Review: The Zookeeper's Wife

A portion of this review was originally published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad

Jessica Chastain stars as Antonina Zabinski, The Zookeeper's Wife, a true story based on the international bestseller of the same title. The Zabinski family run a lovingly crafted zoo in Warsaw but political unrest unnerves Jan Zabinski (Johan Heldenbergh) enough to attempt to send his wife and child away. Antonia, naive and endearingly devoted to her animals, won't have it. Then German bombs hit their attraction, killing many animals. Poland surrenders to Germany quickly. Much to the Zabinski’s horror they learn that their surviving animals will all be killed for meat to feed soldiers unless they can strike a deal with fellow zookeeper and now Nazi officer (Daniel Brühl, Hollywood’s go-to Germanic villain who isn’t named Christoph Waltz). 

While working on this deal with the devil, Antonina and her husband begin a dangerous game, hiding Jews in their now empty zoo until they can figure out a way to get them out of Poland to (relative) safety in a world gone mad...

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Tweetweek: #Witherdern, I Love the 80s, and More

Tweet of the Week

my friend texted me "why is no one talking about how rooney mara and tom hiddleston have the same face" & now i cant stop thinking about it pic.twitter.com/dBFMo6g2Ho

— maria yagoda (@mariayagoda) March 28, 2017

More after the jump including Justice League's insane rumored running time, "#Witherdern" and the Emmy Best Actress race, and more...

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Tweetweek: Fantasy Boyfriends, Favorite Seasons, Fabulous Divas

Don't pretend like you wouldn't watch a movie in which Jessica Chastain sets Xavier Dolan up w Sebastian Stan and also Naomi Watts is there pic.twitter.com/0b4rokKPJf

— Ryan McPhee (@rdmcphee) March 21, 2017

You must click through every photo of that tweet. That whole moment in watching celebrities be themselves in real time with each other together as fans is funny heaven. "Yay, social media," which is something we can't always say as sane people. 

ANYWAY. More after the jump... 

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Interview: Jessica Chastain on playing "Miss Sloane"

If you haven't yet seen Miss Sloane about a formidable political mastermind and the sure-to-lose case against the gun lobby that she takes on to the surprise of DC, you'll want to catch it soon. It's rather a classic star vehicle in that the glamorous leading lady is front and center and steering all the juicy twisty drama. That leading lady is, of course, the tireless Jessica Chastain. Chastain shot to stardom with seven films in 2011 (including The Tree of Life and her Oscar nominated role in The Help) and she seemingly hasn't left movie theaters. She's starred in everything from moody business thrillers (A Most Violent Year), gothic horror (Crimson Peak), fiery military dramas (Zero Dark Thirty), and more.

I sat down to talk with her in NYC a month or so ago about how far she's come since that explosive debut year, how she recharges between movies, and how she approached her Golden Globe nominated role as the amoral steely Miss Sloane.

NATHANIEL: One of the things that stuck with me from the first time we talked years ago was how many questions you write into each script about your character. With this character in particular, she is really a complicated woman

JESSICA: So complicated.

NATHANIEL: So was your script just buried in notes? 

JESSICA: Oh my gosh, it was insane...

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Tweetweek: Oscar Sighs, Purring Cats, and "the grim specter of death"

Lots more after the jump including a Xavier Dolan reveal, Erin Brockovich hotness, Scorsese shrugging, dumb birds, and Blade Runner... 

Chastain takes the title role of #MISSLOANE by the throat, smashes it against the wall 10X, and then devours it while it’s still quivering.

— Mick LaSalle (@MickLaSalle) December 5, 2016

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