TCMFF Day 3: Michael Douglas and the power of protest

Though the theme of the TCM Classic Film Festival this year is comedy, that hasn't stopped political themes from emerging during discussions with special guests. Yesterday morning's screening of The China Syndrome with Michael Douglas in attendance was just such an example. Douglas and host Ben Mankiewicz started out talking about the aesthetic and casting choices of the nuclear meltdown film, produced by Douglas and starring Jack Lemmon and Jane Fonda. However, as with the release of the movie - which happened to be released days before the Three Mile Island accident in early 1979 - the timing of the Q&A between the TCM host and the veteran actor/producer meant that conversation soon turned to themes of destruction, education, and protest.

It turns out that Michael Douglas makes a very charming protestor. Douglas explained that while he hadn't cared much about nuclear dangers or disarmament before producing The China Syndrome, when the script was handed to him by a documentarian, his interest and irateness was piqued...

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Tweetweek: Sequel Culture, Current Kidmania, Moonlight Kiss

Stop 👏 trying 👏 to 👏 make 👏 cinematic 👏 universes 👏 and 👏 focus 👏 on 👏 making 👏 great 👏 standalone 👏 films.

— Zac Thompson (@ZacBeThompson) April 5, 2017

Preach. Sequels used to happen because of love for a standalone. Now they're built into it like everything is a prologue.

Lots more after the jump including Twitter's current Kidman obsession, Disney villains, Tab Hunter, and more...

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Drag Race S9E3: Drag Princesses and Their Sidekicks

by Chris Feil

Try to imagine these characters in a Disney princess movie!After lots of celeb gazing and underwhelming rhythms in the first two episodes, Season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race has finally found its sweet spot! This week’s episode was a return to form, hilarious and heartfelt while letting us get to know the queens. The queens were charged to create their own princess (sewing challenge!) and a quirky sidekick to tell her story. Get your fairytale life!

The results were delightful enough that we’ll forgive the continued lack of a mini-challenge - and did the Pit Crew get kidnapped this season??

Right out of the gate, Trinity Taylor is gunning for the win, throwing excess dust all over Valentina’s win last week in the process. Trinity has quickly emerged as the season’s bitch, though funnier and more lovable than we have seen from past season villains, in my perspective. How long will we be waiting until that potential rivalry with Eureka O’Hara to rise again, I wonder? Regardless, Trinity’s profile is rising in this lineup.

Speaking of Valentina...

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Review: Anne Hathaway is "Colossal"

by Jorge Molina

As much as her career seems to have been engraved by "light" and "fluffy" material like The Princess Diaries or The Devil Wears Prada, and despite the bubbly and eager-to-please persona that she has become infamous for, Anne Hathaway is no stranger to playing characters plagued by demons: recovering addict, martyrized mother, troubled wife, woman with degenerative disease. She’s always had the outstanding capacity to portray a complex darkness within.

Colossal brings this into the light like no movie she’s done before...

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TCMFF Day 2: Carl & Rob Reiner Honored at Handprint Ceremony

by Anne Marie

While Turner Classic Movies is typically known for celebrating film history, today TCM made history. Carl Reiner and Rob Reiner, writer/director/actor/producer quadruple threats whose career includes Sid Caesar's Show of Shows, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Russians are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, The Princess Bride and This Is Spinal Tap, were the first father/son duo to be immortalized in the Chinese Theater handprint ceremony. Before the two cemented their legacy next to Marilyn Monroe, Al Pacino, and Trigger the Horse, friends and colleagues from their cumulative 135 year long careers paid tribute to two of the funniest men in Hollywood...

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