Amy 'Arrives' This Friday

Just a few days until Arrival opens. It's one of the year's best movies and a mainstream sci-fi grandiosity that deserves success so do not miss it. I watched it with anxious wonder, something like the expression Amy aces at peak moments within the film.

Psycho Beach Party (2000)Up next for the 42 year old Oscar-Darling: the miniseries Sharp Objects (quick name an Oscar-bait actresses who isn't doing a miniseries in 2017 -- they're everywhere!) and two reprisal roles with Lois Lane again (sigh) in Justice League and Giselle again (yay) in Disenchanted.

Do you remember the first time you ever saw Amy Adams onscreen? For me it was either flirty bitchy "Marvel Ann" in Psycho Beach Party (2000) or "Cousin Beth" on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But I first really paid attention and noted her name in Catch Me If You Can (2002).

Who are your favorite supporting actresses of the year?

By Nathaniel R

Over the weekend Fences had its first screening in Los Angeles and Viola Davis apparently lived up to the prerelease hype so there you have your near-certain winner in the Supporting Actress category this year. (I haven't seen it yet so no comment on that until I do.) But nominations are our favorite part of the Oscar nomination circus anyway so even if the race is wrapped up and Viola becomes a record-breaker as we predicted, it's fun to keep sifting through the options.

Yes, it's that time of year when we begin to take stock and are promptly filled with anxiety about sacrificing favorites as we winnow down to the magic number of 5 for our awardage. Along with the anxiety, though, comes such appreciation for the art of the movies. It's one of the many reasons we cherish awards season...

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Beauty vs Beast: Political Animals

Jason from MNPP here, posting today's edition of "Beauty vs Beast" from deep down inside my underground election bunker -- it's kind of like 10 Cloverfield Lane only depending on which way things go tomorrow I'm possibly going to be dissolving myself in acid. Until then, cheers! And don't go blind from drunkeness.

But first I've got to put in front of you the most obvious poll for this week's contest that I could possibly have gone with. When it's right, it's right, ya know? In 1999 Alexander Payne dropped Election, his second-best movie, on the world and it's resonated deeply and profoundly every four years since. There's a character for every type - Paul Metzler's a little bit Bush and a little bit Obama; I like Tammy too much to attach Trump to her but their shared anti-establishment rhetoric is pretty on-point. And as for Tracy Flick, well... obviously.

But for "Beauty vs Beast" it only make sense to face off the real adversaries of the film. There are morals, and there are ethics, and it's one lone man's job to police the distinction...

PREVIOUSLY Last week we tackled the love-struck teenaged maniacs of Heavenly Creatures and I forced you to split the duo in two like you're they're heteronormative parents side-eyeing their affections - it was close (I was hoping for a tie!) but Winslet's Juliet squeaked it out with 54% over Lynskey's Pauline; seeing as how Juliet is ever so slightly roped into the killing by the more enthusiastic Pauline I suppose we can understand. But said our host Nathaniel (and I'm prone to agree):

"I love this movie with all my heart (the best of its year if you ask me) and this is an awful thing to be expected to answer! Cruel, Jason, cruel."

Linky Snicket

LA Times talks to Tarell Alvin McCraney who wrote the original play that became Moonlight
Variety JA Bayona's A Monster Calls has become his third consecutive #1 of the entire year at the Spanish box office. He also won the film year there for The Impossible and The Orphanage. He hasn't had as much luck stateside but since he's helming the next Jurassic World movie that'll presumably change
THR three Asian action stars (Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen, and Iko Uwais) will star in the next film from the director of John Wick
Playbill Audra McDonald getting a "special moment" pre-transformation in Beauty & the Beast

 

MTV "Rachel McAdams, blink twice if you need to be saved from your own career"
Jezebel More LGBTQ character on TV than ever before finds new study
i09 First teaser for Netflix's Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events with Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf - looks fairly generic at the moment. We'll see.
Towleroad Rami Malek to play Freddie Mercury in a biopic with Bryan Singer. We'll believe this one when we see it because there's been a rumored Mercury biopic as often as...
TFE ...Janis Joplin biopics (ICYMI)
Variety now that Oscar has its producers Michael de Luca & Jennifer Todd, they're talking about the search for a host - Jimmy Kimmel's name keeps coming up
Antagony & Ectasy a terrific analysis of The Handmaiden 
Awards Daily the first look at Jessica Chastain as an artist among Indians in Woman Walks Ahead (She's determined to win that Oscar, guys. So many chewy roles lined up)
MNPP Kathy Bates will be playing Bette Davis BFF Joan Blondell in Feud
World of Reel has the perfect gif reaction to Jaden Smith's Doctor Strange review
Comics Alliance Benedict Cumberbatch's secret secondary role in Doctor Strange (spoilers)
Deadline They're moving forward with a JRR Tolkien biopic called Middle Earth 

Off Cinema 4 Fun
Boy Culture remember's Divine's awesome "Shoot Your Shot" 
Huffington Post amusing 10 suggestions for dealing wtih Election Anxiety including volunteering, masturbation, and preaching to your choir

OH AND REMEMBER TO VOTE TOMORROW! Take it away Rachel Bloom

HOLY SH*T (You've Got To Vote) from Funny Or Die

The Furniture: Terrestrial Fun in "Star Trek Beyond"

"The Furniture" our weekly series on Production Design. Here's Daniel Walber

Early in Star Trek Beyond, screenwriters Simon Pegg and Doug Jung wedge a dumb joke into the voice over narration of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine). He has led the Enterprise and its crew across the galaxy to fulfill an endless series of missions, many of them quite similar. His life, he explains, has begun to feel a bit “episodic.” Very funny.

Yet Star Trek Beyond is, in its own way, a self-contained episode of an ongoing series. The bulk of the film takes place on a single planet. No time is spent on earth, nor is the home world at any significant risk. There is no massive cross-galaxy conflict. The story is given a satisfying conclusion, without participating in a grand trilogy or teasing a far-off sequel. This isn’t Star Wars or, for that matter, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This means that the production design team, not tasked with a universe of diverse locations, focused on on just a couple of planets...

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