The Greatest Linkman

• Gurus of Gold our soon-to-be very outdated Golden Globe predix and current Oscar rankings
• Globe Predictions ...mine in full which our soon to be very embarrassing. It's tonight, kids!
• Slate as ever, the very long Movie Club is a great read. It begins, appropriately enough with Thanos's finger snap in Avengers Infinity War
• Irish Times terrific outspoken interview with Keira Knightley on Colette, Weinstein, and her public falling out with John Carney on Begin Again

• i09 Good news for people who loved Leonardo Nam in Westworld (like me!), he's been cast in a big role in the new Swamp Thing series
• AV Club Danny DeVito joins the Jumanji sequel
• My New Plaid Pants really loves Andrea Riseborough in Nancy

OffScreen
• Variety Interest report on album sales this year. The Greatest Showman (the only album to sell over 1 million copies in this streaming world where people rarely buy anymore) and A Star is Born are the top sellers.
• NYT 1 woman, 12 months, 52 places -- such a cool project and a good read
• Borowitz Report makes a funny about Nancy Pelosi avoiding "the middleman" to get the government working
• Playbill Anthony Ramos (A Star is Born) and Jasmine Cephas Jones (Broadway's Hamilton) are now engaged

List-Mania
• Boy Culture top 20 movies and performances. Some surprise picks
• Awards Daily Joey's top ten TV list

Burning Question: Most egregious Weinstein-backed Oscar Nods?

Upon seeing Harvey Weinstein in handcuffs yesterday our friend Rob asked a very timely question on Twitter which we though we'd share here for rabid discussion purposes. 

In the spirit of the day: Which ridiculous Oscar nomination that Harvey Weinstein facilitated was the most infuriatingly egregious?

My personal vote goes to Chocolat's 5 nominations (including Best Picture!!!) in 2000. The fluffy disposable film was nominated over obviously well-liked films like Billy Elliott, Wonder Boys, and Almost Famous... and great but divisive films like Dancer in the Dark and. 

And though Juliette Binoche is one of the all time great screen actors, there was simply no excuse for that Best Actress nod when Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) and Björk (Dancer in the Dark) were both RIGHT THERE, totally inspired, and more than worthy of nominations. Even further outside the race there were still other leading ladies who were running circles around one of Binoche's least impressive performances including Michelle Pfeiffer's genre transcending in What Lies Beneath, Renée Zellweger's comic skill in Nurse Betty, and Gillian Anderson, all tragic and ravishing in The House of Mirth! 

But what's your answer to the question? And if you are 2000 focused, please let us know you're ideal Best Picture/Best Actress lineup that year.

Weinstein in Handcuffs

Sadly this is not the end of the story so we can't say "good riddance" just yet. He's pled not guilty (sure, Jan) and the court date is set for July.

Uma Speaks Out

by Nathaniel R

Uma Thurman photographed by Damon Winter for the New York Times

"This is Why Uma Thurman is Angry" is the weekend's must-read. The movie star has been suggesting that she had a rage boiling up inside her for months now. She has now added her voice to the chorus of women accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. Though she spares us the sickening details this sharply written editorial by Maureen Dowd, who spent two nights talking to Uma, suggests plenty. Surprisingly it's more damning, in a curious and, for this particular season, atypical way, of her chief collaborator Quentin Tarantino with whom she had enjoyed a long and creative relationship.

I had really always felt a connection to the greater good in my work with Quentin and most of what I allowed to happen to me and what I participated in was kind of like a horrible mud wrestle with a very angry brother. But at least I had some say, you know?

The account of their strained relationship after Weinstein's misconduct and their falling out over a dangerous accident (warning the video is very upsetting) on the set of Kill Bill feel emotionally brutal.

The Bride had more names to cross of her list. 

Ashley Judd might have been Arwen... or Galadriel

by Nathaniel R

Ashley Judd in her blockbuster breakout "Double Jeopardy" in 1999I keep getting into trouble when I tweet out semantic arguments on the internet as if I'm missing the point of very serious topics. So let me assure you that I'm not missing the point. I am filled with rage when I read these stories about the toxic treatment of actresses in Hollywood but the only way I can cope (I live for actresses, duh) is to nerd out and take deep dives into thinking about their filmographies, or looking at Oscar stats, or other less fraught things to rage less. Lashing out in all directions with rage or feeding my rage by continually sharing it is just not my way and has never helped me cope with pain. So, in other words, I'll save my little semantics quibble until the end of the post. 

Anyway the reveals of what Harvey Weinstein was up to in his most powerful days keep getting worse. To stay within the confines of Weinsten adjacent imagery, let's just say it makes me want to watch an Inglorious Basterds ahistorical style rewrite in which some Ashley Judd gets the Brad Pitt role and her team of merciless female soldiers gives Weinstein what he deserved back then...

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