Predictable Oscar Backlash; Tom Brady’s Ladies; Blonde Ambition Thwarted?

The Oscars time-saving rub folks the wrong way; some of the greatest actress of a generation will make a Tom Brady road-trip movie; the Blonde Cannes drama on everyone’s lips continues; Kimi is great and we recommend it. All in today’s Movie News Rundown.

But First: Please leave a comment today about your favorite movie score ever.

No Blonde at Cannes?: Despite Blonde director Andrew Dominik’s hopes that his Ana de Armes-starring Marilyn Monroe biopic might appear at Cannes, it’s looking less likely. Variety cites “a source familiar with Netflix’s plans” who says Netflix will not premiere any of its new films at the festival, including Blonde. Hello, Kimi? Cancel my trip to Cannes.

Kimi: The terrific new Stephen Soderbergh thriller stars Zoë Kravitz as an employee who analyzes Siri or Alexa-style audio streams. It’s really good, as we discuss on the latest episode of the Low Key Podcast. It also made me more convinced than ever that Kravitz will be a great Catwoman. Listen on Apple or Spotify or here:

The Search for Bruce Wayne: In another case of Big Tech acting suspiciously like your friend, when you Google“Bruce Wayne,” “Gotham City” or “Bat-Signal,” you’ll see a moving Bat-Signal icon in the results. If you click on that Bat-Signal, darkness will fall across your screen and then something neat will happen. A Google spokesperson tells Variety that Warner Bros. is not sponsoring this, despite the studio’s hotly anticipated The Batman arriving in theaters on March 4.

80 for Brady: Former NFL star Tom Brady will produce and appear in 80 for Brady, in which Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field will star in the road trip movie, The Hollywood Reporter says.

May I Editorialize? “This doesn’t sound very good,” I thought, until learning that it will be directed by Kyle Marvin, who co-wrote the script with Michael Covino. The pair also collaborated on 2020’s charming The Climb, in which a series of unbroken scenes track the ups and downs of a friendship. You can read about the making of that film here and hope some of its creativity and verve make their way into 80 for Brady.

Oscar Backlash: As many predicted, hardworking moviemakers are not happy about their Oscar categories being removed from this year’s telecast. (Awards in eight categories, including editing and score, will be handed out before the telecast, then edited into it later in what will presumably be very quick-hits.) Variety has this appreciation of musical scores — try to imagine Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Inception without one. And TheWrap has this correct statement from Alan Heim, president of the Motion Picture Editors Guild: “We understand the Academy’s desire to make a more arresting show, but this move renders the ‘invisible art’ of editing even less visible.”

Counterpoint: The movie awards show will now be more palpable to audiences who don’t like movie awards.

Really? Grouping Inception With Star Wars and Raiders? I think those scores are probably superior, especially in terms of cultural cache, and John Williams is obviously the best film composer ever. But when I want evocative instrumental music, what I turn to most often is  Hans Zimmer’s “Time,” which for my money is the best piece of music to appear in a film this century. As a piece of art I think it’s better than Inception as a whole, and I love Inception. It makes me think about how fast time passes, much we have behind us, how much we have left, and what we’re doing with this moment right now.

Main image: Ana de Armas, not blonde, at a 2019 screening of Knives Out, not Blonde, at the London Film Festival. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.