Struggle Nation and "mother!"

MPAA "R" for language but it's also really funny. Check out these two guys watching and reacting to the mother! trailer [Thanks to Winston for the heads up]. It goes without saying that we co-sign the "don't show us the whole movie in the trailer!" complaints lodged at other movies (not this one). 

Favorite line is when they're talking about how evil Javier Bardem always looks

How the fuck you look evil next to Jennifer Lawrence? I'd be the happiest negro in the US of A.

We must also rejoice that the sight of Michelle Pfeiffer starts a whole debate about how some things get more delicious with age (though that does not include beer!)

Saoirse Ronan as Mary Queen of Scots

by Murtada 

Here’s our first peek at Saoirse Ronan as the title character in Mary, Queen Of Scots. The film just started shooting in the UK with theater director Josie Rourke making it her feature directorial debut. It has a mix of veteran and upcoming actors from the non-American English speaking world in its cast. Margot Robbie, Jack Lowden (Dunkirk), Joe Alwyn (Billy Lynn himself), Guy Pearce, David Tennant, Brendan Coyle (Mr. Bates in Downton Abbey) and Gemma Chan.

The film charts the turbulent short life of Mary Stuart and her rivalry for the throne with Elizabeth 1, played in this version by Robbie. One can think of it as a sort of sequel to Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth The Golden Age (2007). Produced by the same people, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. The first draft of the script - hence rewritten by Beau Willimon of House of Cards fame who gets sole credit - was written by those films’ writer, Michael Hirst. It’s as if they’ve taken Samantha Morton’s Mary from the second film and given her center stage. Of course many actresses have played these two women over the years. Mostly in movies about Elizabeth although Vanessa Redgrave played Mary to Glenda Jackson’s Elizabeth in a movie with the same title back in 1971.

Ronan continues her busy post Brooklyn career. Lady Bird is coming out this fall. The adaptation of Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach will play TIFF. The Seagull adaptation that she made with Annette Bening almost two years ago must come out eventually. We wonder which one of these projects will get her invited back to Oscar? Maybe more than one. She seems like the sort who would become a regular.

Reviewish: "Atypical" on Netflix

by Ben Miller

Keil Gilchrist headlines "Atypical" as Sam, a teenager on the spectrum.

Full disclosure: I am not objective.

Generally, a reviewer would attempt an unbiased look at how a piece of entertainment could appeal to the masses.  We all know this is not the case in reality.  Everyone comes in with their own experiences and assumptions, which we base our opinions on.  I want you all to know that I did not review Netflix’s new series Atypical without my own preconceived notions.

My son has autism.  I have been wavering on whether I wanted to give Atypical a chance.  It could go the This is Us route and over-sentimentalize everything, or it could go down the I Am Sam road and make everything offensively “special”.  There is a delicate balance with shows that deal with disabilities.  On top of that, I know a whole lot about autism that a casual viewer doesn’t...

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"Sacred Deer" Trailer Kills

Chris here. I take back every complaint I've had about trailers using moody covers of familiar songs, and all thanks to a supremely terrifying use of Ellie Goulding's "Burn" in the new trailer for The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Paired with some chilling and evocative images, the song helps make the trailer as scary as any full film in theatres this year. Yorgos Lanthimos is ready to shake us up again and with even darker laughs than before!

This trailer is a thing of wonder, a certain contender for best of the year for how it quickly grabs you by the shoulders and lingers after its done. It does what so few trailers do: gives us scant plot details while selling us on mood. Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman's immediate reuniting post-Beguiled looks to be even more slippery and poisoned than what they delivered together this year, so it will be exciting to see both performers return to something more outre. Try as I might, I didn't spot Alicia Silverstone's reportedly brief role anywhere here - but trust that we'll be eager for her return!

But my big question mark will be Dunkirk lad Barry Keoghan as the film's pseudo-villain - just how nefarious will he be and could this be one of the major fall breakouts? With the film playing TIFF, expect to hear our thoughts before the film opens right in time for Halloween on October 27!

The Tweets Are All Right

90s movie reference humor for the win

I've gotten some confusing messages about zombies recently, so let's clear this up: my story is Dead Man Walking, not The Walking Dead!

— Sister Helen Prejean (@helenprejean) August 10, 2017

After the jump Barbra Stanwyck, Christopher Nolan's "perfection," Evita's MPAA rating, two Indiana Jones references and more ...

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