My day instantly improved when I saw that Paul Rudnick had a new screenplay in the works. For those of you as old as I am, perhaps you remember his columns for Premiere (and later Entertainment Weekly) as film critic Libby Gelman-Waxner. Here are a few of my favorite quotes in case you missed them. Beware, they’re super old school.
“Barbra’s only spontaneous moment in Prince of Tides comes when Nick tosses her a football and she screams ‘My nails!'” On Prince of Tides
“She’s a pioneer; she takes that thing that hangs in the back of your closet, the thing that was too marked down to pass up, Diane takes that thing and she doesn’t call Goodwill, she wraps it around her head a few times, pins on a Smurf brooch, and wins an Oscar….” On Diane Keaton
Rudnick also dabbled in film screenplays, always finding time for some major laughs in Addams Family Values or In & Out (for which he should have been Oscar nominated).
So, let’s hope that his newest project, HBO’s Coastal Elites, falls more in that camp.
HBO released the trailer for Coastal Elites today. The satire filmed entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s difficult to see exactly the connecting story amidst the star performances, but this is a fantastic cast. Bette Midler. Sarah Paulson. Kaitlyn Dever. Issa Rae. Dan Levy. Plus, it’s directed by Jay Roach whose Game Change I revisit every few months.
Coastal Elites premieres September 12 on HBO.