Posterized: Emily Blunt

Is Emily Blunt an A List Movie Star or still perpetually "on the verge"? The box office returns for her current thriller Girl on the Train, promoted largely on her name and face alone, suggest the former but bestsellers do come with their own pull.

This perpetual question is aggravating to anyone who has fallen in love with Blunt over the years in any number of movies. Those who have appear to be legion because what's not to love? She can nail drama and she's funny in comedies. She's totally convincing as an action heroine and she's also adept at the movie musical. We've yet to see a genre she can't do.

Let's take a look at Blunt's movies thus far in this week's Posterized. How many have you seen and which are your favorites?

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Two Teensy Reviews: The Dressmaker & Miss Peregrine

Presented to assuage Nathaniel's guilt from not having properly reviewed them when they arrived.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Tim Burton)
Story: A teenager (Asa Butterfield) who just mysteriously lost his beloved grandpa (Terence Stamp), seeks out the home and guardian (Eva Green) he grew up with overseas. The home is hidden in a time loop (!) and under seige by eyeball-eating supernatural forces (!!!)
Review: Intermittently engaging but ultimately generic even in its "peculiarities". Butterfield is dull in the lead but Eva Green delivers (as always) from the sidelines. The premise screams out for a fuller miniseries treatment to provide depth and pathos rather than what amounts to a rushed peek at an admittedly intriguing freakshow.
MVPs Beyond Eva: Props Department & Set Decorators (love those lead shoes, all the photos, and the weird details in the rooms)
Grade: C+ 
Oscar Chances: No. Too underwhelming overall and Colleen Atwood, a favorite of Oscar's costume branch, has other more high profile movies out this very year.

The Dressmaker (Jocelyn Moorhouse)
Story: A sophisticated hostile fashion designer returns to her home town for... what exactly?
Review: Those who miss Kate Winslet and/or those who long for the 1990s era of popular eccentric Australian imports must not miss this sassy throwback. Others may scratch their heads at the spectacularly uneven results. Kate Winslet has a welcome ball but many of the character arcs (and even the casting) make no sense whatsoever. Pity about the jarringly sad final act.
MVP's beyond Kate: Liam Hemsworth whilst stripping / Sarah Snook's makeover
Grade: First Half: B+; Second Half: C
Oscar Chances: Perhaps an outside shot at costume design since they're such a crucial part of the narrative? But then who to credit? -- Kate Winslet's costumes are by a different designer (Margot Wilson) than the rest of the costumes (Marion Boyce).

If you saw these pictures, what were you favorite and least favorite things about them?

Moonlight's Trevante Rhodes on acting

With Moonlight adding more cities today after its impressive NY/LA first weekend, the cast and crew continue their press tour. In a conversation with Interview Magazine the film's breakout Trevante Rhodes revealed that until recently he didn’t think of himself as an actor. Rhodes, who plays the adult Chiron, had parts before Moonlight in Terence Malick’s yet to be released Weightless, and on HBO’s current hit series Westworld. However he didn’t fall in love with acting until he filmed a pivotal scene in Moonlight with Naomie Harris as his mother.

We cried every take. It was real to me. It was being in it with Naomie, who's incredible. In Chiron's mind, that was the first time she told him that she loved him in 15, 20 years, genuinely. Before that it was to get money. She looked at me in my eyes and told me that she loved me. What kid doesn't want to hear that from a family member who's been shitty to them their entire life? I was just being Chiron then, which was a blessing, because it was such a beautiful moment.

Now that he’s an actor, whose career would he like to emulate?

I told my team, "If at all possible, I know it's tough, but I want Jake Gyllenhaal, Eddie Redmayne, Michael Fassbender"—I want to encapsulate all that. And I want to be the black version.

You can read the whole interview here.

Review: South Korea's Oscar Submission "The Age of Shadows"

Tim here. Age of Shadows is currently making its way around the U.S. art house circuit, giving Americans our change to catch up with one of the biggest hits at the Korean box office this year. It's a historical spy thriller, set during a period of time that I suspect most of us English-speakers haven't thought about much, or at all: the stretch of time from 1910 to the end of World War II when Korea was occupied by Japan.

The film, set in the 1920s, takes as its subject the Korean resistance to Japanese rule, and follows the career of a double agent named Lee Jung-chool (Korean superstar Song Kang-ho), a Korean-born police captain operating under strict Japanese control...

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RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars - Reunited and It Feels So Good

Chris here capping off this season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. After a stellar finale, the show took a week off before last night's reunion, our final adieu for the show's most popular and fan-rousing season yet. The night may have been padded with nine too many commercial breaks and not a lot of fireworks between the queens, it was a refreshingly chill send off for our girls after a drama-packed season. Here are the biggest moments:

RuPaul brandishing his Emmy

Sure, this is old news, but still seeing Mama Ru show off that trophy after ten seasons of the show and a long history in entertainment is still so satisfying. Now let's get one for the damn show itself. Season 8 and this round of All Stars provided some of the best the show has to offer, so: your move Emmy voters.

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