Thirst Trap Party. 13 Sexy Movie Men

Each day a new 'year in review' party. Well, today you get two. Here's a bonus list from the team...  

Tonight, Team Experience (and a few friends of ours from elsewhere) drool on our favorite thrist traps. The entries aren't ordered since we just asked people to choose which man they wanted to cover from a preliminary list of notable big screen men of 2018 with "write-in" choices welcomed.

We should probably note that the most popular choice, and in fact the only choice several different people asked for, was Steven Yeun from Burning  so apparently that multilingual yawn and general air of mystery/superiority really did it for everyone. Curiously no one chose Henry Golding but given his barrier-breaking double duty in both Crazy Rich Asians and A Simple Favor, we dedicate this list to him.

Let's take the men in random order. Y'all ready for this?

Click to read more ...

The Ten Best Dance Sequences of 2018

Each day a new year in review list. Here's Dancin' Dan

If there was a common theme among the films of 2018 when it came to dance, it's the idea of losing yourself to the dance, of dancing as a trance-like state where either the viewer, the dancer, or both can shut everything else out and focus on this one thing. I think that's something we all could have definitely used in 2018, but it certainly wasn't all happiness and fun that was offered up for us to get lost in.

Before the countdown begins, though, a shout-out to three honorable mentions: Marina's disco fantasy in A Fantastic Woman (which was kind of last year but also kind of this year which makes listmaking INFURIATING), the climactic lighthouse sequence of Annihilation (which isn't technically a dance, but sure as hell feels like one), and this rightly cut but nonetheless adorable scene from A Simple Favor (Henry Golding has never been so adorable).

And now, let's get down and dirty...

Click to read more ...

Eligible for Oscar

347 titles are eligible for Best Picture this year. More films than that are released each year theatrically but not every title bothers with paperwork or with playing one week in Los Angeles (to become eligibile)  The annual list always contains a few curiousities...

Click to read more ...

The Lost Empire

What would Milo and Princess Kida make of Aquaman, do you think? 

Trip a Little Link Fantastic

Links and news bits collected for you

• And the Runner Up Is... I guest starred on this podcast episode about the 1978 Oscars: Coming Home vs. The Deer Hunter
• Cinematic Corner Sati has been counting down the days... or drooling down the days for Jason Momoa as Aquaman so here's her spoiler-filled review
• Variety what's behind the uptick in the US box office this past year?
• The Advocate counts down the 15 best LGBT tv shows of the year: Pose, One Day at a Time, and Schitts Creek more
• Vanity Fair Why you should root for Aquaman's box office success
• Vanity Fair Kevin Spacey's bizarre holiday video reprising his House of Cards character
• Deadline why did Welcome to Marwen bomb at the box office?
• Gay Body Blog [NSFW] counts down the best naked scenes of the past year or so. 
• /Film interesting thought experiment. Would Green Lantern (2011) have been well received had it premiered in 2006 or 2016 due to the changing nature of the superhero genre.

Today's Video
Behind the scenes of "Trip a Little Light Fantastic"

Do y'all think Mary Poppins Returns will manage two best song nominations? I think they're only going to get one but if this one gets nominated we'll get Lin-Manuel Miranda performing at the Oscars which would be sweet. 

Finally...
Redbox released their list of most rented titles of 2018. Apparently El Paso Texas is the busiest city for redbox rentals (who knew?) and Dwayne Johnson is the biggest overall draw. Ready for it? 

1. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
2. Rampage
3. Daddy's Home 2
4. Game Night
5. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

I mean where's A Fantastic Woman or We the Animals? I kid I kid. Americans just aren't adventurous in their movie tastes, whether they're going to the movies or watching them at home. In both scenarios they want big muscles, big explosions, big laughs, and big CGI beasties. That covers most of it.