Where My Girls At? New Roles for Jess, Charlize, and The Bening

Four new projects for three favorites, two of whom are in theaters right now in a bad movie called Winter's War.

Charlize Theron
Her Gorgeousness will star in a new comedy called Tully which is not to be confused with that new drama called Sully starring Tom Hanks. Theron will play a woman who has difficulty dealing her child's new nanny (who happens to be the title character). But here's the best part: It's reuniting the core Young Adult team with Jason Reitman behind the camera and Diablo Cody scripting and since Young Adult is all three of them in peak powers, we can be very grateful/hopeful about it. If lightning strikes twice we'll know the three of them all bring out the best in each other creatively.

In related news that's the first set picture of Charlize on Fast & Furious 8 (gee, they didn't waste any time getting another film going) in which we think she's playing the villain. They've apparently gone meta with her 'Angelina Jolie Gone in 60 Seconds' look -- Drag racing car fetish movies have to stick together!

Jessica Chastain
Jess will headline Molly's Game with Idris Elba as her co-star. Since this is Jess we're talking about there's already a cutesy photo to illustrate.

So excited to work with the lovely @idriselba #MollysGame #AaronSorkin pic.twitter.com/9HtbK1QnQ4

— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) May 7, 2016

Molly's Game is  based on the memoir by skier Molly Bloom which chronicles her arrest by the FBI for a high stakes poker game. Sounds like a string of words that don't make much sense together right but apparently it was a true enough story to write a book about and get a movie deal. Famed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin will write (duh) & direct (wha?!?).

And the best news for last...

Annette Bening
After headlining 20th Century Women and a supporting role of some sort in her husband's still Untitled Howard Hughes film, The Bening will be back in a bio: She'll be playing Academy Award winning actress Gloria Grahame in a drama about the star's final days battling cancer when she was 57. The casting is totally brilliant visually. Our collective images of Grahame are all from her youthful heyday in noirs but if you imagine her growing older offscreen it's easy to imagine her looking exactly like the 57 year-old Annette Bening of right now. The project is called Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (I can't imagine they won't change the name) and Jamie Bell will play the male lead of Peter Turner who wrote the memoir it's based on and who cared for Grahame in her last days. Sherlock director Paul McGuigan is on board and the screenplay is from the writer of Control & Nowhere Boy. 

In related news: Annette Bening is still aiming for that Oscar so this may well be her backup plan if she doesn't win it this year...

Best Actress: An "Overdue" Narrative or Fresh Blood?

The next Best Actress race hasn't remotely started so we're at the "anything goes" stage. Sally Field is the only player thus far who feels like a distinct if long shot possibility. With a Golden Globe Comedy nod highly likely for Hello My Name is Doris she'll be discussed again at year's end reminding people of her endearing star turn in the sleeper hit. But what to make of the Best Actress race. Most or all of the contenders are yet to come and there are no sure things. 

Sure, Viola Davis looks good on paper to repeat her Tony win in 2010 for Fences as the long suffering wife of a trash collector who was once a promising ball player. But there are some "what ifs" involved. Denzel Washington hasn't yet proved he's special as a director and when the revival in which they starred on Broadway hit not everyone agreed on her category placement with some theater awards deeming her "featured" (the stage's term for "supporting") rather than lead like the Tonys. And then there's the not small matter of whether the Fences will be ready in time for a release and a big Oscar push. If Viola doesn't dominate, will we have an Overdue Narrative this year or a Fresh Blood moment in Best Actress?

Consider: La Pfeiffer (3 nominations... deserved many more. Waiting to win since 1988); The Bening (4 nominations... waiting to win since 1990); Amy Adams (5 generous nominations. Waiting to win since 2005); Viola Davis (2 nominations... waiting to win since 2008). With Jessica Tandy, Hilary Swank, Rachel Weisz, and Meryl Streep winning their rightful Oscars there's ample opportunity for a "make up" year in Best Actress. 

But then again not every leading race sees a "career win" like Julianne Moore's or Leonardo DiCaprio's recently. Do you think 2016 will be an old guard year like that or a new blood situation (Negga? Pike?)? Or will it be somewhere inbetween (Emily Blunt...waiting so long for a first nomination? Jessica Chastain, twice nominated thus far?). Check the Best Actress chart and make a call in the comments. 

Where My Girls At? The Maybe Cannes Bound Edition

Here's Murtada speculating about which lovely ladies might appear at the Cannes Film Festival.

There is one thing that is certain to happen at Cannes every May. Marion Cotillard appears on the famous steps, resplendent in Dior couture, to represent a film in competition. She knocks everyone's socks off with her performance, then invariably fails to win best actress from the jury. It happened with Rust and Bone (2012), The Immigrant (2013), Two Days One Night (2014) and Macbeth (2015). Is there a Cotillard/Cannes awards curse?

This year she will have two more chances to lose, and cement the legend of the curse...

Click to read more ...

Beauty vs Beast: Red & Green & Tangerine

Jason from MNPP here, wishing you and yours a Ha Ha Happy Holidays with a Ho Ho Ho in your heart -- since it's Christmas Week I figured what better way to celebrate the festive mood than with the hilarious and heartfelt brand new Christmas classic, right up there with Batman Returns and Eyes Wide Shut, that is Sean Baker's Tangerine. Like Keiran argued recently my favorite character in the film is also Alexandra (played by a lovely Mya Taylor), but for "Beauty vs Beast" purposes its gotta be Sin-dee (the very funny Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) versus her pimp-snatching rival and "real fish girl" Dinah (Mickey O'Hagan's hilarious performance should be getting more attention too)...

PREVIOUSLY Two weeks ago we looked back at the 25th anniversary of The Grifters and set two of TFE's fave actresses against each other in a con-woman cage-match -- well repeating history it was tough mama Lilly (played by a maybe never better Anjelica Huston) who shoved her way to the front with over 70% of your vote! Said kermit_the_frog:

"I choose Huston here - Tthe Grifters is a far more sinister and unpleasant film than I first thought it was. That Huston makes you actively root for the character is achievement in itself. By the way, I nominate Huston twice in Best Actress 1990 - this and The Witches (I've never understood the annoying 'one nomination per category' rule!"

The Bening to the Rescue!

Murtada here. 2015 is a banner year for actresexuals. From Clouds of Sils Maria in the spring, to the summer of prickly older ladies (Lily, Blythe and Meryl) and through to this month’s Brooklyn and Carol, we were spoiled. Looking forward to 2016 though, it is looking barren. It might just be early days as the release calendar hasn’t taken full shape yet.

But fear not actressexuals, Annette Bening’s coming to rescue us all from more stories about men and the obsession with their legacy and position in the world (ahem Steve Jobs!). Here she is, in glorious ratty overalls on the set of 20th Century Women. Mike Mills' long awaited follow-up to Beginners is a casting dream with lead roles for The Bening, Greta Gerwig and Elle Fanning. Bening is Dorothea Fields, a mother raising her teenage son, Jamie, in Southern California in the summer of 1979. Also in Jamie’s life are a sophisticated photographer (Gerwig) and his teenage friend (Fanning). Mills based the characters on women he knew growing up.

And what’s with those blue overalls? And she’s not looking too happy. Hopefully that means there’s lots of drama to deal with. Mills after all made a poignant and beautiful story in Beginners, another movie he based on his personal experiences. That led to Christopher Plummer winning an Oscar. Could he work his magic for The Bening as well?

Are you excited for 20th Century Women? What other 2016 releases do you think can continue the actressexuals bliss we are having now?