Beauty vs Beast: Beard vs Bumble

JA from MNPP here, ho ho hosting this week's ho ho holiday edition of "Beauty vs Beast" for y'all (okay okay I got all my ho ho's out, I promise) -- a couple of weeks ago TFE's resident animation guru Tim gave good love to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on the occasion of its 50th anniversary and it struck me like a peppermint pick-axe to the brain, what this week's face-off needed to be. Who else but...

poll by twiigs.com

Yukon Cornelius, the standard of bearded beauty for an entire generation, grabs that frightful Beast by the belly and bounces away with our hearts every time, but we've got a special place for the Bumble's passionate bumbling too. So help us choose! You have one week to vote, and please do share your thoughts upon each in the comments.

PREVIOUSLY Spinning off from the frozen tundra of the North Pole to the magnolia swelter of the Deep South, last week we celebrated the 75th anniversary of Gone With the Wind by play-acting Scarlett and choosing our best beau - Ashley put up a decent fight for such a wilting flower but frankly, my dears, we want to be man-handled. Rhett swept 79% of us up in his arms and carried us into that fiery sunset. Said TB:

"Ashley is the biggest cad in the whole movie. He's got Olivia de Havilland at home, and he's stringing along Vivien Leigh the whole time. Nope. NOPE. Rhett's a slut, but at least he's got principles."

Monday Monologue: Henry II's Eulogy

Anne Marie here to celebrate the holiday with a furious monologue from my favorite Christmas movie. "Christmas movie" is a terrible description for Anthony Harvey's 1968 film The Lion in Winter, though it is technically correct. This is a political thriller of one very long Christmas night between Henry II of England (Peter O’Toole), his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), and their three conniving sons as they battle over who will be the next King of England.

And you thought your family was dysfunctional.

While we've written extensively about Katharine Hepburn's Oscar-winning performance in The Lion in Winter, this Monologue Monday before Christmas I'd like to shine the spotlight on Peter O'Toole's underawarded performance as the manic, magnificent Henry II of England. The movie is filled with great dialog for the Irishman to chew on, but O'Toole's best (or biggest) moment comes midway through the film, after a midnight meeting with the King of France.

A eulogy for a king after the jump...

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Man from U.N.C.L.E. First Look: 5 Questions

Manuel here opening the floor about some things in this first released pic from Guy Ritchie’s upcoming adaptation of the TV show, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., featuring Alicia Vikander, Armie Hammer and Henry Cavill due out next year. From this pic alone, Ritchie’s film is already making a case for “Best Looking Cast of a Motion Picture, 2015.” Hugh Grant, Elizabeth Debicki (!) and Jared Harris round up the cast.

Costumes by Joanna Johnston (Oscar nominated for Lincoln but also responsible for the dresses Mad and Hel don in Death Becomes Her!)

Some questions I couldn’t help asking:

1. Does everyone else now think of Mad Men’s Sally Draper whenever The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is invoked?
2. Do Vikander’s shoulder scrapes suggest she’ll be given some action alongside her male co-stars?
3. Which suit do you think Cavill enjoys donning more: this beautiful plaid three-piece or his Superman one? (It’s a fair question: both look just as tight, no?)
4. Where can one get Vikander’s sunglasses?
5. Might this be the film that finally makes Armie the star we all hoped he’d become after seeing him (doubled!) in The Social Network?

Are you looking forward to Ritchie’s film? Or are you more likely to be looking forward to his ex-wife’s #RebelHeart release instead? Yes, I might be implying those are mutually exclusive stands, though I could be persuaded otherwise.

Red Carpet: Best Looks of 2014

Year in Review. Two yummy look backs each day!

Jose here. With awards season underway, and a whole new roster of red carpet superstars about to be born (Felicity Jones, we salute you), it's time to celebrate the absolute best red carpet looks of the year that was, which have us revisit a few familiar faces and welcome the return of old fashioned, ridiculously grand Hollywood glamour!

2014's Best Red Carpet Looks

10. Lupita Nyong'o in Ralph Lauren 
Nyong'o was the breakthrough star of 2013 with each of her looks besting whatever it is she had worn to the previous event and the celebration continuing on through Oscar night. The MVP was this red column gown with sewed in cape that she wore to the Golden Globes, which made her look like a true fashion superhero.

9. Emma Stone in Thakoon
While pink is usually a big no-no on the red carpet (only SJP and Gwynnie have succeeded in pulling it off in the last couple of decades) leave it to Emma Stone to not only wear two contrasting shades of pink, but also pull off a bare midriff, a side braid and silver accessories (!!!!) effortlessly. Kudos for sticking to a young brand and showing starlets that you can be sexy while remaining almost practically covered. 

Felicity Jones, Fan Bingbing, and perennial chart-topper Cate Blanchett come after the jump...

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Tweets o' the Week: Batman Returns, Last Christmas, and More

Good morning! It's just three days until Christmas. THREE! To note that I am unprepared is to state, shrugging, 'he thinks movies are alright'

I mean we haven't even started the Year in Review! Rectifying. Rectifying.

This is the kind of time frame wherein you need little friendly woodland animals to be doing all your busy work so that you can focus on the important things like Going to the Ball. I illustrate twitter collections with a picture of birds and today Cinderella seemed natural since Into the Woods is soon upon us. I hadn't really thought about this before but Cinderella is supposed to have this miserable indentured servant life but look at that view from her bedroom window!  Talk about a room with a view... that's prime real estate. Shouldn't she be sleeping in the cellar or something? 

Herewith some tweets that amused, edified, or otherwise cocked a brow this past week for a variety of reasons, posted to get this week chirping away quickly, happily. Enjoy.

(SO MUCH POSTING DUE THROUGH NEW YEAR'S. BEAR WITH US... VISIT A LOT, OKAY?)

Fav Tweets Non-Celebrity Division...

"Oh Mommy, Mommy!! Lizzy and Jane are going to the Golden Globes ball!" screamed Kitty. pic.twitter.com/TQ9SM5BipY

— Awya (@awya) December 13, 2014

The Hobbit movies are immensely popular, though no one I know likes them or talks about them. The Hobbit is the NCIS of movie franchises.

— Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) December 21, 2014

"What'd you do today?" "Um you know...generally just...monitored opinions on Twitter and, like, interjected." "Did you go out?" [Hangs head]

— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) December 15, 2014

Sadly that tweet describes so many ill advised days o' mine! Moving on with GHOST, BATMAN RETURNS after the jump...

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