Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

We haven't done a link roundup in a while (we actually haven't done seven days in a row worth of posts in a while, so I'm hoping everyone is enjoying my oddly consistent streak of posts-there should be more to come!).  Here's some of the stories I found fascinating around the web this week:

In Entertainment...

Jack and Finn Harries (aka JacksGap)

Film Experience: The much awaited latest installment of the Supporting Actress Smackdown (one of my favorite things in all of the internet) has arrived, with Stinky, Nick, Nathaniel, Guy, and the crew discussing the 2003 Supporting Actress race.  We haven't quite gotten there in the OVP (I'm actually stunningly behind in that race and haven't even hit 50% yet, but there's an amusing story about why I haven't seen House of Sand and Fog that I'll share when we get there in the OVP).  Either way, this is always a wonderful discussion of actresssing on the edges, so please head over and say so so we get more installments.

IndieWire: Despite the fact that Talya Lavie won at Tribeca this past week, the Croisette remains decidedly behind in honoring female filmmakers, with only two women (Alice Rohrwacher and Naomi Kawase, who won the Grand Prix in 2007) competing at this year's festival.  This despite the fact that Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, and Andrea Arnold are all serving as jury members in some capacity at the competition-you'd think that a celebration of some of the boldest and grandest films in the world would be smart enough to recognize that viewing under-represented voices would be integral to a celebration of art, but apparently not.

In Contention: We get a rundown of the films that cinephiles, and not the general movie populace, is looking forward to this summer (that sounded snotty...I don't mean for it to sound snotty...I might have meant for it to sound snotty).  Boyhood, A Most Wanted Man, Snowpiercer, and Night Moves are the ones I'm most interested in, but these guys can sell you on just about any movie.  Share in the comments what you're most looking forward to!

The Guardian: J.K. Rowling will be bringing her Casual Vacancy across the pond, as the novel is set to be turned into a three-episode miniseries from HBO, which means that Rowling needs to start looking for Emmy dresses (as is the wont of HBO and the miniseries).

YouTube: After a three-month long absence, Finn and Jack Harries are back with a new video...hopefully this means we won't have to wait so long for our next JacksGap attack.

In Politics...

Vice President Al Gore (D-TN)

Politico: Politico Magazine (probably the best reason to visit that site nowadays) does yet another fascinating insight piece/interview on a complicated politician, in this case former Vice President Al Gore.  It starts a lot of interesting debates and invites a number of important questions to the man-who-would-be-president, particularly on whether or not Gore is the right man for the message ("once a politician, always a politician is a solid way of putting it from Sen. Claire McCaskill), what his thoughts are on President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain, and inevitably whether he would run in 2016 (he didn't give an exact no, just for the record, though if he didn't run in 2004 or 2008 I have little anticipation that he'd run in 2016, even though I think he would have been and would still be a phenomenal president).  And though it's a political article, not an entertainment article, do any Oscar/political junkies (am I the only one?) get supremely frustrated every time the media gives Davis Guggenheim's Oscar away to Gore?

Roll Call: In one of the cuter ads of the cycle, Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) brought his folksiness and a bit of a Pace Picante throwback to his campaign after being battered by the Koch Brothers.

Huffington Post: In perhaps one of the scariest developments in recent days, the Missouri House Judiciary Committee is advancing articles of impeachment against Gov. Jay Nixon.  Aside from a lot of obvious (though cheeky) articles about "Nixon Being Impeached," the reality is that the utter flimsiness of the articles of impeachment against Nixon are insane.  The reasons he's being impeached is for an executive order allowing gay couples that were married in other states to file federal income tax returns in Missouri, for not filling vacant legislative seats fast enough, and for releasing the names of Missourians who have concealed weapons permits to the federal government.  Does anyone else feel this is simply because Nixon is a Democrat and the Republicans are in the middle of a power grab (were he to be removed from office, Republican Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder would assume the office)?

Washington Post: A lot was written this week about how brilliant Monica Wehby's (Republican Senate candidate in Oregon) recent positive campaign commercial is, and while I will admit it's touching and it's nice to see a positive political ad and it's also nice to see a woman doing well in a Republican primary, I have to say that the collective orgasm the media (particularly the Post) had over the commercial has me disappointed.  Watching the video, there's little to no actual substance about issues that Dr. Wehby would address in Congress.  The commercial desperately makes me wish that she was my doctor, but not my senator.

Just One More...

ESPN: I haven't really had time to comment on Michael Phelps' return to the pool (it's always stunning when an athlete comes out of retirement the first time...though then no one ever believes them again when they say they're quitting).  Phelps beat Lochte in the heats, but Lochte eat him by .2 seconds in the 100-meter butterfly, a promising return to the pool for Phelps after a long hiatus...and perhaps a preview of Rio in two years?  We can only hope.