Every week With a Little Help from Our Friends highlights the best pieces of writing on film, television and literature published around the Internet. Check out the links, and feel free to share more good stories in the comment section.
For your reading enjoyment …
“Meet the Badass Women Who Stunt Double for Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lawrence” by Bilge Ebiri
“‘You often hear viewers arguing over who did the action in a scene: the actor or the stunt double,’ Carleton says, clearing up what she considers the biggest misconception about her job. ‘And the truth is that very often we both do it,’ she says.”
“Zap! Pow! Nyet! The Russian Government’s Fight With Marvel’s Superheroes” by Carol Matlack
“Russia’s media watchdog agency is investigating whether a forthcoming Russian-language version of the Avengers comic book series makes improper use of Soviet symbols and promotes ‘violence and cruelty,’ according to a report this week in Izvestia. The newspaper said it obtained an advance copy of the series, set for release in August, that showed the Avengers battling foes wearing hammer-and-sickle insignia and describing themselves as Russian soldiers.”
“Anne Hollander, Scholar of Style, Dies at 83” by William Yardley
“Many younger writers give Ms. Hollander credit for helping change how fashion and clothing are written about and studied. ‘It had this taint of a women’s-page subject,’ said Judith Thurman, who writes about fashion for The New Yorker, ‘and she just refused that and insisted that it’s a subject of universal importance.’”
“Blockbuster Talk: ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ … in Super-Enhanced, Body-Pummeling 4-D!” by Alex Pappademas and Mark Lisanti
“NOTICE: By purchasing this ticket you confirm that you understand, agree to and will comply with the 4DX Safety Guidelines. You enter at your own risk and the Regal Theater and 4DX accept no liability for any injury or damage suffered as a result of viewing a presentation in a theater equipped with 4DX Motion Chairs.”
“A Game as Literary Tutorial” by Ethan Gilsdorf
“When he was an immigrant boy growing up in New Jersey, the writer Junot Díaz said he felt marginalized. But that feeling was dispelled somewhat in 1981 when he was in sixth grade. He and his buddies, adventuring pals with roots in distant realms — Egypt, Ireland, Cuba and the Dominican Republic — became ‘totally sucked in,’ he said, by a ‘completely radical concept: role-playing,’ in the form of Dungeons & Dragons.”
“The Best Lines About 2014′s Worst-Reviewed Films (So Far). Thanks, ‘Tammy!’” by Anita Busch and Anthony D’Alessandro
“Lost in a long and sleepy holiday weekend’s ennui, we couldn’t help ourselves: We’ve pulled together lines culled from the funniest/worst movie reviews so far this year, pulling out some jewels.”
“How Belle Became the Summer Movie Season’s Secret Hit” by Kyle Buchanan
“Remarkably, ‘Belle’ earned that eye-popping gross on no more than 525 screens at its peak, and when it comes to specialty releases this year, only ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ and ‘Chef’ have done better. Indie entries like ‘Under the Skin,’ ‘Veronica Mars,’ ‘Obvious Child,’ and ‘The Rover’ may have gotten more ink, but when it comes to theatrical runs, ‘Belle’ has now outgrossed all four of those movies combined.”
“In the Language of Romance, Romeo Santos Is a True Superstar” by Larry Rohter
“Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ couldn’t do it, Jay Z got help from Justin Timberlake and Eminem, and Metallica didn’t try. Selling out consecutive shows at Yankee Stadium, with its capacity of roughly 50,000, is nearly impossible for any pop music artist not named Paul McCartney. But Romeo Santos, who will perform there Friday and Saturday nights, is about to achieve that feat.”
“Seinfeld at 25: Or, You Don’t Have To Like Characters As Long As You Find Them Interesting” by Matt Zoller Seitz
“’Seinfeld,’ that classic Show about Nothing, debuted 25 years ago this week on NBC, and somehow changed everything. It did through formal audacity (the show changed its pace, speed and emphases many times throughout its run, always staying a step ahead of its audience) but also by showcasing four lead characters and many supporting characters who were not only fundamentally unsympathetic, but demonstrated very little potential for growth, much less redemption.”
“Robert Flaherty’s lost Irish Gaelic film found at Harvard” by author unknown
“Documentary pioneer Robert Flaherty directed the first film made in the Irish language, ‘Oidhche Sheanchais’ (‘A Night of Storytelling’) in 1935 during the production of his now classic film ‘Man of Aran.’ Cited in nearly every history of Irish cinema, this short (11 minute) film has been missing, believed lost, since a fire destroyed the only known copies in 1943. A nitrate print of the film, purchased by the Harvard College Library in 1935 at the request of Harvard’s Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures, was rediscovered by Houghton Library curators during a cataloging update in 2012.”
