Lena Dunham won’t bring back Girls; We Need to Talk About Cosby, a new docuseries insists; Willem Dafoe is on SNL and in five (!) new movies. Also, Adrien Brody tells us all about playing a very, very clean sanitation worker. All in today’s Movie News Rundown.
But First: Check out our interview with Isabel Castro, director of the immersive, very moving Sundance documentary Mija, about Doris Muñoz — a music manager whose undocumented family’s future depends on her ability to discover new pop stars. You can listen on Apple or Spotify or here:
https://shows.acast.com/moviemaker-interviews/episodes/isabel-castro-mija
People Have Opinions: About Minnie Mouse’s new pantsuit. First of all, she looks fantastic. The pantsuit is Stella McCartney for crying out loud, and it was designed for Disneyland Paris’ 30th anniversary in 2022. Minnie has important events to go to, okay? She needs options. Plus, the only reason people are talking about this, it seems to me, is because of the green M&M’s new, less-feminine outfit, which enraged Tucker Carlson. In any case, if you ask me, I love the pantsuit and the green M&M’s new shoes.
I Could Not Be Happier: About how much attention Willem Dafoe is getting right now. He’s hosting Saturday Night Live for the first time tomorrow — I’m extra excited because my favorite pop star Katy Perry is the musical guest — and Variety interviewed him on the Awards Circuit podcast to talk about all the things he’s doing right now, like appearing in five super high-profile movies, including Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Speaking of Spider-Man: Dafoe told Variety of his surprise when he was asked to reprise his role as the Green Goblin, a character who — very old spoiler alert — died in 2002’s Spider-Man. ““It’s always a little difficult when you die in a movie to come back in any sequels,” he said. “I thought I was finished. When they initially said, ‘Would you like to reprise this role?’ I thought, ‘Really? How does that happen?’ I was kind of stupid about it.”
Adrien Brody Is the Best Garbage Man You’ve Ever Seen: In Clean, the new IFC Films action-thriller movie that comes out today. I spoke with Brody for our Winter 2022 issue, and here you can read all about how he expertly composed the music for the movie while also starring in it, producing it, and co-writing it. Adrien Brody is, obviously, kind of amazing.
Cosby Talk: Our Tim Molloy writes about how the new W. Kamau Bell docuseries We Need to Talk About Cosby feels like a documentary made of tweets. He writes that the criminal justice system failed so completely in the Cosby case that the only place to find anything approaching resolution is on social media — and maybe in a docuseries like this one. It premiered at Sundance and arrives on Showtime this Sunday.
Sorry, Girls Fans (Including Myself): Lena Dunham and HBO chief Casey Bloys have confirmed that there are no plans for a Sex and the City-style Girls reboot. “We all recognize it’s not time yet. I want it to be at a moment when the characters’ lives have really changed,” Dunham told The Hollywood Reporter. “Right now, everyone would just be wanting to see Kylo Ren.”
To Be Honest: I, too, would be mostly just interested to see what became of Adam Driver’s character.
However: If you want to see Dunham in a truly amazing movie, watch her Sharp Stick, her first return to feature directing since 2010’s Tiny Furniture. It involves a porn star with an inspirational message, and it’s my absolute favorite movie to come out of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival so far. It was so unique and strange and weirdly comforting, just like Girls. Say what you will about Dunham, but she’s kind of a genius in my book.
I Just Want You All to Know: That I finally convinced my parents to watch Succession, and they love it. Kendall is my mom’s favorite, and, well, like mother, like daughter. My dad’s favorite is Cousin Greg, which I respect. It was no easy feat to convince them to watch it, considering that they have so far refused to subscribe to HBO. I expertly maneuvered around this by giving them Season 1 on DVD for Christmas — yes, they still watch DVDs — which they immediately binged, along with Season 2. But now they’re in a pickle because they want to watch Season 3, but it isn’t out on DVD yet. This may be what finally convinces them to bite the bullet and subscribe. Stay tuned — and you’re welcome, Casey Bloys.
I’ll Leave You With This: Footage from Adam Driver’s Girls audition, which Dunham described to THR as “astonishing” and “strange.”
Main Image: A still from Mija by Isabel Castro, an official selection of the NEXT section at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Isabel Castro.
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