Eight Links Out

• Deadline 10 upcoming films that were given by funding from the British Film Institute... including a new meaty role for Sally Hawkins
• Filmmaker picks the 10 best films directed by women this year from Kenya's Rafiki through the US indie Madeline's Madeline. The biggest grosswer on the list is You Were Never Really Here by Lynne Ramsay...
• TFE <-- which, in case you missed  our year in review of box office hits, is only the 8th biggest grosser among female helmed films this year just behind Leave No Trace and Can You Ever Forgive Me?
• The Muse "Penny Marshall and the Movies That Shaped Me" 
• Gold Derby if Lady Gaga wins two Oscars this February she'll be the fifth woman to accomplish that trick in one night (but first actress).
• Pajiba picks some favourite movie costumes of the year and thankfully doesn't ignore contemporary films
• Electric Literature why recent movies about queer friendships are so revolutionary
• Awards Daily talks to Black Panther's editor Michael Shawver about some of the movie's best scenes and a compliment from Francis Coppola
• /Film you have just one week to watch Pixar's animated short finalist Bao online. It's soooo adorable

Top 25 Reasons to Watch "White Christmas" This Season

Members of Team Experience have been asked to share their favorite Christmas movie. Here's new contributor Eurocheese...

25 Reasons to Watch White Christmas (Again)

01 Eye popping color (the first VistaVision film!) at every opportunity

02 The “Sisters” number! A surprise drag number where the actors can’t stop giggling in the 1950s? Yes please.

03 The way the movie teases snow until we almost demand it...

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Posterized: Mary, Queen of Scots

For today's Posterized a little something different - rather than a star or director, a character. Here are all of the films that have told the story or a story involving Mary, Queen of Scots. The latest iteration, Mary Queen of Scots (which we just reviewed) starring Saoirse Ronan opened in movie theaters today. Saoirse's other two movies this year (On Chesil Beach and The Seagull) didn't really register with moviegoers so we're hoping for the best with the third given the Brooklyn/Lady Bird goodwill she's accumulated. But on to the royal question at hand...

How many Mary of Scots movies have you seen? Posters for all eight movies featuring the would be queen are after the jump.

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Podcast: The Favourite, Creed 2, and Shoplifters

Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl welcome back Nick Davis to talk new films

Index (67 minutes)
00:01 Palme d'Or winner Shoplifters. Plus: Roma and Oscar talk.
20:22 Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite, directorial style, tragicomedies, and three stellar actresses: Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone. Plus: Sandy Powell's costumes
39:45 Reader Q: Which film will get the most Oscar nods this year?
43:06 Reader Q: What is going on with Mary Queen of Scots? 
48:05 Reader Q: Why did Widows underperform?
52:50 Nick on Creed 2 
58:32 Randomness to wrap-up: Museo, and Ruth E. Carter's costumes for Black Panther

Further Reading / References
• Nathaniel's review of The Favourite
• Murtada's interview with Hirokazu Koreeda on Shoplifters
• Oscar Predictions, Current
• ...and this royal Angela Bassett costume in Black Panther

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

The Favourite, Creed 2, Shoplifters

Blueprints: "A Simple Favor"

This week Jorge dives into martinis and missing persons, to examine the mythos of a perfect woman in the fall's most delightful surprise.

First impressions are important, and writers usually either build upon or subvert the first thing we see about a character: the clothes that they’re wearing, the setting that they appear in, the way they carry themselves, and the adjectives they use. All of these elements can tell us who a character is before they even say a word. 

A Simple Favor is all about image and perception. The image we present to the world, and the part of ourselves that we keep hidden. The way we are versus the way we are perceived. In particular, the film is about Emily’s image. Not only her physical looks (which are hugely important), but the aura and lore that she has created around her. The idea of Emily...

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