Are you there Link? It's me, Nathaniel

• US Dish is hosting a viewing party contest for romcom lovers. You can enter until the 26th and the winner has to be wiling to host an online viewing party with their friends and vlog about it afterwards. The prize is $2000
• MCN Gurus of Gold weigh in on the Best Picture and Best Director races
• Guardian excellent and rare interview with Sacha Baron Cohen as himself rather than in character about Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Trial of the Chicago 7, and his activism
• Slate really interesting piece about the way Hallmark has tried to avoid politics and their babysteps towards the modern world via their very popular Christmas movies

More after the jump including Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloe Zhao, Sound of Metal, new biopics, and new adaptations of old best-sellers...

Click to read more ...

Almost There: Michelle Pfeiffer in "White Oleander"

by Cláudio Alves

This past weekend, actressexuals and Pfeiffer pfans were scandalized when Lucas Hedges revealed he had never seen a movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer before working with her on French Exit. I kid, while also admitting I was surprised. Being only two years older than Hedges, I've seen plenty of Pfeiffer movies as have many of my friends, ranging from work by renowned auteurs to blockbuster fare. Hers is a varied filmography. She may have only been nominated thrice for the Oscars, but Michelle Pfeiffer has delivered a fair share of awards-worthy star turns and her range is quite expansive. Equally brilliant in big leading parts and small supporting roles, broad comedy and thrilling drama, Pfeiffer is one of my favorite actresses and I'd love nothing more than to share my adoration with you, dear readers.

With that in mind, let's delve into one of the best performances in her resume. Maybe more than any other of her other films, White Oleander got Michelle Pfeiffer very close to that elusive fourth Oscar nod…

Click to read more ...

Showbiz History: Gyllenhaal's first win, The Witch's release

5 random things that happened on this day, February 19th, in history (as it relates to showbiz)...

1942 /1945 Two historic and tragic days in the history of Japan & US relations. In '42 President FDR ordered Japanese-Americans into internment camps. This shameful moment is rarely dramatized in English-language movies outside of documentaries (surely because Hollywood doesn't love looking at America's own sins) though its shown up in a few like Go For Broke (1951) about Japanese-Americans serving in the US Army at the time and 1990's Come See the Paradise about an interracial family during the war. Later in '45 the US marines invasion of Iwo Jima begins. We recently saw it dramatized, from the Japanese perspective, in Clint Eastwood's Best Picture nominee Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)...

Click to read more ...

Oscar Race: Best Costume Design

We aren't going to find out what the Costume Designer's Guild thinks of this past year in film until March 4th, literally the day before Oscar nomination ballots go out. That gives us two weeks still to believe that all things are possible still in this category, though obviously the season to date will have an effect on the outcome. Here are what we think are the top ten contenders in descending order of probability (though this ranking should not be seen as a meritocracy but merely punditry).

PREDICTIONS

the only lock?

Click to read more ...

Yes No Maybe So: Mortal Kombat (2021)

by Ben Miller

Since 1993, production studios have tried again and again to adapt a video game for movie audiences and again and again they have failed.  Some of these films have been dumb fun (Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider), some have been seriously-minded disasters (Assassin’s Creed), while others have been financially viable misfires (Warcraft) or just outright catastrophes (Super Mario Bros.).

Paul W.S. Anderson tried his hand at it with 1995’s Mortal Kombat to the tune of $122 million worldwide.  Warner Bros, producer James Wan and director Simon McQuoid will try again with the aptly titled Mortal Kombat (2021 version).  The new red-band trailer just dropped, so let’s do a round of Yes, No, Maybe So...

Click to read more ...