Showbiz History: A Very Meryl Streep Kind of Day

5 random things that happened on this day, December 8th, in showbiz history

1861 Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès born in Paris to boot factory owners. He would eventually become a stage magician and then in the early days of the silent era, a popular filmmaker. He is often regarded as the father of visual effects so he really ought to be more canonized given that that's the kind of movie the public cares most about for many many years now. You might recall Ben Kingsley played him in Scorsese's Hugo.

Gene Kelly, Meryl Streep, and Matthias Schoenaerts after the jump...

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Review: The Old Guard

by Lynn Lee

In my more fanciful moments, I have a pet theory that Charlize Theron is a reincarnated ancient goddess.  I’m not just talking about her statuesque beauty, effortless glamour, or seeming immunity to aging.  No, I mean her superhuman ability to batter, dirty up, strip down and sometimes strip away that beauty in service of a role…only to reemerge in the same state of impossible physical perfection as before, as if nothing had happened.

Who better, then, to play a female warrior who never dies or grows old and whose wounds heal without a trace?  While Theron’s played a lot of certifiable badasses in recent years, she hasn’t often been cast as a bona fide superhero, and the results have been mixed when she has (Aeon Flux is the last that comes to mind, unless you count Hancock).  I’m happy to report she finds a good fit with The Old Guard, Netflix’s latest attempt to make us all forget we ever needed to go to a movie theater...

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Almost There: Marion Cotillard in "Rust and Bone"

by Cláudio Alves

Throughout the years, the Oscars' most polyglot acting category has been Best Actress, amassing twenty nominations and two victories for performances in non-English languages. Those winners, Sophia Loren (1961, Two Women) and Marion Cotillard (2007, La Vie en Rose), are also the only women to nab more than one nod for acting in their native non-English tongue. That's not the only factor that makes Cotillard's awards history a strange affair. She's also one the very few actors to get attention from the four major precursors (BFCA, HFPA, BAFTA, SAG) for her work in "foreign language" films, a feat she accomplished twice. Strangely enough, it wasn't for the same two productions that got her the Academy's attention!

Marion Cotillard's take on Edith Piaf got nominated for everything and, in the end, conquered her a little golden man. Still, five years later she was royally snubbed, becoming only the second person to get those four precursor nominations and fail to enter the Oscar line-up. The film was Jacques Audiard's Rust and Bone and the performance remains one of Cotillard's greatest achievements…

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Would you rather?

We haven't wasted time with Instagram and celebrity fantasies in ages. So... we've sifted through various photos we screencapped from the past month or two to offer you up a now-rare WOULD YOU RATHER...

• pet a kitty w/ Matthias Schoenaerts?
• stroll in Parisian rain w/ Billy Porter?
• football and burgers w/ Laura Dern?
• join a tickle party w/ Romy & Michelle?
• grab a margarita w/ Michelle Monaghan?
• spot Luke Evans while he lifts concrete?
• get a tattoo with Ryan Phillipe?
• lunch with Douglas + Zeta-Jones?
• slip up with Lady Bunny? 
• have a night out w/ John Barrowman in WeHo?

The pictures are after the jump to help you decide...

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Links: Joker, Spidey, Clint, Kristen, and more

New Yorker  “movies I can’t watch anymore because my climate anxiety is too real”

Filmmaker Laura Dern will get a tribute at the Gotham Awards on December 2nd. Your move Jennifer Lopez

Coming Soon - Because Warner Bros can't help themselves with Clint Eastwood flicks, The Ballad of Richard Jewell is joining the already crowded December calendar of film releases. Eastwood’s last Oscar-smash was American Sniper (2014) though the past three pictures (Sully, 15:17 to Paris, The Mule) have not interested Oscar much at all.

After the jump Kristen Chenoweth, Spider-Man, Joker and more…

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