Beauty vs Beast: Acid Queen

Howdy, Jason from MNPP here with our Mother's Day edition of "Beauty vs Beast" - it's maybe becoming a bit cliche to talk about the Alien franchise for Mother's Day at this point... but that's not going to stop me, for two reasons. First off today is the 42nd birthday of the actress Carrie Henn, who played "Newt" in 1986's Aliens - click here to see a picture of her with Sigourney Weaver a couple of years ago. She's a grown lady! Time is weird, you guys.

And secondly we're doing Alien because I got to see the film on the gigantic screen of the United Palace Theater here in NYC yesterday and a million wows. Never have I more envied the moviegoers of yesteryear who got to watch films in these literal palaces. United Palace does a movie screening every month and if you're in New York you owe yourself the experience of seeing something there, it is absolutely grand - see their whole schedule right here. Anyway we've faced down Ripleys for this series once before so this time let's face down her foes! Which came first, the Egg or the Queen...

polls

PREVIOUSLY Last week we sup from the throats of the haute couture bloodsuckers in Tony Scott's The Hunger and it was ice-blonde Catherine Deneueve who came out on top to the tune of nearly 80% of your votes - said thevoid99:

"I vote for Miriam although.... my heart and soul will always belong to David Bowie's character in that film. Still not over him."

Beauty vs Beast: Eternal Lust

Jason from MNPP here - this week's edition of "Beauty vs Beast" is celebrating the 35th anniversary of Tony Scott's stylish and sexy vampire feast called The Hunger, which was yesterday. The film tells the story of the vampire couple John and Miriam Blaylock (David Bowie and Catherine Deneve) and the young doctor named Sarah (Susan Sarandon) that they seduce through billowy curtains. I don't know when I first became aware of The Hunger - I'm sure it was awhile after the movie came out given I was only five when it did - but whenever it was I became aware of The Hunger that would also mark the anniversary of my fantasy of being picked up by Catherine Deneueve and David Bowie. I don't say this very often these days but oh to be Susan Sarandon...

find bike trails

PREVIOUSLY Surprising nobody the new Avengers just broke all of box office records this weekend, but let's not yet forget its immediate predecessor - we've still got the receipts from last week's Black Panther poll to count! And y'all broke bad, giving the villainous Killmonger (Michael B Jordan) the win with 55% of your vote. Said Evan:

"Killmonger, duh. He's ribbed for your pleasure."

Interview: François Ozon talks "Double Lover" and the greatest French actresses...

by Murtada

It might be surprising to know that François Ozon likes to learn what children think of his films. He says their responses are clever and innocent, especially if they believe the world on the screen. Though he realizes that he can’t always get their feedback since his movies often deal with adult themes, like the psychosexual thrillers Swimimg Pool (2003), Young and Beautiful (2013) and his latest Double Lover.

Ozon’s films cannot be easily categorized, he has also directed the campy musical 8 Women (2002) and the haunting WW1 romance Frantz (2016). He says...

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Red Carpet Lineup: Cannes '17, French Actress Heaven

It's been a little overwhelming looking at all the gowns on display at Cannes but before we get 10 whole days behind, let's celebrate the Gallic glory of French actresses. The 70th Anniversary Cannes party that the festival threw itself in the middle of its week long party had the biggest collection of international stars imaginable including these nine giants of French cinema after the jump...

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Box Office For Those Who Can Read...

by Nathaniel R

Since this weekend's box office results are just too dull to report on (April has been seriously lacking in new mainstream movies of worth) let's swerve over to the arthouse for this weekend's box office chart. And this gives us an excuse to talk about the the underdiscussed auteur François Ozon, too. D'accord? Which foreign language films have been most popular with US moviegoers in the first third of the year?

TOP FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS RELEASED IN 2017
(numbers as of April 30th, some of these are still in theaters)

01 Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (India) $10.1
A sequel to the 2015 epic about ancient India. 

02 Your Name (Japan) $4.2
Many people thought this should have been nominated for the animation feature Oscar last year -- from my understanding it's being shown in both English dub and in subtitled versions though I'm not 100% confident about this understanding.

⇱ 03 Raees (India) $3.2
Shah Rukh Khan continues to be a very reliable Bollywood draw. His latest is about a bootlegger in Guajarat...

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