YNMS: "Live By Night"

by Chris Feil

Ben Affleck's Live By Night, his directorial follow-up to Argo, has been long-rumored to pop up as a late entry into the 2016 Oscar race. Could Warner Bros. be out for some Best Director retribution after Affleck famously missed the nomination for that film? Don't be surprised if its January debut is preceded by a quick qualifying run in the hopes of making up for that sting.

Now we have our first look at what Affleck has been working on between Batman gigs. His second Dennis Lehane adaptation, the film finds the director in his crime saga sweet spot before also taking over the Batman directorial duties. Will this be one to savor before he's wrapped up in that studio monster? Take a look at the first trailer:

Let's break down the Yes, No, Maybe So of this first look...

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Red Carpet: Creative Arts Emmys

Purse first. Purse first. Jose here. First things first: congrats to RuPaul on his first Emmy! The iconic entertainer won on his first nomination as Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program for RuPaul's Drag Race. It only took him 8 seasons, but that's another story, Emmy as we all know is a notoriously slow learner who only starts liking things once they've stopped being cool, or once the uncool things they love have ended and they have no other choice but to reward cool things, which is why over the weekend Amy Poehler and Steve Buscemi also became Emmy winners <3

Keeping up with their tradition of loving the same things, the Creative Arts Emmys (which this year were awarded over two nights after hitting a record 82 categories!) also perpetuated the same red carpet trends, as the stars showed up in gowns that were either beaded or Grammy-esque, or both. Unlike the Oscars which continue being the epitome of glamour, or the Golden Globes which are its more playful cousin, the Emmys are usually about restraint and stars often show up in the same designers they did the previous year. This becomes even duller in the Creative Arts ceremony which isn't televised, which is my way of saying that coming up with looks worthy of discussion was quite the feat...

See the notable looks after the jump. 

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Blue Velvet at 30

by Jason Adams 

With our host Nathaniel off in Toronto seeing movies this week; some good, some bad... but which ones will last forever? It's a question I put forth because David Lynch's masterpiece Blue Velvet played at the Toronto Film Festival exactly 30 years ago today. Did those fortunate souls sitting there in that audience know they were seeing a stone-cold American classic unveiled unto the world. I can't imagine they didn't know they were seeing something unlike anything else they'd ever seen before, that much seems clear. The film made some noise!

Blue Velvet's one of my Top Five Favorites so let's celebrate its anniversary (it was released in US theaters one week after its screening in Toronto). In honor of 30 years here are 30 favorite Blue Velvety facts, figures, and fun stuff, starting with...

1. LAURA DERN'S FACE

2. But seriously this is Lynch's first collaboration with his muse and most important collaborator (so says me and that cow he stood on Hollywood Blvd with) and it's a pleasure to contrast the character of Sandy with the places the two would later go - the sweetness and naivete here evenautally giving way to all kinds of craziness; it's impossible not to look at this nice young lady now and not see the wild woman -- Lulu Fortune anybody? -- about to come beating out from underneath those fuzzy sweaters.

Ears and lots of the F-word after the break...

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Beauty vs Beast: I Dream of Tommy Lee

Jason from MNPP here, fighting the urge to begin and end this week's edition of "Beauty vs Beast" wth a long monologue about the past and/or the dreams I had last night (although regarding the latter Aaron Taylor-Johnson may or may not have been involved - Hi Aaron!), for one of our finest actors, Mr. Tommy Lee Jones, who is turning 70 this week.

I make reference of course to his great performance in the Coen's masterpiece No Country For Old Men, a performance which is always overshadowed (and yes, I preemptively expect the same to happen here) by Javier Bardem's big hair trigger, but not, in my estimation, rightfully so. As I've revisited the film over the years since its release Bardem's scare show has begun to sink into the background and it's Jones' work as the titual Old Man that lingers - as he delivers the dream monologue that closes the film I find myself wanting to stare at his face and all its hills and valleys and sad wisdom for another hour, and another after that. It is a gift. Or maybe you just feel more comfortable voting for someone who'd dare to threaten Kelly Macdonald...

PREVIOUSLY Two weeks back we went full goofy with a love-fest for Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin, an admittedly awful movie that I nonetheless watch whenever it's on the TV - in a villain-off it was Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy whose green touch warmed our hearts over Arnold's Mr. Freeze. Said Roger:

"As a queer little Earth child mixing potions in the garden, Poison Ivy really spoke to me. Years later, discovering Uma was a fellow Taurus, child of Venus, made worlds of sense to me. I was in green and cherry-red love."

The Furniture: Love & Friendship's Country Charm

"The Furniture" is our weekly series on Production Design. Here's Daniel Walber...

Chirp.Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) finds the countryside boring. She’d much rather be in London, safe from her daughter and her other dull relations. Yet she’s broke and bound by obligation to spend time at a large country estate. This is the central problem of Whit Stillman’s Love & Friendship, a delightful adaptation of Jane Austen’s Lady Susan.

The estate in question is Churchill, the home of her brother-in-law Charles Vernon and his wife, Catherine Vernon (nee DeCourcy). Granted, as the amusingly dim-witted Sir James Martin points out, there appears to be neither church nor hill on the property. Instead there is only period-appropriate finery and some very subtle efforts to manipulate audience loyalty.

Production designer Anna Rackard and art directors Louise Mathews and Bryan Tormey go about this with great care. 

Lady Susan is a selfish, scheming character whose relatives almost certainly deserve more of our sympathy. Yet she’s the protagonist, and also quite funny. We can’t be allowed to tire of her too quickly. And so the production design team emphasizes a point on which many of us can agree with Lady Susan: The countryside is the worst...

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