Beauty vs Beast: Sugar & Spice & Everything March

Hello and happy Monday everyone, Jason from MNPP here with another edition of our "Beauty vs Beast" series - Louisa May Alcott's book Little Women just turned 150 this year and it's hotter than it's ever been. There was a BBC version with Maya Hawke and Emily Watson and Angela Lansbury that aired here in the US in the spring. Then this very weekend there's a modernized retelling hitting theaters. And then of course the one sucking all the air out of the room - Greta Gerwig's all-star edition set for next year, whose cast is so stacked we'd be here all day if I try listing off everybody - just look at the IMDb page.

Anyway a lot of us (even if we're excited to see all of those actors in one place and under her direction) aren't entirely sure why Greta's making this new version - not when there's Gillian Armstrong's perfectly lovely 1994 adaptation already, anyway. Winona Ryder as Jo, Christian Bale as Laurie, Susan Sarandon as Marmee, Kirsten Dunst as Amy, Claire Danes as Beth (cough cough)... these are the people I picture when I picture Little Women. And then one second later I immediately remember Amy burning Jo's manuscript and I see red...

picture polls

PREVIOUSLY I'm not sure if it was mostly Riz Ahmed Lust or if it was just that Jake's character is so (deliciously) despicable, but y'all surprised me and went and gave Riz/Rick your prize on last week's Nightcrawler contest with nearly 60% of the vote. Lou's a loser!

Anyway maybe it's just simply what Nick T said:

"Rick's just a nice cute guy who doesn't even know he's in over his head and Jake's a mean ol' lizard. Easy call."

Showbiz History: The Love Boat, The Social Network, Nevermind

10 random things that happened on this day, September 24th, in showbiz history

Alison Pill and Tom Hiddleston as the Fitzgeralds in "Midnight in Paris"

1896 F  Scott Fitzgerald born in St Paul Minnesota. Though he only lives 44 years, plagued by alcoholism and ill health, he leaves behind a rich legacy of novels and short stories that other artists have riffed on or adapted ever since, most notably The Great Gatsby, The Last Tycoon, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. He's been recently played onscreen by Tom Hiddleston (Midnight in Paris) and David Hoflin (Z: The Beginning of Everything)

1976 Oh! Calcutta! opens on Broadway (after a successful run Off Broadway in 1969) becoming a controversial musical hit (with explicit nudity) and eventually the 2nd longest running revival of all time, running for 13 years (Chicago is #1 by a mile, still playing and about to hit its 22nd anniversary) 

1965 Marriage on the Rocks opens in movie theaters, the last leading men screen pairing of Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin. I have to share this nutso poster for y'all...

Click to read more ...

Tweetweek: A Simple Flavor, Premature Oscar Predix and more...

So true. 

Next week has been exhausting.

— Jordon Nardino (@jnardino) September 24, 2018

INT: GAY BAR, 2035, TRIVIA NIGHT
Host: “Which multiple Oscar nominated actress is the only woman to lose an Oscar to Best Dance Recording Grammy winners? Name the Oscar loser and the two winners who beat her!”
Me: “Glenn Close, she lost to Cher in 1987 and Lady Gaga in 2018!”

— Hispanic Pixie Dream Girl (@mathewrodriguez) September 22, 2018

We haven't done one of these in a while but wanted to share these bon-mots. Lots of A Simple Favor enthusiasms, and much more after the jump...

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What did you see this weekend?

by Nathaniel R

While there were solid debuts in wide and limited release friday (The House with the Clock In Its Walls, Fahrenheit 11/9, Colette, The Sisters Brothers) it was a rough weekend for wide release newbies Assassination Nation and Life Itself, neither of which managed a top ten showing. But the best news was surely the solid hold from Paul Feig's wildly entertaining comic thriller A Simple Favor. You have to see those nutsy bold performances from both Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively for yourself. I had a blast and I'm going again with another friend soon.

Weekend Box Office Estimates (September 21st-23rd)
W I D E 800+ screens	PLATFORM / LIMITED excluding prev. wide
1. 🔺 THE HOUSE WITH THE CLOCK IN ITS WALLS $26.8 *NEW*	1. THE WIFE $975K on 468 screens (cum. $4.9) Review, Poster Blurb, Glenn's Oscar

2. A SIMPLE FAVOR $10.4 (cum. $32.5)	2. 🔺 LIZZIE $256k on 240 screens (cum. $325k) Review

3. THE NUN $10.2 (cum. $100) Nun Movies	3. 🔺 COLETTE $156k on 4 screens *NEW*

Click to read more ...

Sept 23rd - Post Festival Oscar Charts Redux

by Nathaniel R

Once Venice and Telluride and TIFF wrapped it was time to reflect the changes in buzz and hunches to reflect all that new information. Only a few potentially key titles now remain largely unseen by anyone: Vice, Mary Poppins Returns, Mary Queen of Scots, and Wecome to Marwen. If you want to get generous in the technical categories Mortal Engines and Alita: Battle Angel are two risky original would-be blockbusters that remain mysteries as well. 

The freshly revamped charts...

INDEX |  PICTURE | DIRECTOR | ACTOR  | ACTRESS | SUPPORTING ACTOR | SUPPORTING ACTRESS | SCREENPLAYS | FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM - we're up to 70 submissions now | VISUALS | SOUNDS | ANIMATED & DOCUMENTARY CATEGORIES

Hope you enjoy the updates.