2015: Blanchett's Year?

Manuel here bringing you some news on reigning Best Actress, Cate Blanchett.

2015 is shaping up to be quite the busy year for Ms Blanchett. She's currently on screens in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies; she seems to have made the cut on Terence Malick's Knight of Cups; her costumes for the upcoming live action Disney film Cinderella have us breathlessly waiting to see what she'll be wearing to the ball; and then, of course, there's Todd Haynes' Carol (the most anticipated film here at TFE for 2014 which is all but confirmed to premiere in the spring; may it crop up at Berlin?)

It seems Cate is adding another project to her 2015 resume, one that places her a tad outside the big screen. She's currently collaborating and shooting with artist Julian Rosefeldt on the latter's newest video installation called Manifesto:

Manifesto combines artist manifestos of different types and times with contemporary mundane situations, all performed by CATE BLANCHETT. The project is an attempt to show that these manifestos have contributed not only to art history but also to the way we think and to what we are today.

Above you can see one of the twelve looks Blanchett will don in the installation, currently being filmed in Berlin. Always up for an artistic challenge, Blanchett's entire dialogue will be made up of the manifestos in question (the Futurists, Marxist, Dadaist, etc.); needless to say, it sounds fascinating, so if you're in Sydney, be sure to catch it when it premieres next year and tell us all about it.

I keep trying to figure out which manifesto this funeral scene could be representing; any one care to help me with that? With 2015 primed to be another banner year for Cate, which of her projects are you most excited for? And yes, you may include her sure-to-be-radiant appearance at the Oscars to announce Best Actor.

Red Carpet: Best Looks of 2014

Year in Review. Two yummy look backs each day!

Jose here. With awards season underway, and a whole new roster of red carpet superstars about to be born (Felicity Jones, we salute you), it's time to celebrate the absolute best red carpet looks of the year that was, which have us revisit a few familiar faces and welcome the return of old fashioned, ridiculously grand Hollywood glamour!

2014's Best Red Carpet Looks

10. Lupita Nyong'o in Ralph Lauren 
Nyong'o was the breakthrough star of 2013 with each of her looks besting whatever it is she had worn to the previous event and the celebration continuing on through Oscar night. The MVP was this red column gown with sewed in cape that she wore to the Golden Globes, which made her look like a true fashion superhero.

9. Emma Stone in Thakoon
While pink is usually a big no-no on the red carpet (only SJP and Gwynnie have succeeded in pulling it off in the last couple of decades) leave it to Emma Stone to not only wear two contrasting shades of pink, but also pull off a bare midriff, a side braid and silver accessories (!!!!) effortlessly. Kudos for sticking to a young brand and showing starlets that you can be sexy while remaining almost practically covered. 

Felicity Jones, Fan Bingbing, and perennial chart-topper Cate Blanchett come after the jump...

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Doubleplus Suave

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The "Knight of Cups" Pastiche Tease

I understand that people are talking about the Malick teaser today? I feel stymied by this one (shockingly I'm a "no" at first glance so I'm skipping the traditional YNMS) but I shall share a few thoughts. Mostly, though, I feel Cate Blanchett sums it all up for me in her early teaser line-reading. So long as you pretend that she's me and I'm talking to Terrence Malick instead of Wandering Bale Sun-Logged in the Egyptian Desert Hollywood Wilderness...  

You're so different these days. What's going on with you?

Between the club music and what looks like a mash-up of several very familiar -- though I can't quite place them -- films, I just don't get it. Something about this Knight of Cups teaser smells like selling out. By which I mean there's a strong whiff that that is also happening thematically as Christian Bale goes Hollywood and loses himself in decadence and luxury and money and La-La land. But perhaps the love of a good one can savzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Splash with me cold water. I rise!

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Beauty vs Beast: All The Cool Girls

Jason from MNPP here, saying tis the time for a round of "Beauty vs Beast" once more. This week we're finally tackling one of this year's biggest movies, David Fincher's Gone Girl - financially it's the biggest hit of its director's career, and critically, well a lot of people loved it and are hoping to see it figure prominently in the upcoming awards races. (I am not one of those people; I reviewed it at NYFF saying "a lot of what makes Amy into 'Amazing Amy,' what makes her particularly spectacular on the page, is the deeply darkly funny specificity of her voice, unpeeling like an onion, and that falls away from the movie just when I needed it most.") Anyway there's a good chance Rosamund Pike will be nominated for her performance as Amazing Amy, and it'll probably show up in some other categories as well. And if there's a bigger He Said She Said movie of 2014 I certainly missed it, so let's see who we side with!

poll by twiigs.com

I might have gone a little vague there in the Cons maybe...? The Pros were easy to be spoiler-free on, but listing these two's Cons without giving away too much of the game, that defeated me. If y'all have seen the movie you've certainly got your own laundry list of them, so tell us all about it in the comments.

PREVIOUSLY Last week we tackled the sisters of Blue Jasmine for Woody Allen's birthday, and even though Sally put up a helluva fight, as with the Oscars we couldn't help ourselves from lavishing our love on the showier gal. The Great Cate makes one more successful trek to the podium! Said Jakey:

"Jasmine, because when my life falls apart, I also wonder why I can't just get a Stoli with lemon."