Dance Break: "A Lot in Common"

Fred Astaire and Joan Leslie tapping up a sweet storm 75 years ago in The Sky's The Limit (1943). Just because. 

Early "Destroyer" Reviews. Guess How Good Nicole Is!

by Nathaniel R

We knew ahead of time that Nicole Kidman would be great in Destroyer -- it's kind of her schtick to be brilliant, duh! So it's not a surprise to hear early reviews saying that she delivers and then some. But it IS a surprise and a nice change of pace, post Lion & Big Little Lies, that people are willing to praise her so extravagantly for her uncommon gifts rather than berate her for (take your pick) not being warm enough onscreen / having a frozen forehead / liking "weird" projects / whatever other dumb things people used to hold against her between the Oscar win and Lion (so roughly 2003-2015)... Seriously why must every great actress go through the public hate period?

Anyway. In "we all love Kidman again" mode (nice but obnoxious to those of us who never stopped and didn't fall for the misogyny hamster wheel of public opinion) these are the kind of reviews she's getting...

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Netflix in September: Black Panther, Breakfast Club, Mr Sunshine

Time to play Streaming Roulette. Each month, to survey new streaming titles we freeze frame the films at random places with the scroll bar and whatever comes up first, that's what we share!

Ready? Let's get right to it...

-God I loved this house.
-Me too.

The Keeping Hours (2017)
Hmmm. Carrie Coon (♥︎) and Lee Pace (♥︎) in a supernatural haunted house movie -- how have we not heard of this one? *does quick google search* ah, no theatrical release, that's how. Should we watch?

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August. It's a Wrap

Fall Film Season is here, guys and gals! It's finally here. So we'll start saying goodbye to summer, since Telluride, Venice, and TIFF are kicking off to make those newly updated Oscar charts potentially irrelevant. Here's a quick review of highlights from the dog days of summer. 

Ten Highlights
• BlacKkKlansman - Review
• West Side Story - a tag team retrospective
• Suspiria - are you excited for the remake?
• Blueprints: The Marvelous Mrs Maisel - were you hooked with the pilot?
• Crazy Rich Asians Podcast plus Glenn Close 
• The Wife - Nathaniel's poster blurb
• We the Animals - director interview
• Sharp Objects - the shocking series finale
• Cabaret - a tag team retrospective
• Beauty Break: John Cho - will Searching convince Hollywood?

Six Most Discussed Articles
• New Academy Category = Catastrophe - ARGH
• Oscar's Ten All Time Fav Supporting Actresses - from Amy to Thelma
• Oscar's Ten All Time Fav Supporting Actors - from Tommy Lee to Jack
• Oscar Myth-Busting - The Academy Doesn't... no they DO like popular films
• The Devil Wears Prada -Months of Meryl hits a reinvention peak
• 60 Reasons to Love Madonna - for Cinephiles

COMING IN SEPTEMBER
Joaquin and John are gunning for Jake and Riz in The Sisters Brothers, Emma Thompson returns in The Children Act, Blake Lively asks for A Simple Favor. On DVD and Blu-Ray we'll have a chance to check (back) in with Oceans 8, Hereditary, Hot Summer Nights, and Won't You Be My Neighbor? Nathaniel and Chris will be hitting Toronto for daily reports on that wonderful jam-packed film festival of foreign pleasures and Oscar hopefuls. And the month will end with the 1972 Supporting Actress Smackdown (sorry for the delay but now you have more time to watch all five movies).

Roma, A Star is Born, The Favourite... Will anything flop this festival season?

by Nathaniel R

So far so good for all the expected Oscar favorites. The First Man won (mostly) raves and the next three big premieres also did. Alfonso Cuaron's Spanish language black-and-white family epic Roma, Bradley Cooper's remake of A Star is Born with Lady Gaga, Yorgos Lanthimos' comedy The Favourite with three great actresses... everyone seems to love everything! Are they all suffering from "first!" blurb whore fever or will the next wave of critics (coming soon at Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF) also fall so hard for these same pictures?

I don't personally read reviews before I see a picture (though sometimes I skim them) but if you do, here's what people are saying about these Best Picture hopefuls...

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