turns out to be the best - Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast (or is in talks, whatever) as Doctor Strange. He knows how to whip around an overcoat with flair already thanks to his days as Sherlock, so he's halfway there. I think he should make for a smart addition to the Marvel universe though - he's not like anybody else they have right now, that's for sure. (Of course, Benedict Cumberbatch, much to his agent's delight, is kind of not like anybody else there is anywhere, period.)

--- Dark Figure - Maybe you've heard me go on and on and on about how much I loved Jennifer Kent's new horror flick The Babadook? I kinda can't shut up about it; I've seen it twice now and it's really everything, I adore it. Well it's spoilery so don't read it til you've seen the movie but there's a really very good interview with Kent over here (thanks Mac) and it shows how much thought she put into everything you see up there on-screen; it all shows. It's out November 28th in the US.

--- True To Form - Although HBO has yet to confirm him, Taylor Kitsch is totally blabbing his mouth about being in the second season of True Detective to whomever will listen - EW has the quotes. He says he turned down all kinds of roles so he'd be available for the show - cut to Xavier Dolan staring at his phone, a single tear running down his cheek.

--- Platinum Anniversary - I've been holding off on celebrating the 20th anniversary of Muriel's Wedding until March because that'll mark 20 years since it came out in the States (in March 1995), but as I've mentioned before a lot of places are going with its release in Australia, which was in September 1994 -- take for example BuzzFeed's gallery of the cast and "What They Look Like Now" (thanks Jarett), especially if you weren't feeling old today. Oh Daniel Lapaine, you'll always have that speedo.

--- Something Borrowed - Alexandre Aja is coming off one of the worst movies of his career with Horns, says me (I never did see Mirrors though), so here's to hoping the movie he just started shooting with Jamie Dornan, Aaron Paul, Sarah Gadon and Barbara Hershey can represent a comeback. That's a lot of cast, anyway. Plus he has just announced his follow-up to that movie - it's called Wedding Gown and weirdly in the plot's description there is nothing about a wedding gown mentioned at all.
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--- My Giant - Even though I am pretty darn excited about Steven Spielberg making a movie out of Roald Dahl's book The BFG, which was one of my favorite books when I was a wee one, I have to admit that until this news broke today it never even occurred to me to cast a human man in the title role. Isn't that weird? I don't know if I was assuming he'd be an all-CG creation or what, but today we found out that Mark Rylance, esteemed thespian, is playing the part, and it was like a slap upside the head to me - oh yeah, obviously there will be an actor in that part. I guess I am just so married to the book's illustrations I can't even begin to picture this.

--- And Finally I'd like to get back to a place where I can look forward to a Terrence Malick movie again - I was so burned out by the as-I-saw-them unworthy hosannas ladled upon The Tree of Life that a filmmaker I once adored just sorta fills me with dread these days. I suppose if he ever releases the one he made where Ryan Gosling and Michael Fassbender massage each other I'll find my way there. Anyway this movie about the exploits of a boy Abe Lincoln called The Better Angels, which just got a trailer, isn't by Malick, it's by his apparent protege AJ Edwards - so why do I even care at all? Um, Wes Bentley in snug breeches and a shirtless Jason Clarke maybe probably?