• Vanity Fair Carrie Fisher's best lines in The Last Jedi come from the actress/writer herself
• Rolling Stone David Fear's 25 reasons to love the movies in 2017
• Variety a "tsunami" of change in Hollywood. Netflix, MoviePass, sexual harrassment scandals, low box office. What's next?
• Vanity Fair Annette Bening, Whisper campaigns, The Last Jedi and more
• AV "TV Club" a lengthy but always engaging 17 part lookback at the year in culture and the small screen
Much more after the jump including more "best of the year" lists, Strictly Ballroom, Hamilton, and female directors...
• Cartoon Brew though female directors are making inroads in live action features, in the world of animation it's still extremely grim
• Little White Lies looks back at critics 'best of' 50 years ago and what they were saying about 1967 as it ended
• Nerd Stash sexual assault accusations hit Max Landis (son of John Landis and screenwriter of Bright)
• Film School Rejects looks at some of the best video essays of the year
• Broadway World Charles Busch is sharing favorite holiday performances for 12 days. This one is Julie Andrews at the peak of her gifts
• Deadline both of the actresses who played Becky on Roseanne will be returning for the revival. Only one of them playing Becky this time, though
• Village Voice Bilge Elbiri's top 25 "songs from a sunken place"
• Vanity Fair the fan fervor and backlash to The Last Jedi (SPOILERS -- you guys I'm so glad I dont travel in the Star Wars stanning community because I don't even understand what the backlash is about. It was a perfectly fun entry in the endless saga. And if it was about the Rey reveal that her parentage is unimportant and irrelevant -- get outta here, that was the best part for not being so damn elitist preordained. I'm soooo tired of the "chosen one" stories and don't understand why people relate to them since they're so purposefully exclusionary.
On Stage
• Stage Buddy Cabaret stars Kim David Smith and Molly Pope talk about their NY's eve show
• Playbill Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom - The Musical will arrive in London this coming March. (How long until all his movies have stage versions?)
• The Play's The Thing Fascinating perspective on how Hamilton may resonate much differently in London, given Brexit and the UK's different racial demographics
• Hailey Bachrach "Starring Hamilton" a smart focused take on the lead of the London production of Hamilton, which could double as an essay about any talented unknown stepping into an iconic role
• Broadway World the hilarious Jeff Hill is taking over from writer/star Drew Droege in the must-see solo show Bright Colors Bold Patterns. (I sometimes struggle with solo shows but thought this one was especially smart about the way it addresses being a solo show and it's very funny)