Best of '15: Red Carpet Beauty

Jose reporting for red carpet duty. One of the most significant things that happened in fashion in 2015, was the end of Raf Simons' short reign at Dior. With that we saw what I like to think was the "theme of the year", a return to form for starlets, and Best Actress Oscar winners, who seemed constrained under the requirements of their contracts. Not that they were crying about getting paid millions to dress in expensive couture, and sell perfumes mind you. Still, it was refreshing to see people like J.Law go back to the All-American goodness she first embodied in that red Calvin Klein dress at the Oscars.

We also saw perennial favorites find new ways to astound us (Cate, Nicole and Diane are indeed the holy trinity for fashion lovers), and usually lackluster people finally find their unique sartorial voice, thanks to the work of magician stylists (thank you for existing, Petra Flannery). I hope you're surprised by some of the inclusions in the list, but overall I hope they manage to put some beauty into your day (even when the dresses in question aren't necessarily "pretty"...)

The 15 Best Looks of '15
continues after the jump 

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Batman v Running Time, Ex Machina v Blockbusters, and More

Can you believe Christmas is just 3 days away? Eeep how fast the month has gone. Let's jump right into news & links...

Women and Hollywood well, this is good timing. Charlotte Rampling is getting an eight film retrospective in NYC starting Wednesday... just in time to remind East Coast AMPAS members of her brilliance before balloting. Do NOT miss The Night Porter (1974) or Under the Sand (2000) if you haven't seen them.
THR looks at make or break moments coming in 2016 from Batman v Superman to MTV's Shannara Chronicles
Comics Alliance Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is apparently 151 minutes long. Yikes. Here's an idea: cut the death of little Bruce's parents because how many times we gotta see that origin story. The entire world knows it. No need for "previously ons" at this point.
The Wrap Dustin Lance Black and Gus Van Sant are working together again post-Milk. The new project is a miniseries When We Rise about the gay rights movement kicking off with the Stonewall riots

Variety Guy Ritchie's untitled King Arthur movie has been pushed back to 2017 
Variety Star Wars pay scales... back end bonuses don't kick in until the film grosses one billion dollars. Not that it won't pass that in record time (it's already over half a billion globally after that first weekend)
Slash Film modern movies getting the old VHS cover treatment
W Magazine the most provocative fashion photography of 2015. Miley Cyrus, Jessica Chastain, and Cate Blanchett among the subjects
W Magazine Bryan Cranston does a dramatic reading of Drake's "Hotline Bling"
AV Club charts the 24 times 2015 totally lost its shit. Outrage culture is exhausting! 

/Film Cuteness. You can sit in a BB-8 chair (row BB, seat 8 in the balcony) while watching movies in the El Capitan in Los Angeles through February 7th.
The Guardian on the Bechdel Test's origins and Star Wars. Good history feminist politics piece but for the very odd suggestion that gays aren't interested in seeing heterosexual romance onscreen. What the what now? History (and LGBT culture) does not remotely support this notion.
i09 on the devolution of the fan fiction trope "the Mary Sue" with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens 
Gawker the complete history of Quentin Tarantino's use of the N word, used 65 times in The Hateful Eight which is second only to its use in Django Unchained  

Prize-Giving. Tis the Season
Playbill The Sydney Theater Award nominees for 2015 have been announced for fans of Aussie actors (i.e. everyone). Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving are among them
St Louis Film Critics chose Spotlight as Best Picture and Leo & Brie as best leading actors
Nevada Film Critics Society gave those exact same top 3 prizes but since The Revenant won four prizes it feels like the defacto winner

And Finally...
The Academy has announced the 10 finalists for Best Visual Effects, chosen from that longlist of 20 we shared earlier. The 5 Oscar nominees will come from these 10 pictures...

• Ant-Man
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Ex-Machina
• Jurassic World
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• Tomorrowland
• The Walk

The most surprising miss among the earlier semi-finalists is probably Spectre since James Bond films generally make the finals in the Daniel Craig era, don't they? But this category gets more competitive every year. I'm suddenly less confident about my current predictions (Avengers, Jurassic, Mad Max, Martian, Star Wars). Might Ex Machina, which hasn't left the awards conversation despite an April bow and is 1000% deserving of this particular nomination, actually make it despite not being of their preferred size and with the effects actually in a supporting role for a change? 

Is Marvel Recruiting Cate Blanchett?

Yesterday, fresh off her Golden Globe and SAG nominations, Cate Blanchett was reported to be a potential candidate for an unknown role in Thor: Ragnarok, another high profile star to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Twitter has not been pleased.

BUT! Before you get out your pitchforks and scream of heresy, let's note a few things about the third Thor entry that might change your mind:

1. Taika Waititi is taking over directing duties. If you haven't watched his vampire mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows from earlier this year, fix that! The film excels at the kind of farcical character humor that was the strongest element of Kenneth Branagh's original installment and was mostly absent from the sequel.

2. Mark Ruffalo is also starring in his Hulk's first time outside of an Avengers film, so the film is already giving us something we've been asking for.

3. Galadriel! Blanchett isn't afraid of genre material, and when she's having a ball, so are we.

4. Let's not forget how the MCU works with potential crossover characters - think of the possibilities. How about this one: none other than Tilda Swinton is in the forthcoming Doctor Strange. One can dream!

5. As we were reminded with her recent W Magazine spread, fun things happen when she gets to be a little kooky.

There's plenty reason to be optimistic!

Nothing is known of the role yet (please be a villain, please be a villain, please be a villain), but this and the assembled team thus far at least point toward Marvel making this one feel a little more special than what we got with Thor's round 2. Thor: Ragnarok is coming November 3, 2017.

Mad Max, Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett Win Big at the Australian Academy

Glenn here. As expected, it was a big night for Oscar hopeful Mad Max: Fury Road at the AACTA Awards last night, while Cate Blanchett gave yet another wonderful speech upon winning the Longford Lyell Award for outstanding achievement to Australian screen. Split over two ceremonies in Sydney, this year’s “Australian Oscars” were honouring the most successful year for Australian film on record – yes, that means of all time (inflation not included) – as well as television. Miller’s film picked up eight trophies all up, bringing the total number of AFI/AACTA Awards won by the franchise to 16, while Miller has now amassed 8 career statues. Yes, eight!!

Jocelyn Moorhouse’s homegrown phenomenon The Dressmaker was also a hit winning five including for actors Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, and Hugo Weaving as well as the audience choice award, which goes to show just how popular that period western has been here and how much it's captured the public's attention (it has come within mere millions of Mad Max’s box office). The most sentimental win of the night was for lead actor Michael Caton, the industry legend whose first win finally came at age 72 in Last Cab to Darwin about a dying man driving cross-country. AIDS-era gay romance Holding the Man sadly went home empty-handed despite being one of the finest dramas this country has ever produced.

Best Film: Mad Max: Fury Road
People's Choice Award: The Dressmaker
Best Direction: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Lead Actor: Michael Caton, Last Cab to Darwin
Best Lead Actress: Kate Winslet, The Dressmaker
Best Supporting Actor: Hugo Weaving, The Dressmaker
Best Supporting Actress: Judy Davis, The Dressmaker
Best Original Screenplay: Robert Connolly and Steve Worland, Paper Planes
Best Adapted Screenplay: Reg Cribb and Jeremy Sims, Last Cab to Darwin
Best Documentary Feature: That Sugar Film

More winners + Cate Blanchett (!) after the jump...

No, we won't stop using this gif!

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Curio: Sketches of Carol

Alexa here.  Over at Little White Lies everything is coming up Carol, with the current issue of the magazine dedicated to the film. I have been having fun following the entries for their latest creative brief, a competition seeking black and white sketches of the title character. The film is ripe with visual inspiration, so of course many lovely images have been appearing on instagram and tumblr and the like. Too bad the contest is for UK residents only, because the prizes for the winner are a poster signed by Todd Haynes, a framed print of the winning artwork, a copy of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, a copy of the film’s soundtrack and a one-year subscription to the magazine.

Todd Haynes will be selecting the winner. My favorites are after the jump

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