Oscar Presenters or Buddy Comedy?

by Chris Feil

Last night Oscar did an outstanding job of pairing its presenters, delivering us stellar moments like Jodie Foster on crutches, Tiffany Haddish in Uggs, and Jane Fonda owning 51% of this damn company. At best, Oscar can take such pairings and inspire audiences to demand the two presenters appear in a film together. Especially with tradition being broken on the lead acting categories, this was a smorgasbord rife for a genre we hold dear: the buddy comedy. Here are the five buddy comedies from last night's presenter duos that we desperately need to see in 2018...

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Review: Red Sparrow

by Eric Blume

The Russian Tourism Board won’t likely be sponsoring the film Red Sparrow, the new spy movie from Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence.  Other than featuring some very chic ushankas on a very attractive cast, this film makes Russians look very nasty, just like we’ve always imagined them to be for the movies.  Lawrence’s conception of the country illustrates his wonderfully corny, often thrilling, mysterious, and silly/serious approach into old-fashioned espionage that we don’t see much of nowadays.

Lawrence starts his film where he should:  firmly on the face of his leading lady, Jennifer Lawrence, sporting a bangs-heavy brown wig.  She’s a famous ballet dancer in Moscow, and the director steals a bit of the feverish tone of Black Swan in her early scenes.  The plot unravels in a series of crosses, double-crosses, and reverses that include her involvement with a US spy played by Joel Edgerton...

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Beauty vs Beast: Home is Where the Hearts Are

Jason from MNPP here with the last "Beauty vs Beast" before the Oscars. This week's poll doesn't have anything to do with the Oscars though because let's face it - the Academy, bless their shiny hearts, is never going to be as cool and adventurous as our host Nathaniel is. Nathaniel dropped his Top Ten of 2017 over the weekend and at #9 was a movie AMPAS was never going to go anywhere near - Darren Aronofsky's spectacularly divisive mother! starring Jennifer Lawrence (who's got Red Sparrow out this weekend) as a sink-bracing Suzy Homemaker under, uh, extreme duress. But we're never going to forget mother!, and we doubt you will either - even if it's just to picture Michelle Pfeiffer whenever you slip a little extra something into your lemonade...

survey service

PREVIOUSLY We wished Sidney Poitier a happy birthday last Monday, wondering why he wasn't the one who got AMPAS' attention in 1967's In the Heat of the Night - he certainly got our attention, rounding up 85% of your vote from his co-star (and statue-snatcher) Rod Steiger. Said Red:

"Watching Sydney Poitier reassured me that I could grow up into the kind of adult I wanted to be. He still had what we kids had and adults had lost. He was honest, honourable, brave and full of joy."

JLaw gets the last word

by Nathaniel R

Did you see Jennifer Lawrence's jaw-dropping Versace at the London photocall for Red Sparrow? Apparently when the photo came out social media erupted, articles were written, etcetera (somehow I personally missed this but blink-and-you'll-miss-a-controversy). People were outraged on her behalf about the sexualization of women while the men stay dressed and all that (we've seen a million examples of this happening so it's easy for all the very dumb to spot now). Some of the people who called it out did have a good sense of humor about it -- suggesting that Jeremy Irons wear assless chaps? Hee!

(But, you know, he probably would if you asked him. He hasn't actually been shy about his own beauty onscreen. Look it up.)

Still instant outrage is usually problematic. The world's highest paid female movie star is pissed that people made a big deal of it, writing on her facebook account...

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The 25 Youngest Women Ever Nominated for Best Actress

by Nathaniel R

Saoirse Ronan hosting SNLTimothée Chalamet (about to turn 22) and Saoirse Ronan (23) are only a year apart in age and both are looking like major Oscar contenders in Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively. In other words, it MIGHT be a really young Oscar year. Despite their close ages they're miles apart in terms of Oscar statistics. If Timothée is nominated he'll be a first time nominee and become the 3rd youngest man ever up for Best Actor while Saoirse, if nominated, would be on nomination #3 and would just barely crack the youngest 20 contenders in her category. 

So, who are the youngest female leads ever nominated?  We're about to tell you but one thing is for sure: this list is MUCH younger than the corresponding leading man list.

DISCLAIMER: The male list was comparatively easier to order as there were significant gaps in ages. With so many women roughly the same age on this list it's possible the order is not entirely accurate (given that Oscar dates are not the same each year) but we did the best we could.

I'm just a human girl person and I ain't always perfect."

JUST MISSED THE LIST: Laura Dern was 24 when Rambling Rose came out but by the time Oscar season hit she had just turned 25. When Audrey Hepburn won on her first nomination Roman Holiday (1953) and Shirley Maclaine lost for her first nomination for Some Came Running (1958) they were both about to turn 25. Jeanne Crain was another 24 year old who just missed this list with Pinky (1949). They were the closest all rans...

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