Review: Nia DaCosta's "Candyman"

by Matt St. Clair

When the 1992 horror classic Candyman made its way to theaters, audiences were introduced to a figure who serves as a representation of America’s original sin and a tragic monster akin to those from the classic era. The original Candyman (Tony Todd) pursuing grad student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) has invited comparisons to The Phantom of the Opera, another lovelorn monster.  But the latest direct sequel of the same name by director Nia DaCosta is less of a Universal Monster-esque tragedy.

Though it continues the original storyline, the new Candyman (2021) expands its racial commentary to tackle generational pain, police brutality, and gentrification...

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Would you rather?

happy Virgo season from Keke PalmerWould you rather...

• kiss puppies w/ Simu Liu
• hang on the sidewalk w/ Timothée Chalamet
• discuss the Virgos you know w/ Keke Palmer
• play a new card game "where do we begin?" w/ Marisa Tomei
• learn to bowl w/ Anya Taylor Joy
• hold your breath w/ Paul Bettany
• go axe throwing or clay pigeon shooting w/ Naomie Harris
• have a martini w/ Ten Tosatid
• fit a harness w/ Connor Jessup
• serve your guests margaritas w/ Jennifer Coolidge?
• walk the runway w/ Molly Shannon
• ...or have your calls ignored by Laura Dern? 

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide...

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Complete the sentence(s)...

I'm off to see Eyes of Tammy Faye and apologize that the Smackdown is running late (it'll be up tomorrow... the registrations and site difficulties of the past few days have eaten up all our time) so in the meantime, complete these sentences in the comments for fun.

1. The movie I'm most excited about this fall/winter is ________ because __________ . 
2. I don't care about ________ but I hope it means good things for ___________'s career. 
3. ______________ is winning ___________ at the Oscars and you can't convince me otherwise ... yet!

"Spencer" Teaser. Kristen Stewart for the gold?

by Nathaniel R

It never fails. Every time something exciting happens, like a Power of the Dog teaser, there's something immediately on its heels giving you barely any time to process. Spread the wealth studios, meter out that cinephilia bait, we beg you. Here's the Spencer teaser starring Kristen Stewart...

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"Power of the Dog" teases. Venice here we come

by Nathaniel R

Behold the first teaser for Power of the Dog which opens in the US in limited release on November 17th followed by Netflix streaming on December 1st. Director Jane Campion has long been a favourite and I've scheduled this for my first day at my first ever Venice Film Festival (!!!) That's right, I will be joining our new regular Italian festival reporter Elisa Giudici (who you heard from at Cannes and Locarno) for this edition of the Venice Film Festival which runs September 1st through September 11th.

What should Elisa and I see? The lineups are after the jump...

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