Beauty vs Beast: Hercules or Hades?

by Nathaniel R

Jason is on vacation so I'm stepping in for this week's episode of Beauty vs. Beast. Post Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast Disney seems to be greenlighting live-action retreads of virtually all of their animated films. How long until casting news on Three Caballeros? I kid I kid... but will second or third tier stuff get this treatment... like, say, 1997's Hercules? Make your case as to who should reign victorious in the comments

Last week's battle pitted The Truman Show's Truman (Jim Carrey) against his fake sugary screen wife Meryl (Laura Linney).

For once, a man emerged victorious in a gender split battle. Endearing baffled Truman took 64% of your votes, though y'all felt disloyal for turning on The Lovely Laura Linney!

I think Tom spoke for most of you when he said...

This may be the only time I don't vote for Laura Linney"

Review: Must-see Sundance hit "Beach Rats"

This review was originally published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad. It is reprinted here with their permission.

‘I can’t see you,’ potential hook-ups keep telling him as he cruises them online from his dark room. Could he turn on a light? Frankie, this Brooklyn teenager in the dark, begrudingly obliges still trying to shield himself with a baseball cap. He takes endless torso and body-part selfies. They’re revealing but only of his flesh, depersonalized thirst traps for the older men he cruises. Some people don’t want to seen.

Or aren’t ready to be...

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The Furniture: Reframing the Legend of King Arthur

"The Furniture," by Daniel Walber, is our weekly series on Production Design. You can click on the images to see them in magnified detail.

King Arthur, the character, is listed by IMDb as appearing in 149 films and TV shows. That’s more than Dracula. I’m not going to go through all of them, obviously. But circumstance has given me a good excuse to compare two examples: Knights of the Round Table (1953) and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017). The latter just came out on Blu-ray. The former will serve as a bit of a tribute to Mel Ferrer, whose centennial was this past Friday.

The most obvious difference is between Ferrer’s version of Arthur, noble and even a bit meek, and the ever-hulking Charlie Hunnam. But this isn’t a physique column. Instead, I want to take a brief look at how Hollywood’s presentation of the loosely defined Arthurian Age has changed...

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A steamy day in movie history

on this day (August 28th) in showbiz-related history, things get sweaty and hot hot hot... time to rub lemons all over our bare bodies.

1980 The 37th annual Venice Film Festival kicks off. The Golden Lion that year will prove to be a tie (!) with Atlantic City, starring Susan Sarandon and her lemons, and Gloria  splitting the top prize. Atlantic City will go on to five Oscar nominations including Best Picture

1981 Kathleen Turner and William Hurt do filthy things to each other in the window smashingly erotic Body Heat brand new in theaters on this day.

1987 Dennis Quaid fingers Ellen Barkin in The Big Easy  new in theaters. The orgasm is so explosive it rockets both careers to the next level instanteously.

1998 54, legendarily butchered in the editing room, attempts to chart the bisexual opportunist antics of Ryan Phillipe in his twink god years.

2009 Taking Woodstock opens in theaters with Emile Hirsch in his naked hippie mode and an early screen appearance by Jonathan Groff's crazy seductive bedroom eyes.

2014 Blake Lively attacked by bees!

Happy Birthday to Them!
Oscar Nominees: David Fincher, Quvenzhané Wallis
More Shiny Talents: Armie Hammer, Jennifer Coolidge, Jack Black, Jason Priestley, Daniel Stern, Luis Guzman, Billy Boyd, and Ai Weiwei
Les Chanteuses: Florence Welch, Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes
Departed but Amazing: Artist Jack Kirby (how proud would he be of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?), genius cinematographer James Wong Howe, author Leo Tolstoy, actor Ben Gazzara, actress Helen Hayes, actor Vladimir Ivashov (BAFTA nominated star of a great Russian film Ballad of a Soldier)

Interview: Grace & Frankie's Emmy-nominated costume designers

by Nathaniel R

One of the most satisfying moments of Emmy nomination morning was the contemporary costume nomination for Grace & Frankie. The Netflix sitcom starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin is hot off its third and best season. The writers and creative team seem to know the characters and their interpersonal dynamics, in and out at this point. That intimacy is abundanctly evidence in the terrific costuming. Until the television Academy split off their costume design category into period and contemporary, their was little opportunity for designers who specialize in contemporary clothing to be honored no matter how strong their work - exceptions like Sex and the City were all too rare.

I had the opportunity to discuss Grace & Frankie's worthy and vibrant work with its three nominees Allyson B Fanger the costume designer, Heather Pain, her assistant costume designer, and Lori DeLapp the costume supervisor. Their overlapping answers, despite their separate duties, and light ribbing over the abundance of statement piece jewelry worn by Frankie were ample evidence that they're totally in synch.

That's true whether or not their subjects Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin) are seeing eye to eye in any given episode...

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