Beauty vs Beast: Queens of the Night

Happy Tuesday, Jason from MNPP here with our weekly "Beauty vs Beast" fun - the year of movies in focus for June is the year 1994 thanks to the Smackdown (Nat just introduced you to the panelists) and so I'm going to take you back to a movie of 1994 for this week's poll... namely Neil Jordan's Interview With the Vampire, which starred Tom Cruise as Lestat and Brad Pitt as his blood heir Louis locked in a battle of diabolical foppery from the story by Anne Rice.

Handily this is also a film that works thematically for Gay Pride Month too, although lord knows it should've been far, far gayer - no doubt the forthcoming TV series rights that wrong. But whose side will you take today? The unrepentant and giddy evildoer, or the sad romantic that looks like Brad Pitt in 1994? As Lestat says, "Don't be afraid, I'm going to give you the choice I never had..."

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PREVIOUSLY Most of expressed feeling bad that you were voting against Christina Ricci in our Opposite of Sex poll from two weeks back but that sure didn't stop you - Lisa Kudrow's Lucia trounced her with almost 80% of the vote. Said James From Ames:

"Have to give it to Lucia. They've both overbearing as hell, but at least Lucia's comes from a messed-up sense of protectiveness, right? One of my favorite movies of all time, and Ricci's best performance in my opinion. I don't remember when exactly I first saw it -- but I never was the same again after that summer."

Beauty vs Beast: Political Animals

Jason from MNPP here with this week's "Beauty vs Beast" where we are wishing the grand Dame Angela Lansbury a happy 92nd birthday today! It's difficult to believe we still have an entire year before Rob Marshall's Mary Poppins Returns film comes out (Xmas 2018) but we're still hoping, as we did when she was cast, that Landsbury's got something lovely to work with in the film - we don't get to see her on-screen nearly as often as we'd like to.

But she's such a legend... how could I possibly find someone to compete? Well "somebody" already had the gumption to do it herself - in 2004 a working actress by the name of Meryl Streep tackled Lansbury's still delightfully against-type turn in the remake of The Manchurian Candidate. So let's put these two ladies in a room and see which one walks out...

PREVIOUSLY Did everybody watch Mindhunter over the weekend? I did not so don't say anything if you did. But feel free to share your thoughts on last week's decision on David Fincher's original serial-killer vision Se7en, in which y'all chose Brad Pitt over Kevin Spacey 57 to 42%. That needs explaining! Said Huh:

"Spacey gets a lot of hate nowadays but anyone who thinks Brad’s performance here is better and adds more to the film than Spacey’s is nuts."

Beauty vs Beast: Original Sinners

Jason from MNPP here. It is October when a young man's fancy will turn to cable-knit cardigans and exquisitely plotted murder schemes, but it's more specific this week than the usual - tomorrow night the New York Film Festival is screening the premiere episode of David Fincher's Mindhunter series (which stars Jonathan Groff as an early FBI profiler) and then on Friday The Snowman (Tomas Alfredson's film starring Michael Fassbender as Detective Harry Hole - yes really - on the trail of a Frosty-fixated killer) comes out. And so what better time to transport "Beauty vs Beast" back to the wet streets of an anonymous city on the brink in Fincher's film Se7en...

PREVIOUSLY I assume some of y'all saw Blade Runner 2049 this weekend (fewer than anticipated though!) and have opinions, but last week you shared your opinion on the original film, and while it bounced back and forth over the course of the week it was Daryl Hannah's Pris who finally squeezed the life out of Deckard with those glorious calves once and for all, taking just under 55% of the vote. Said kermit_the_frog:

"Daryl Hannah showed such promise (I'd argue that she has, unfortunately, never bettered this performance - admittedly, a high bar was set)..."

Ruth Negga is Going to Space

by Murtada

Ruth Negga has finally booked a movie post Loving. We’ve been waiting for an announcement on a new project for her long before she was Oscar nominated. Basically since Loving premiered to raves for her performance at Cannes in May of last year. It’s a performance we are especially enamored with, hence the impatient anticipation for a new film with her.

Negga is joining Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones and Donald Sutherland in James Gray’s Ad Astra. The long in development project is a sci-fi adventure about a man’s journey across the solar system to find his missing father, a renegade scientist who might be a threat in a futuristic lawless environment. Pitt is the lead and Jones plays his father. Negga’s part is being kept secret which is a good sign since if she was playing the wife/girlfriend they’d be no need for the secrecy. Gray recently was able to beautifully frame another actress known for having a very expressive face; Marion Cotillard in The Immigrant. So we are excited for this collaboration.

Gray was also praised for coaxing óut of Charlie Hunman a performance unlike any other he’s given, in The Lost City of Z. This writer was even more impressed with Sienna Miller in the same movie, who managed to elevate the smallish part of the wife into something truly memorable. What is your favorite performance in a Gray film?

More Tarantino Bloodshed Coming

Chris here. Quentin Tarantino has begun to lineup his next film to shoot next year, and it could be even bloodier than his divisive Hateful Eight if the subject matter is any indication. Hold on to your stomachs, the provacateur will next be tackling the Manson murders.

While this seemingly won't appease anyone put off by Hateful's gruesome antics, the potential for something great is there and Tarantino reportedly does have a unique take on the material yet to be revealed. Per his previous comments, this looks to be his penultimate film, but I'm guessing that that's actually as likely as that "unique take" being a tamer vision regarding onscreen bloodshed. My first guess is that like Inglourious Basterds before it, Tarantino will be doing a bit of revisionist history with the details of Charles Manson's enacted violence.

Casting is already promising some major talent, with reportedly approached stars including Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lawrence, Samuel L. Jackson, and Margot Robbie. Details are sparse on what roles could be attached to each star, aside from Robbie possibly playing Sharon Tate. We'll see what Tarantino's take is on the story and what the ensemble might actually shape up like - but (should it come to be) doesn't Pitt as Manson already sound like a fascinating choice?