Will "Bright" be a Netflix Blockbuster? And how do you even define that?

By Ben Miller

If you haven’t heard already, Netflix will continue their quest for world domination with a tentpole feature film, Bright, in December.  Directed by David Ayer (End of Watch, Fury), the film stars Will Smith as a Los Angeles police officer who is teamed up with an orc cop (Joel Edgerton) to fight crime and try to make sense of whatever the hell is happening in the trailer.  There are fairies, magic wands, elves, swords, Noomi Rapace, and all sorts of other fantastical elements involved.

Let’s talk money.  Bright cost $90 million for Netflix to pick up.  Half of that cost went in to the film to shoot, while the other half goes to the talent (mostly Smith, Ayer and screenwriter Max Landis).  These days, $90 million seems pretty reasonable for a fantasy film starring an A-List “Movie Star”.  Suicide Squad, the most recent Smith-Ayer fantasy foray, cost $175 million. [More...]

Click to read more ...

Beauty vs Beast: The Gilead Girls

Happy Monday, Jason from MNPP here with our weekly "Beauty vs Beast" fun-time experience. While you were all enjoying Elisabeth Moss' charm offensive on the Emmy Actress Roundtable this past weekend what you should have been doing is baking a birthday cake for her, because she turns 35 today.

Did we all watch The Handmaid's Tale? I'm thinking enough of us did (there was actressing from every angle, after all) that we can go ahead and have this week's contest be between Moss as Offred and her fellow Emmy nominee (not to mention honorary member of Team Film Experience!) the great Ann Dowd. Does Aunt Lydia's religious fervor strike too close to home, or is Dowd's take on the role just too delicious to ignore? You tell me.

PREVIOUSLY To be honest I am shocked that Charlton Heston won any votes in our Planet of the Apes off last week, but he was still soundly beat - Kim Hunter's Dr. Zira took over 81% of the vote. I guess his hands really are cold and dead now. Said Tom:

"Team Zira because empathetic scientists crying out the truth to an unbelieving world seems so important now."

10 Favorite Moments in the Emmy Drama Actress Roundtable

THR's exciting tradition is upon us. They've released the full roundtable of Emmy Drama actress hopefuls. Well, hopefuls at the time. Oprah Winfrey was not nominated as she was expected to be for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The same thing happened to her when she was on the Oscar-seeking roundtable for The Butler. Despite being the former queen of talk, perhaps this format is a curse for her? The other women present were nominated: Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman (Big Little Lies), Jessica Lange (Feud: Bette and Joan), Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid's Tale), and Chrissy Meitz (This Is Us).

The Roundtable in full, and ten favorite moments therein after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Joan Harris Appreciation

By Spencer Coile 

Whether she is slinging a cigarette around the office or barking orders at her fellow secretaries, Mad Men's Joan Holloway (later to become Joan Harris) is a character unlike any other portrayed on television in the 21st century. Caught up in issues of gender inequality in the workplace, a dead-end marriage, and an affair with her boss, Christina Hendricks managed to infuse this tough-as-nails supporting character on one of AMC's finest with enough nuance and grit to make her as memorable as its leading players, Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss.

And while each deserves celebration and posts of their very own, there is something so magical, so intriguing about Joan, that further attention must be paid...

Click to read more ...

Happy 10th Anniversary to Mad Men

by Nathaniel R

Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the only series I've ever watched twice all the way through. I know I will eventually follow suit with my other favorite series of all time: Matthew Weiner's Mad Men. But the time is not yet. I still miss it terribly, especially on Sunday nights. The very first episode, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" premiered on this day 10 years ago... 

Click to read more ...