Showbiz History: Andrei Rublev, Avatar 2, and a reunion for the stars of Grease

4 random things that happened on this day, December 16th, in showbiz history

1966 Andrei Tarkovsky's classic Andrei Rublev premieres in Moscow but an actual release for moviegoers was blocked by the Soviet censors. The years will be kind to it and its reputation grows. It goes to Cannes in 1969, finally opens in the Soviet Union in 1971 (to sold out houses) and reaches US arthouses in 1973...

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Links: Cicely Tyson, Daniel Radcliffe, and "I Know Where I've Been"

• THR Cicely Tyson is still winning at age 95. This time it's the Peabody Lifetime Achievement Award. In the past seven years she's received a competitive Tony Award, a Kennedy Center Honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an an Honorary Oscar. Talent + longevity is an unbeatable combination!
• Variety fine actress Keke Palmer (Hustlers) writes a guest column on the current moment and what it asks of us
• The Guardian We were not prepared for "chainsaw accident" and "Cate Blanchett" to be in the same headline. Thankfully she's fine.

more after the jump including Daniel Radcliffe's outreach to fans who are angry with JK Rowling...

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''Cause every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man'

We'd be remiss not to share photos of the men of the 91st Academy Awards. Who wins your best dressed among the men? Despite Rami's perpetually crooked tie, Christian Bale's typical black on black (we didn't include him -- you've seen it dozens of times over the years), and the weird choice of shoes that did strange things to Stephan James (making him look shorter and more childlike), most of the men really stepped it up on Sunday. Men's fashion has been ever-so-slightly more daring this season...

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Sunday in the Link with George

This link roundup was intended for last night, hence the title. We cannot be bound by time here at TFE

• Jake Gyllenhaal omg he's joined instagram and on his second post he's singing Sondheim with Annaleigh Ashford. L-O-V-E
• Vulture a fun interview with Patrick Wilson on Aquaman and much more
• Talkhouse Bruce LaBruce on underknown Canadian Christmas thriller The Silent Partner
• MNPP Stephan James eight times
• Jezebel Oscar-nominated actress/ sometime director Sondra Locke (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter) has died but the obituaries are all about her turbulent relationship with Clint Eastwood

• THR Netflix is making a Dark Crystal prequel with Taron Egerton, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Nathalie Emmanuel as the lead gelflings
• AV Club more Emmy rule changes around what counts as a TV movie 
• Deadline Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan to star in a lesbian romance
• Variety Lumiere award nominations from France (not to be confused with the Césars which are the Oscar equivalent but announce later)
• The New Yorker a convincing pan of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (and you don't see that every day!) that ends with a recommend list of other 'high-feminine mythmaking' worth checking out
• Polygon talks to Phillipa Boyens about the best moment in Return of the King for its 15th anniversary

Finally...
The IndieWire Critics poll has been released. I continue to be dumbfounded that critics support, nay, EMBRACE, category fraud as if they, too, have no respect for any actor who isn't the lead of a movie. You'd think critics (of all people) would be the check and balance on this sort of anti-art gamemanships. It's dumbfounding because they have nothing to gain by kowtowing to the whims of publicists and the egos of movie stars, rather than voting with integrity. They get access either way. I know as one such critic who everyone knows rejects category fraud wherever I see it. As with SAG, 60% of the Supporting Actress list is leading ladies. If you're wondering why Bradley Cooper missed the Best Actor list please know that for some reason he was left off of the pulldown list during voting. I wrote him in but I imagine a lot of people would not have gone to the trouble, not for any nefarious reason but because he slipped their mind when they did not see him on the list of choices. I do not support these kind of shenanigans! But the winners are Roma, Alfonso Cuarón, Olivia Colman, Ethan Hawke, Rachel Weisz (for best leading supporting actress), and Steven Yeun.

Review: If Beale Street Could Talk

by Murtada Elfadl

If Beale Street Could Talk starts with Fonny (Stephan James) asking his girlfriend Tish (Kiki Layne) “Are you ready for this?” I have been ready for a James Baldwin film adaptation for many years. Since I read "Giovanni’s Room" as a young teen and my mind was opened to queer stories. Since I was given "The Fire Next Time" to read as I made the decision to immigrate to the United States, so that I know what I was getting myself into. "Another Country" remains my favorite novel of all time. I am biased for Baldwin, for his writing, for his ideas, for his power, so I was excited for this film. I was also afraid. Will Barry Jenkins be able to interpret Baldwin’s howls of anger and despair as loud as I heard them reading Baldwin’s prose? I needn’t have worried.

Set in early-1970s Harlem, Beale Street is about how Fonny and Tish are separated when he’s arrested for a rape that he did not commit...

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