Olivia de Havilland was the regular in Gone with the Wind, so it felt like a miscast when Catherine Zeta Jones was selected to play her 62-year-old self in Feud, a depiction of the fierce rivalry between her sister, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. It’s right up there with Charlize Theron playing Aileen Wuornos.
And yet De Havilland filed a lawsuit. Apparently she protested that the screenwriters put the word “bitch” in her mouth (despite using it in a 1946 blooper) and threw themselves into using her resemblance (which would have required a much clearer actress ) for good measure. Fortunately, a court in California ruled that no person can “own history,” and the Supreme Court then refused to hear the case.
De Havilland was 101 at the time – presumably the screenwriters thought she would kick the bucket before Feud was sent.
Proper pistol whip
Clearly, De Havilland is not the only one, and despite the disclaimers in these ‘dramatizations of certain facts and events’ posts at the beginning of each episode, there is a nagging fear that a court will one day get it badly wrong and effectively banned. real portrayals of people forever.
Former LA Lakers player and coach Jerry West has vowed to take the creators of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty to the Supreme Court if he needs to; Georgian chess player Nona Gaprindashvili is suing the creators of The Queen’s Gambit over a single line of dialogue; the ugly lawyer in When They See Us sued Netflix for suggesting she was racist … or was it just because Felicity Huffman portrayed her. In any case, the list is long.
And now you can add John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols) who kicks a storm off approx. Pistol (TBC on Disney +; worldwide release May 31), a miniseries about the punk band directed exclusively by Danny Boyle. Last year, Lydon lost a high court case against his two former band members, which took action after he refused to allow the series to use the band’s music. It made him crush, which explains why he recently played a concert in Norwich! Meanwhile, the series is “a middle-class fantasy that is not very reminiscent of the truth,” in his opinion. Unfortunately, the trailer seems to suggest that he is right.
The horrible and productive
Alex Garland should also have a complaint about Boyle, as the British director had the first flop of his career with his adaptation of The Beach – a must-read from the 1990s that seems so foresighted given our current smartphone addiction. But Garland was actually involved when he drew the map the protagonist gives to some other American tourists. He is even listed as the cartographer in the credits.
Garland has since evolved to be a talented instructor himself. Who knows, maybe one day he will make the classic film his book deserves – that has been talked about before, and even the possibility of a miniseries prequel. But in the meantime, we have to settle for Men (June 2; 66 on Metacritic), a horror about a woman (Jessie Buckley) who handles grief in an English landscape where every single man looks like Rory Kinnear.
A better bid for scares can be thriller about child abduction The black phone (June 23; 79). Ethan Hawke, once the cinema’s cutest guy, enjoys yet another villainous role – critics agree that the mix of realism and supernaturalism is just right, and that the last third of the film really delivers.
But avoid Elevator game (30th of June). Why a Danish distributor has downloaded the film is someone’s guess. Oddly enough, it’s one of almost 40 films with Julia’s brother Eric released last year. At IMDB, he holds a world record of 673 credits. It’s more than the Rank Films drummer.
It’s now or never, Austin!
So sorry Elevator, but this month’s big movie release is Elvis (June 23; Not Worldwide Released) directed by Baz Luhrmann. About 159 minutes long, an awful lot is put on the shoulders of Austin Butler and his ability to sing, pelvis and age like the King. Elvis was maybe only 42 when he died, but he looked like he was 60+, so that’s a scary task. But Butler was preferred over Ansel Elgort (West Side Story, Tokyo Vice), Miles Teller and Harry Styles, so he should have the chops. And there is always Tom Hanks (manager Colonel Tom Parker) to lean on if he should need support.
Tim Allen needs his Toy Story stable mate’s shoulder to cry on when he lost the lead role to Chris Evans in Light year (June 16; NRW), a cartoon you might have a hard time finding an English-language version of. No such danger to any of the originals in Jurassic World 3: Dominion (June 9; NRW) because the whole gang is here – but can they save this dinosaur from a franchise?
A better bid is Red rocket (June 2; 76), the latest offering from Sean Baker, director of The Florida Project. Again, it seems that he has made a film with an incredible insight into the human condition. But if it’s introspection you’re after, try hypnotic sonic odyssey Memoria (June 30; 91) with Tilda Swinton – a film that definitely deserves the big screen.
For laughs choose The Phantom of the Open (June 30; 65) starring Mark Rylance as Maurice Flitcroft, the amateur golfer who competed in the British Open on several occasions, much to the regret of the sport’s snobbish attitude. They tried to prevent him from playing, but he kept coming back in disguise.
Adam Sandler has been trying to do that lately: Some might call it proper acting, as opposed to the lameness that characterized his career in the 2000s. Congestion (June 8 on Netflix), the talent of a scout who discovers a hot NBA perspective in Spain, is his latest acceptable effort following the excellent Uncut Gems.
Also of interest on the streaming services is a remake of The father of the bride (June 17 on HBO Max) with Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan, Jerry & Marge Go Large (June 18), a true story comedy about cheating in the lottery with Bryan Cranston and Annette Benning, and Good luck to you, Leo Grande (June 18), a comedy starring Emma Thompson as an orgasm-deprived woman visiting a gigolo to satisfy her sexual bucket list.
Hanoi Jane loves a lawsuit
In terms of television, it was difficult to confirm the June line-ups before they went to press, so it is difficult to know whether the acclaimed BBC drama This is going to hurt (June 3; 93) starring Ben Wishaw as an NHS doctor promising to fight Tudor To become Elizabethh (June 13) or Jeff Bridges’ debut on small screen The old man (June 17) is coming out.
Fail it, meta-series Irma Vep (June 7 on HBO Max) with Alicia Vikander, Melissa McCarthy comedy God’s favorite idiot (June 16 on Netflix), British miniseries the tower (May 31 on HBO Max) with Gemma Whelan and superhero series Mrs. Marvel (June 9 at Disney +) has all the potential.
While the recurring series include Swedish comedy Love and anarchyy (S2; June 17), Peaky Blinders (last season; June 11) and Umbrella Academy (S3; June 22) on Netflix; Chi (S5; June 27) and Westworld (S4; June 27) on HBO Max; Physical (S2; June 4) and For all mankind (S3; June 11) on Apple; and Only murder in the building (S2; June 29) at Disney +.
When we talk about disclaimers, an alternative story series For All Mankind begins with the Apollo 11 landing ending in failure. I think they had to wait for Neil Armstrong to die before they could start filming. Likewise, Physical had to wait for Jane Fonda … I fear a lawsuit is coming.
Source: The Nordic Page