Margot Kidder (1948-2018)

by Nathaniel R

My generation lost its Superman, Christopher Reeve, tragically early 14 years ago. And now we've lost our Lois Lane. The Canadian American actress Margot Kidder has passed away at 69. I can still picture the heroes flying together across that Metropolis sky. And I do mean heroes plural. The magic of the first two Superman films was definitely in the fact that they understood Lois's heroism, too. Their faces aren't the only thing burned in memory but their voices, too... 

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Beauty vs Beast: Bad Girls

Jason from MNPP here with this week's "Beauty vs Beast" which is tackling the 49th birthday of one of modern cinema's more obscure and under-rewarded actresses, maybe you've heard her name in passing -- a Cate Blanchett? If you have you're one of the lucky few in the know! Okay okay so she's currently swanning around southern France in millions of dollars in fabrics being the grande dame of the movies, so you probably have.

But this week's competition is facing her down with a real buried gem, somebody only the mosy diligent of cineastes has heard of and whose film adaptation of a serious difficult piece of theater just hit theaters this past weekend... a Saoirse Ronan? Rack your brains, maybe that name sounds familiar. Anyway in 2011 these two forces of nature faced down in Joe Wright's (still under-appreciated if you ask me) film Hanna, and here we are...

find bike trails

PREVIOUSLY Last week also tackled a bad mother figure situation with the monsters of the Alien franchise and I think since it was Mother's Day you made the right choice, giving Mama Queen Alien Bitch 70% of the vote. Said AmandaBuffamonteezi:

"No better time to say YAAAASSSS KWEEEENNNN!!!!!"

What did you see over the weekend?

by Nathaniel R

Weekend Box Office (May 11th-13th)
W I D E 800+ screens	L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide
Life of the Party	RBG
1. Avengers: Infinity War $61.8 (cum. $547.8) REVIEW	1.🔺 RBG $1.1 on 180 screens (cum. $2.0)  REVIEW
2.🔺 Life of the Party $18.5  NEW	2.🔺 Nothing to Lose $646k on 69 screens NEW
3.🔺 Breaking In $ 16.5 NEW REVIEW	3.🔺 Disobedience  $437k on 101 screens (cum. $1.2) REVIEW
4. Overboard  $10.1 (cum. $29.5)	4.  102 Not Out $275k on 102 screens (cum. $966k)
5. A Quiet Place $6.4 (cum. $169.5)  REVIEW, 2ND OPINION, SCREENPLAY	5.🔺 The Rider $225k on 85 screens (cum. $852k) REVIEW

The leaders of last weekend's box office in wide (Infinity War) and limited release (RBG) repeated this weekend. RBG is turning into a rather big player for indie distributor Magnolia. Magnolia releases lots of pictures but they usually don't crack two million as this new doc has in just two weekends. How big will it get? Only 11 of their releases have ever managed over $3 million theatrical (including TFE favorites Melancholia and I Am Love) but RBG looks likely to join them. Magnolia's all time biggest hit thus far was the Oscar nominated doc I Am Not Your Negro which managed $7 million theatrical last year...

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Smackdown '70 Companion Podcast Pt 2: "Five Easy Pieces" and "The Landlord"

Smackdown in 3 Parts
• The Write-Ups
• Podcast Companion Part 1
And now the conclusion!...

Pt 2 (39 minutes)
On the second half of the Supporting Actress Smackdown podcast we discuss Hal Ashby's debut film The Landlord (1970) starring Beau Bridges and Lee Grant. We theorize about why it's not more famous and what would have happened with the great African-American actress Diana Sands if she hadn't died so soon after the movie. We also make some time for the Best Picture nominee Five Easy Pieces and its abundance of actressing, not just Karen Black! 

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Thanks again to the panelists: Mark Blankenship, Dan Callahan, Denise Grayson, Lena Houst, and Bobby Rivers . Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Pt Two: The Landlord and Five Easy Pieces (1970)

Smackdown '70 Companion Podcast Pt 1: "MASH" and "Airport"

Nathaniel R welcomes Mark Blankenship, Dan Callahan, Denise Grayson, Lena Houst, and Bobby Rivers to talk 1970 at the movies

Pt 1 (35 minutes)
You've read our takes on the five Supporting Actress nominees of 1970, now let's talk the movies they're in. On the first half of the podcast we discuss "cheese with wings" Airport (1970) and what it wrought at the movies and the Oscars. Who was the MVP among its actresses: Helen Hayes? Maureen Stapleton? Jean Seberg? Jacqueline Bisset? We then turn our attention to another smash hit M*A*S*H (1970) and both its modern filmmaking and its misogyny.

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Pt One: MASH and Airport (1970)