Beauty vs Beast: Emma Times Two

Jason Adams of MNPP here with a brand new edition of our weekly "Beauty vs Beast" poll -- it is the 60th birthday of the great Emma Thompson today! And age thankfully hasn't slowed her down a bit -- she's got several projects in the works (I'm pretty excited about her upcoming series called Years and Years with Queer as Folk UK and Dr Who writer Russell T Davies) not to mention I just had a, "Wait, who is that talking...?" moment two days ago when she turned up as the voice of a queenly ape-person in Laika's Missing Link. But for her birthday let's look back at her two great great great Merchant Ivory roles of the early 90s, because who could I put against Dame Emma Thompson for a true contest other than but Dame Emma Thompson herself.

survey solutions

PREVIOUSLY It's not easy to beat down Divine but Kathleen Turner managed to do just that with last week's John Waters poll -- the Serial Mom herself, which just celebrated its 25th anniversary this weekend, took a full 75% of your vote. Said ?:

"Beverly/Kathleen Turner all the way. Personally I would have given her all the awards for "War of the Roses", but "Serial Mom" was a fun outing for this gifted actress. At least at TFE she is remembered and revered appropriately."

Pussywillows! Serial Mom at 25

by Salim Garami

What's good?

The existence of Serial Mom 25 years ago establishes that America’s current obsession with true crime stories – with the likes of Serial and American Crime Story and the never-ending avalanche of Netflix documentaries – is not something remotely new to our day and age. Hell, it wasn’t even new to 1994; many of the social observations Serial Mom makes arguably were already well before up to the previous year’s The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom. There is little prophetic in the satire but there is A LOT of scary forecasting regarding the OJ Simpson murder case that was just around the corner at the time of its release...

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Beauty vs Beast: Only a Mother's Love

Jason from MNPP here -- it's safe to say that there isn't a week (a day, an hour) where something having to do with John Waters doesn't drift through my happily polluted brain, but this week's really turning it out. (It's good to gear ourselves up for John's new book out in May, I suppose!) For one this upcoming Saturday the 25th anniversary of his last truly great film Serial Mom, starring a deliciously unhinged Kathleen Turner as the sunny recycling-prone Jekyll & Hyde of suburbia. And for another MoMA, as part of their "What Price Hollywood" series on cinema's transgressive sexual politics, is screening Female Trouble twice this month. So with Mother's Day already in the air (and by "in the air" I mean "on the seasonal shelves of my local CVS") I ask us for this week's "Beauty vs Beast" to turn our eyes upon these two of John's most loving mothers...

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PREVIOUSLY Last week's Tully poll was relatively tight, which is as it should be with two characters so inextricable, but it was momma Margo who pulled it out at the end with 56% of the vote. Said JF:

"Charlize is straight-up one of the greatest screen actors of all time. Male, female, living, dead, any era, any genre, *tongue pop*. I have never been ready for how great she is an I hope I never am."

Movies to Make You Hot (& Sweaty)

by Seán McGovern

If summer is making you all hot and bothered (and sticky and sweaty), you should crank your movie watching up to your body heat. What are your favourite films set in the long, hot summer? My suggestions after the jump, cool off in the comments...

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The Link With Two Brains

• Vulture Kathleen Turner in conversation, dishing on Burt Reynolds, William Hurt, Eileen Atkins and more. I had no idea that she didn't like Elizabeth Taylor! That's insane but Turner is always good for a blurb. So frank and funny. 
• Parade 10 Steve Martin quotes to brighten your day on his birthday
• Variety Ruby Rose is the latest actress to quit her social media after online trolling. This time a bizarre she's not gay enough to play a gay character or some nonsense (even though she's been out for years!). When will the madness end and why do we live in such a mean world?

 

• MNPP the trailer to Gaspar Noe's latest provocation, Climax
• Slate a round up of all the shark jokes people made while reporting on The Meg
• Film School Rejects Netflix's original film slate for the last few months of this year. It's stacked. 
• Variety an update of sorts on that Fan Bingbing rumor we told you about. Is China banning her from acting for 3 years?
• Variety should the Emmys have even more categories? Acting categories too often combine very disparate skills.
• /Film Neill Blomkamp (District 9) is directing a sequel to Robocop, ignoring the other sequels apparently, and he wants Peter Weller to return as star. 
• Variety Instant Family, a comedy starring Rose Byrne and Mark Wahlberg moved up from 2019 to a November bow this year
• i09 Jeff Goldblum jigsaw puzzles!
• Coming Soon Train to Busan, the Korean zombie hit, is getting a sequel 

Exit Video
It's another teaser for Matthew Weiner's new series The Romanoffs. I'm soooo excited for this because I love Weiner AND I have no idea what to expect really even after watching this. Looks like the kind of show that might have instant takes which prove incredibly wrongheaded once you see the show develop.