Flashing back to movies while in nature...

by Nathaniel R

Apologies for the book-end birthday posts but we'll be back to movies in a hot second. Just back from the self-care birthday trip. Spent the weekend trying to enjoy quiet nature. Activities were as varied as laying in the grass, walking through the woods, and sitting on a beach with face mask on but shoes off. SUCH RANGE! (That image to the left was taken in Woodstock, New York. Nothing was open though we did manage an incredible take-out breakfast to eat outdoors thanks to The Mud Club. Ohmygod the deliciousness)

On the way back to NYC this morning we visited the spectacular grounds of the Vanderbilt Mansion. Twas so lush and moneyed, I flashed back alternately to every establishing shot of Downton Abbey and the party sequence in Baz Lurhmann's The Great Gatsby though no anachronistic music was booming to conjure the second...

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Introducing the Smackdown Panelists for '02

Are you enjoying our super-sized Supporting Actress Smackdown season? We've already discussed 1947 and 1981. Because you were all clamoring for 2002 to be covered this season we're pulling out the razzle dazzle with a panel as merry as those murderesses of Chicago. Yes, in the upcoming Smackdown we'll be talking about that musical as well as Kathy Bates in the hot tub in About Schmidt , Meryl Streep stoned in Adaptation, and the saphhic literary-triptych The Hours. So start rewatching those flicks. Now, let's meet the panel.

PLEASE WELCOME IN ALPHA ORDER ... 

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Happy birthday to all our Gemini readers!

by Nathaniel R

Today is my birthday! I don't want anything this year beyond these three things. 1) Safety and continued stamina for all the Black Lives Matter protestors. 2) Good health and continued stamina for the essential workers and anyone battling COVID-19. And 3) Strategic genius and continued stamina for anyone involved in the upcoming elections who wants to right this ship and get that family of narcissist sociopaths and (just as importantly) their legion of enablers out of office. A big ask, I know, but if you dont ask for what u want, how u gonna get it? 

OH NO WAIT I DO WANT ONE MORE THING. FROM YOU.  In the comments please tell us the very first time you realized you loved an actress too much*.

Reading these over the weekend will surely put a huge smile on my face. Happy early or belated birthday to all you Geminis reading, too! Twin power!

* There is no such thing as "too much" but you know what I mean.

Links: John Boyega's activism, Criterion Channel says "Black Lives Matter," The Eisner Awards and more...

We're always behind with our news roundups. Forgive. It's such a difficult time out there. We know we aren't the only people struggling to concentrate...

• THR A personal history of queer cinema by critic David Rooney with Dirk Bogarde anecdotes
• Vulture the 100 best movies on HBO Max
• The Guardian for our UK readers, Guy Lodge points out the awesome movies from RKO pictures that you can stream online there now

After the jump John Boyega's activism, Criterion Channel on Black Lives Matter, the Oscars of comic books', theaters opening in time for Tenet and more...

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That scene from "Unfaithful"

by Cláudio Alves

Oscar voters aren't the greatest fans of erotic thrillers. Despite that, there are some times when a cinematic achievement is so undeniable that AMPAS' usual prejudices are thrown out the window. One good example is Adrian Lyne's Fatal Attraction, a cultural phenomenon that, in 1987, managed to nab six Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture and Best Actress. Years later, another of Lyne's erotic reveries would be honored with an important nod, though this time it was just in the Best Actress category. The picture was 2002's Unfaithful and the actress was Diane Lane delivering one of the most magnificent performances of her career. Her work as Connie Sumner is a masterclass in sexual discovery and abandonment, guilt, and desire.

If for nothing else, Lane earned the nomination for a scene in the middle of the movie, when her adulterous character is returning home by train, after her first tryst with Olivier Martinez's sexy bookdealer…

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