Links

• GQ UK Simu Liu interview and why he auditioned for Greta Gerwig's Barbie
• AV Club Pixar has announced a new original for next summer. It's called Elemental and about a water and fire elemental discovering what they have in common
• Vanity Fair Bridgerton Season 3 will diverge from the book order and follow Penelope & Colin

More after the jump including the Billboard Music Award Winners, sad news about Adele Haenel, new projects for David Cronenberg, and a tribute to Jonathan Bailey...

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Weekend Box Office. What have you been watching?

by Nathaniel R

To no one's surprise Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness dominated the box office for a second weekend and has already grossed nearly $300 million domestically, making it the second most popular release of the year thus far after The Batman (which it will definitely overtake since the latter weirdly truncated its own run by moving to streaming while it was still doing well in theaters). More after the jump...

Weekend Box Office May 13th-15th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended links if we've written about it
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	PLATFORM RELEASES
MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS	HAPPENING

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On Alexander Skarsgard, devilishly handsome character actor

by Matt St Clair

One factor as to what kind of roles an actor receives, or whether they’re cast as lead or supporting players, is their looks. Consequently, that’s why you often see the likes of Tom Cruise headlining an action movie rather than someone like, say, John Malkovich. The practice of traditional glamour leading to positioning for movie stardom has essentially been around since the birth of cinema.

Then again, sex appeal can also trap actors into a narrow box. This happens to beautiful stars ike Alexander Skarsgård. He said in a recent Sunday Times interview while promoting The Northman, that his sex symbol label has led to him not getting the kind of serious acting opportunities he’s craved...

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Film Review: Downton Abbey: A New Era

The sprawling cast of "Downton Abbey" goes to France and gets into the movie business in this new sequel.By Christopher James

Martin Scorsese described Marvel movies as theme park rides, not films. As derisive as that is, there’s some truth to it. What are theme park rides other than rushes and thrills, zooming through a theme or story with the sole purpose of making you react and cheer? If Marvel movies are a roller coaster, Downton Abbey: A New Era is an ornate, hundred year old Merry-Go-Round. It’s a theme park ride in that it exists solely to take fans through the hallowed halls of Downton, rather than to make a grand cinematic statement. That’s what makes this installment much better than the previous film. It cycles through the greatest hits with tremendous efficiency and spirit. The large ensemble is all smiles as they sip tea and gossip. Penelope Wilton and Maggie Smith land every sassy remark with a knowing grin. Girls just want to have fun, and my is Downton Abbey: A New Era low thrills fun!

Like a schoolyard dodgeball game, Downton Abbey: A New Era sets up two sides and divides its characters up between the two plots hastily. No sooner does the wedding between Tom (Allen Leech) and Lucy (Tuppence Middleton) end before Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith) decides to upstage them with her own revelation.... 

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It's '300' days until Oscar

by Nathaniel R

Fassy on the set of 300

A bit of very random silliness since we now know when the next Oscars will be held. With 300 days to go, the film 300 popped into my mind. It was a big hit fifteen years ago grossing almost half a billion globally and becoming the 10th highest grossing film of 2007 in the US. Thrillist once argued it was the most influential movie of the Aughts. It received plentiful MTV Movie and Saturn Awards nominations but zero love from Oscar which is... appropriate. But every once in a while we think about the fact that it was Michael Fassbender's debut film (!) and that director Zach Snyder has continued to have a surprisingly fanatic cult following... so much so that his work factored into Oscar's embarrassing "fan favourites" contest this past season. So it prompted a question: Have any 300 alums outside of Michael Fassbender gone on to Oscar love?

The very Aughts very Digital action flick boosted several careers (as box office hits do) but the answer to that specific question is  'yes but but not my much'... 

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