Streaming: "Four To Dinner" and the problem with Italian Netflix movies

by Elisa Giudici

In the new Netflix movie Four to Dinner, beautiful thirtysomething singles are invited to a married couple's dinner on a picturesque Roman terrace. The terrace is not quite as breathtaking as the one with the hammock facing Colosseo in The Great Beauty, but it's still the kind of terrace mere mortals can only dream off, in Italy or elsewhere.

The married couple hosting the dinner is playing matchmaker, but they have different opinions on which singles should be paired. Would it be better to match their friends with similar temperaments or to test the chemistry between two opposites? The answer is both, at the same time...

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The Oscars will finally have a host again... but who?

by Nathaniel R

This just in: The Oscars will have a host again after two years of going without, two very tumultuous years! We assume that the Academy will select someone safe, like Jimmy Kimmel again, but we really hope they take a risk and think "entertainer" rather than "talk show host". Given the Academy's talk show host preferences we live in absolute fear of James Corden being asked to host. But the Oscars are not meant to be a conversation but a spectacle/party. The best hosts have nearly always been Oscar-ceremony loving actors who are naturally fun (funny is less important) and at ease with live performance like Hugh Jackman, Whoopi Goldberg, or Billy Crystal. We know Hugh Jackman is off the table as a returning host since he's in the middle of a Broadway run with the revival of The Music Man. We're not sure who started the "Tom Holland should host" thing on the internet (during the Spider-Man No Way Home Oscar-campaign frenzy) but he'd mostly fit that bill minus maybe the Oscar-loving part. We enjoy him onscreen but in interviews he doesn't sound remotely aware of THE MOVIES beyond his own tiny corner of them. Nevertheless he'd probably be a good risk.  He's charismatic, a great dancer, and very popular at the moment. 

In our actressexual world here at TFE we always dream of naturally hilarious actresses hosting...

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Almost There: Jessica Chastain in "Molly's Game"

by Cláudio Alves

Nicole Kidman just won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama for her work in Aaron Sorkin's third feature as a director, Being the Ricardos. In truth, most of the writer turned writer/director's projects have garnered awards attention, so this win shouldn't be surprising. The first two movies he directed Trial of the Chicago 7 and Molly's Game earned Sorkin Oscar nominations for writing. His 2017 directorial debut, Molly's Game has another connection to the current awards season. Since Zero Dark Thirty earned her a Best Actress nod, Jessica Chastain has tried to return to the Academy's good graces but it hasn't yet happened. This year, The Eyes of Tammy Faye could end her Oscar dry spell.

As we wait for nomination morning, let's look back at Chastain's performance in Sorkin's gambling drama as the real-life character, Molly Bloom…

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Oscar Trivia: Concerning double-acting nods. How many films could do that this year?

by Nathaniel Rogers

How many films will be nominated for acting this year? That question reads odd on the surface as there are 4 acting categories with 5 slots each. So the answer is obviously 20?. Nope! Usually at least a few films will score multiple acting nods, so 20 different films just doesn't happen.

But what we want to talk about specifically today is double-nominations within a single category. That's very common, happening more than half the time. In 55 of Oscar's 93 years to date, at least one acting category offered up a double from a single film. Sometimes more than one of the four categories will offer up a double nomination.  So what about this year...

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Globe Reactions: MJ Rodriguez, Nicole Kidman, Ariana DeBose, and Rachel Zegler

by Nathaniel R

Check out MJ Rodriguez's wonderfully happy reaction to her historic Golden Globe win for Pose. She's the first trans actor to ever win a Globe. Other actress winners Nicole Kidman, Ariana DeBose, and Rachel Zegler also shared brief thank yous online...

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