Bewitched, Bothered, and Be Link-ed

Thrillist Best Movies of 2016. haha. I don't know exactly how this column is going to work but I'm curious to find out
THR an interview with producer Irwin Winkler on Martin Scorsese's Silence and the Creed sequel
Frontier an oral history of "The Golden Girls"
Twitter Why Leo waited until just now to win an Oscar 

Nick Flicks Picks are you following his supporting actress project? The gold numbers reflect full performance reviews
Guardian Fans keep trying to restore Star Wars (1977) because George Lucas doesn't want
Film Mix Tape praises Michelle Visage as RuPaul's Drag Race returns (TONITE. WHEEEE)
Comics Alliance if you want to have yet another superhero's cameo in Batman v Superman spoiled for you, here is the info
Deadline How Mark Rylance won the Oscar without any campaigning
AV Club Disney's next animated feature will be an adaptation of The Nutcracker 
i09 a fan film about Darth Maul, the only good thing to emerge from that second Star Wars trilogy 
Variety an interview with Julian Fellowes on the series finale of Downton Abbey. Good stuff. Between the exits of Mad Men and now Downton, I have so few shows that feel like they're a part of my life (from staying power) left.

Read Only if You've Seen The Witch
If you've already seen The Witch I'd recommend reading these two takes on its most riveting scenes and primarily its divisive ending and the subversive extent of the femininism within the film. Salon's look at Thomasin as a "Final Girl laced into a puritan bodice" is great and a piece at Vague Visages takes a more mixed tack. Angelica Jade Bastién grapples with what she feels is unearned about the film's jawdropping finale:

I love the film, but how feminist can The Witch be if Thomasin remains primarily a cipher? 

Beauty vs Beast: Man Made Woman

Jason from MNPP here, hoping y'all have by now nursed your Oscar hangovers from last week, whether literal or figurative, and are feeling at least somewhat happy about what won (or maybe what didn't win - no judgment here) this year. I go into the show as cynical as a storm cloud every year but there was a long stretch in the middle of the show, as Mad Max swept up everything in sight like one of its desert twisters, where I was making many happy noises, and that's as good as it ever gets.

But my happiest noise of all issued forth (kind of an ecstatic coo, you might call it) at the night's biggest surprise, which our friend Manuel gave good love to right after the show -- Ex Machina's out-of-nowhere win for Best Special Effects over a crowd of popular behemoths. Those gears glowing and shimmering inside Ava's mid-section were low-key, gorgeous movie magic, and there's one image in the film (of a robot's self-abuse) that I won't be forgetting any time soon.

That said it seems time to finally place the Woman against her Maker here in our "Beauty vs Beast" series; I'd have nominated both of these actors for their performances myself, so this will contest of ours have to suffice...

It's been a couple of weeks since our last edition, which faced off the Witches of Oz in honor of the release of The Witch, but I don't know about you - I still haven't stopped thinking and talking about The Witch. Anyway as for Oz it was a blow-out for her beautiful wickedness herself - The Wicked Witch of the West walked away with over 80% of your vote! Take that, goody-two-shoes Glinda. Said Yavor (sharing the sorts of factoids that make TFE great):

"Nicole Kidman says that watching the WWOTW was what first made her want to act."

Ask Nathaniel. And "Best Shot" Scheduling Notes

Time for another Q&A Column. So ask away. I'll pick 10 questions to answer for Wednesday evening. We'll try to do this weekly. Now that the Oscars have wrapped it's time to get back to something like a regular schedule (though we're still working out the kinks backstage. There's always something happening here at TFE is the point so visit us daily.)

Hit Me With Your Best Shot Schedule

TOMORROW
GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) If you're playing along post your best shot by 9 PM EST so we can include you in the round up. (Amazon Prime)

• Tues March 15th ATONEMENT (2007) revisit Saoirse Ronan's breakthrough before Brooklyn in this Best Picture nominated romantic drama (Netflix Instant Watch)
• Tues March 22nd TBA
• Tues March 29th ZARDOZ (1974) a Sci-Fi oddity starring Sean Connery & Charlotte Rampling & Unfortunate Costumes
• Tues April 5th GREGORY PECK CENTENNIAL Pick either Roman Holiday (1950) or To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), whichever you'd like. They were both nominated for the Cinematography Oscar in their years. (Netflix Instant Watch)

Thoughts I Had While Staring at this Elvis & Nixon Poster

Manuel here. Maybe it’s the whole “grass is always greener” thing, but I’ve always loved the UK quad posters. That’s certainly the case with this one for the upcoming comedy/drama Elvis & Nixon. If the title hasn’t clued you in, the film is about the random one time meeting between the King and the President which led to one of the most famous photographs in American history. You may have seen the trailer for this Liza Johnson film and here are 5 thoughts had while staring at this playful poster...

1. Spacey as Nixon makes sense to me but that Shannon as Elvis is some left field casting, no? He does brooding and complex and crazy and worried aren't you curious about how he'll fare here. (Also, unplanned, but I just realized Shannon made TFE's latest banner up top!)

2. This 60s sketch comedy design seems much better tailored for the film than the more serious-minded US poster. (I mean, you don’t cast Johnny Knoxville if you’re going for straight drama.)

3. So much hand-acting in this poster! Then again, both outsized icons are known for their all too often parodied mannerisms. (Can this really move beyond an SNL skit?)

4. Nixon lends himself so easily to crazy comedy (Yes, I’m talking about Dick)

5. Who do you think Spacey called up first for tips on playing Nixon: John Cusack (Lee Daniels’ The Butler), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) or Anthony Hopkins (Nixon)? I hope he talked to Dan Aykroyd, actually

Elvis & Nixon opens in theaters on April 22nd, so you have until then to convince yourself that maybe the cheeky tone and bonkers casting means the film has a peculiar sense of humor worth indulging.  

Podcast Season Finale: 88th Oscars

Nathaniel, Nick, Joe and Katey close this season of the podcast with their final "it's all sunk in now" feelings

42 minutes 
00:01 "So Spotlight won..."
02:15 Katey's Party / Nick's House Rules 
05:25 Stallone's Loss / Compton Moviegoing
09:30 How much changes if Idris Elba had been nominated?
15:00 Sam Smith, The Gays, and Original Song
20:00 What wins will age well and much randomness
37:54 That moment when we thought George Miller was possible...
40:00 Girl Scout Cookies and Goodbyes

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Related Reading: Index of Oscar Ceremony Coverage

Oscar Wrap Up