I just let a wave of Cumbernostaglia wash over me for a moment. Remember Benedict Cumberbatch’s last Oscar campaign? It was the autumn of 2014 and we were so simple then. We were happily living in Obama’s America, the general consensus was that Donald Trump was a has-been reality star and a f–king loon, and Benedict Cumberbatch was one of the most beloved men on the internet. Then he started waging a full-throated Oscar campaign for The Imitation Game and all hell broke loose. He announced his engagement to Sophie Hunter, then magically she was pregnant and suddenly every time we talked about him, the comment threads descended into 900-plus madness.
I’m hoping that Bendy’s Oscar campaign this year goes a little bit differently. Sure, I’d like to see a few old-fashion Comet Sophie Parties around here, but I generally think that the level of excitement around Bendy has dissipated a bit since he became someone’s husband, and father to two young sons (Kit Cumber and Hal Batch). Still, The Weinstein Company is putting all of their eggs into this particular basket this Oscar season, so you never know: maybe we’re due for another descent into Batch-madness. Bendy’s new Oscar-bait film is The Current War. He stars as Thomas Edison, Nicholas Hoult plays Nikola Tesla, and Michael Shannon plays George Westinghouse. The film will premiere at TIFF, so they’ve dropped the first trailer ahead of the TIFF blitz. Here you go:
I’ll make a list of all my thoughts:
*Bendy STILL has trouble with American accents. STOP MAKING HIM PLAY YANKS.
*I do love Bendy in period costume though.
*Do the female characters do anything but fret about & look worried?
*Will people understand the science? Because I don’t understand the science. Will Neil deGrasse Tyson have to explain the movie to us?
*I could watch Michael Shannon read the phone book all day long.
*I could watch Nicholas Hoult play pool all day long.
*Marry Bang Kill: Michael Shannon (M), Bendy (K) and Hoult (B).
*This seems like a very gentle treatment of Edison, who was as much a bastard as Westinghouse by most historical accounts.
*Will the Topsy the Elephant situation be handled here?
So, will you see this movie? I will. But I hope Neil deGrasse Tyson writes an essay explaining all of it.
Photos courtesy of ‘The Current War’.
I’ll get behind his campaign if he does more bouncing at the begging parties. Otherwise, meh. I’m bored with historical biopics. Sorry, Bendy!
Weinstien will MAKE him if this is their big Oscar push. He wont have a choice plus, he wants that Oscar bad! Lets hope he looks as miserable doing it as he did last time, it was hilarious.
“Congrats on the engagement and pregnancy..”
Thin smile… “thank you”
It was a marvel of horror hilarity, wasn’t it?!
It was epic in it’s awkwardness
All those campaign speeches about: “I’m not really campaigning because I don’t have time to campaign although I do seem to have time to do all these interviews about not having time to campaign and to describe Sherlock’s sexual technique and to drag my pregnant girlfriend to all these award shows, even completely unrelated ones like the Evening Standard Theatre Awards where we did all the posing & interviews but skipped the parties, and to do pap walks and straws stuck to my face games with Dakota Johnson.”
The look on his face when Redmayne won the Golden Globe was priceless
I’m with you sister Sixer. Totally agree that Oscar-baity biopics are so tired at this point.
It’s not that I hate the genre – just that I’d prefer to see something else from time to time.
The Tesla/Edison story is one that’s super interesting, but I wish it had been done already. Cumberbatch is not the right fit for this.
I loved his last Oscar campaign as I found the whole thing highly entertaining. His desperation and thirst were on full display – esp as he went from ‘respect my privacy’ to pimping his engagement, pending fatherhood and wedding out to all and sundry (remember the staged honeymoon pap shots with the Jag).
God, just think of how this site would explode if Hiddles ever got a nomination?!?!?!
Or announced a surprise engagement/pregnancy.. haha
He BOUNCED! That was the best bit.
He BOUNCED over U2. TWICE. One does not simply BOUNCE over Larry Mullen, Jr.
I’ll bite: I don’t think he’ll do another full one and I’ve seen worse campaigns. He should have started already, Jake Gyllenhaal and Gary Oldman have. He wasn’t quite thirsty enough to seem like he wanted to do it last time.
yeah campaigns already kicked off and he’s out of sight. he still has to meet his promo obligations for this film but i doubt there’s going to be a whole campaign. Hes in a much better position now than he was 3 years ago tbh
i would think hiddles would get the same treatment kinda—less mean spirited overall prob. i do know quite a few bendy fans who used to come here and wont anymore. i love me some teasing but i get it’s not fun for some once that undercurrent comes in. too serious then
In fairness, I’d bounce over Larry Mullen Jr, possibly landing on him ‘in error’
@Lindy, I would outright tackle Larry Mullen, Jr and almost did but my cousin dragged me away. Curse her!
He needs to photobomb everyone. And Sophie needs to get pregnant again and announce that it will be a girl who will be named Siri Alexa. Bendy needs to do the full actor’s roundtable and, just as before, interrupt and talk over the other actors (like he tried to answer every question put to Eddie Redmayne for him) and do another Vanity Fair photo shoot like the silly one he did with Reese Witherspoon and more interviews about how he worked on that ridiculous Harrison Ford accent imitation he’s using in that trailer and in Dr. Strange.
And we get glorious Michael Shannon who’ll just tell everyone to f**k off in his inimitable Michael Shannon way. I do think Bendy’s Oscardreams will be dashed. Gary Oldman, Woody Harrelson, and Jake Gyllenhaal are all in play. And Jake’s playing Jeff Baumann, the Boston Marathon survivor who gave the FBI the description of Tamerlan Tsarnaev while in the hospital operating recovery room after the first surgery for the loss of both his legs.
A Michael Shannon Oscar campaign is one I’d definitely get behind!
A Gary Oldman campaign is one I’d get behind. I can’t wait for Darkest Hour!! Oldman’s transformation is amazing – you would not recognise him.
With those guys and the movies they have coming out, Bendy will be VERY lucky to get a leading man nom.
Shannon is just so direct, so curmudgeonly, and so right. He’s a joy.
If Michael gets an Oscar, I’m good. He’s devastatingly good on screen.
M – Hoult, B – Bendy. sorry, Shannon
Bendy never should do American accents. It ruins his beautiful voice and totally screws with any immersion.
Bendy is generally bad at accents but yes his American accent is particularly painful to the ear.
I’m more concerned about Nikola Tesla and if they will give him a Russian accent.
Why couldn’t they cast someone actually from Croatia?
Tesla was born into a Serbian family in Croatia, then under the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. He later became an American citizen.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
@ally Tesla has similar roots as i do. I am so proud.
There are so many amazing actors from ex yugoslavia… why not pick one? Each one would’ve beed honoured to play the role…
I love Tesla. He was a weird and fantastic man. He is my sister’s idol.
Yeah? As I said they could have gone with a Croatian actor. The fact that he got American citizenship doesn’t mean he got a new accent.
He will have tremendous competition. DDL, Denzel, Jake G., Andrew Garfield,and a young man you will be hearing about constantly, Timothy Chalamet from CALL ME BY YOUR NAME. Also, I am fond of Cumberbatch, but Shannon is a god of acting.
Forgot about DDL. What does Denzel have coming out? He’s always a strong contender for a nomination. And Woody Harrelson is doing LBJ and Oldman in Darkest Hour. And Domhnail Gleason may get the early 20th century costume drama place with the Winnie the Pooh thing.
LP, How could I forget Oldman. Some say he has the Oscar in the bag . Denzel’s film is ROMAN J. ISRAEL ESQ.
Esp as DDL is retiring from acting, he is going to be a very strong contender.
Am not sure he will get any nominations as this is too similar to The Imitation Game.
Michael Shannon just improves everything he’s in by simply existing – it must be that talent stuff he’s got going on! Would love love love him to bag an Oscar one day.
I am just here for Shannon…probably will see it just because he is in it.
Oh, I am all in! I want to read “The Last Days of Night” and think this looks fascinating. I was one of the few that didn’t mind his last campaign and frankly didn’t understand why he got so much grief when everyone else was campaigning as well. Sophie and he seem like a normal, not attention-seeking couple so all the controversy over their marriage now looks foolish. I don’t know if he will deserve an Oscar for this performance, but I am sure he will be deserving of one at some point in his career; he is a fine actor.
The male race will be so tight this year. So many great movies coming out. Love Shannon and I could watch him in anything.
ill be seeing this
No worries, Kaiser. Edison is the shady one here.
Looks interesting! The director and cinematographer are unusual choices for a biopic, too.
umm his American accent might bug me. Was v distracting in Black Mass although a S Boston is much harder to capture. I do love Michael Shannon though.
Well imo his performance will have to be much better than in TIG to even get an Oscar nom. That film and his part in it were so overrated.
If anyone should have the push it is Shannon. Did Weinstein not learn anything from The Imitation Game campaign.
Blimey. It’s Bendy’s second Oscar campaign already? Where did the time go?
Struggled to make it through the trailer, so can’t even imagine how boring this film will be. To me his accent to me sounds busted, genuinely distracting.
White Men in Hats Having Intense Conversations in Dimly Lit Rooms.
The only thing I liked was that “Are you rich?” moment with the boy. Michael Shannon is amazing; I could almost be persuaded to watch the movie for him if it wasn’t for Cumberbatch’s tortured American accent.
It’s going to be hard to pay attention to Banderhatch when there is the glorious Shannon to watch – and to listen to. Cumberbatch hopefully spent as much time as possible just listening to Shannon. Actually, he should have taken a masterclass with Hugh Laurie or Damian Lewis. They have effortless American accents.
They do have great American accents. My husband and I are longtime fans of Laurie, but many Americans had no idea Dr. House was a Brit.
Ooh, the Nikola Tesla fans – which is a thing, btw. I was unaware of this till I worked at a museum with some Edison stuff – are going to be bringing the crazy.
Okay, I’m a Bendy fan, but even I must admit to some dissipated fanfare within me. However, I’ll still watch this movie, despite feeling as though they’re going to make Edison out to be the good guy.
Is it sad that I’m anticipating Shannon’s performance over Bendy’s? How the mighty have fallen. Oh, and I’m here for Hoult’s stepping in as Tesla.
Shannon: M
Bendy: K
Hoult: F (We share a birthday after all)
I’m here for Michael Shannon.
soooo excited <3
Tropical Bender (Benedict Cumberbatch)
•¾ Part Gin
•¾ Part Lillet Blanc
•¾ Part Blue Curacao
•¾ Part Lime Juice
•1 Dash Absinthe
•1 Twist Lemon
Comet Sophie
•3 oz. Viniq
•1 oz. lemonade (half fresh lemon juice/half simple syrup)
•.5 oz. premium orange liqueur
•2 oz. champagne
•Mint sprig
Comet Sophie w/ a Twist(Virgin)
•1 oz. Lemonade
•.5oz orange juice
•2 oz sparkling non alcoholic champagne
•1.5oz pear juice
•1.5 oz grape juice
•Mint sprig
I came here just to see if Topsy would be mentioned.
Was not disappointed. Thank you.
This looks promising. But *cringe* at Bendy’s Yankee accent. Idris Elba can pull off a yank accent perfectly. Wonder if the talent has to to do with having an ear for language?
It’s tied to your audio processing. Also, your speech patterns to begin with can help or interfere with learning.
I hit up the trailer expecting Cumberbatch to have some awful accent and it sounded fine. *shrugs*
Here for Shannon and Hoult.