Reader's Choice - Let's watch ____ together

Hey readers. Now that the Oscar coverage is wrapping let's return to our great love of RANDOMNESS. Let's watch something together and discuss. I want to see something I've never seen before so I looked at the current streaming crop and picked four I should catch up with. Decide which I have to write about by next Thursday March 23rd

online polls

Your choices are Denmark's first Oscar winner and foodie favourite Babette's Feast (1987), the Jayne Mansfield rom-com Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), the sleeper hit action flick John Wick (2014) starring Keanu Reeves, and Robert Altman's infamous Popeye (1980)... and yes, I too, think it's strange that I haven't seen any of these particular films which all have pockets of devout admirers. 

Streaming: Keira Knightley in "The Boston Strangler"

by Matt St Clair

Dynamic of an actress as she may be, Keira Knightley remains quite stuck in the past. As she brilliantly makes each role she plays her own, she consistently transports us into different time periods whether it’s WWII (Atonement, The Aftermath), 5th century AD (King Arthur), or 18th century England (The Duchess). This time around, Knightley is taken to the early 1960s in Boston Strangler, the new journalism crime drama written and directed by Matt Ruskin (Crown Heights)... 

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SXSW: Probing Identity in "Bloody Hell"

by Abe Friedtanzer

From the sound of its title, you might think that Bloody Hell is a violent horror film. But in fact it’s a mostly (and significantly) blood-free exploration of what it’s like to be a teenager that doesn’t quite fit in. It’s described as a “traumedy” about a sixteen-year-old girl shaken by the news of a reproductive condition that will play heavily into both her sex life and her potential to become a future mother... 

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Ranking the 2022 Oscar Clips

By Ben Miller

It's that time of year again!  Every year since 2017 (minus 2020, when they didn't show clips), this is the piece I most look forward to writing.  The Oscars always throw a few curveballs with their clip choices.  They certainly made some choices this year.  Let's rank the clips 20 to 1.

I'm gonna not be selfish. I'm gonna be your mom.

What Are We Doing?
20. Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans
19. Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All At Once
18. Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All At Once

For all three of these performers, their roles had big showy moments that were tailor-made for Oscar clips.  Instead, they went with odd choices...

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Drag Race RuCap: "Two Queens, One Joke"

NICK TAYLOR: Welcome back, Cláudio! And welcome back, 90-minute Drag Race episodes! The return of a longer runtime definitely gives the show more room to breathe - it really is so nice to hear Ru say “Bring back my gurls!” again - and allows us to really spend more time with the queens. This is clearly a talented cast, but “Two Queens, One Joke” feels like the best chance we’ve really gotten to know this top seven. Do I agree with the judging 100%? No, but as an episode of television, this felt satisfying in a way that season 15 has too rarely achieved. 

CLÁUDIO ALVES: I love the return of 90-minute episodes (really 60 minutes), even if this week’s judging infuriated me. Moreover, the outcome of all those shenanigans was downright heartbreaking…

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