Cannes at Home: Day 8 – The Beautiful People

by Cláudio Alves

Sean Baker's ANORA looks like a top contender for the Palme d'Or.

After much divisiveness in the Main Competition, the Cannes critics finally have something to fawn over in collective uproar. Sean Baker's Anora was a hit with press and audiences alike, standing out in a selection of otherwise derided titles. Indeed, Christophe Honoré's Marcello Mio met critical rejection on the same day of Grand Tour's world premiere, while Paolo Sorrentino's Parthenope inspired another wave of dissenting opinions. Some love it, while many others decry the Neapolitan director's obsession with objectified female bodies, beauty above everything else, even cinematic meaning. Considering his last few projects, this shouldn't come as a surprise.

That shall be the theme of this Cannes at Home program—the beautiful people. Let's explore the siren calls of Baker's Tangerine, Honoré's The Beautiful Person, and Sorrentino's Oscar-winning The Great Beauty…

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Interview: Sean Baker and Simon Rex on 'Red Rocket'

by Nathaniel R

What film character will you remember best from the past year? One of our contenders for that crown is, for better and worse, Mikey Saber, the motor-mouthed adult film actor in Red Rocket. Better, because he's wonderfully written by Sean Baker and brilliantly played by Simon Rex. Worse because he's a walking disaster and narcissistic predator. Though the indie grossed a solid $1 million in limited release, it would surely have been a bigger success if its raucous mix of sex/cringe/character comedy could have played to more crowded theaters in non-pandemic times. Still, a Cannes competition premiere, 3 Gotham Award nominations, and a Los Angeles Film Critics Association win for Best Actor makes Red Rocket's brief run a major success. The film and Simon Rex's devilishly funny star turn are both bound to pick up more admirers soon on home viewing.

We had the privilege of sitting down briefly with writer/director Sean Baker and star Simon Rex prior to the release to talk about the film. [This interview has been edited for length and clarity...]

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Holiday Movie Drinking Game Guides

by Christopher James

Kate Winslet is ready for some holiday drinking games. Are you?This Christmas is going to be different for a lot of people. One of my favorite Christmas traditions was taking my Mom to the movies at our local movie theater, Lodi Stadium 12. The theater had come a long way from having a bedbug infestation in the early 2010s to now having a bar in the area that used to be the party room and fancy reclining seats (hold the bedbugs). One of my favorite memories was the two of us ordering glass after glass of wine during our sold out showing of Collateral Beauty (it wasn’t sold out for long, people trickled out every 10 minutes). For those of you enjoying a socially distant or virtual Christmas, a holiday movie drinking game may be just what you need in order to get through the holiday.

Without further ado, here are some drinking guides to some Christmas classics…

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Links: An Amy Adams Double, Nolan Rankings, and Homosexual Erasure

Must Reads
• Vulture Rachel Handler hilariously ranks Christopher Nolan's movies by how willing she would be to die for the privilege of seeing them in movie theaters.
• The Hollywood Report looks back at the making of X-Men (2000) and how it created a monster with young director Bryan Singer

More after the jump including Amy Adams-centric news, "Do You Have the Antibodies?" a hit waiting to happen, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof's failures, a new Brad Pitt project and more...

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Film Bitch Awards ~ The Grand Finale

Another film year closes. Tonight when the Best Picture prize is handed out (it'll be a nailbiter down to the wire, even if The Revenant is taking lots of craft prizes) it's all over but the post-mortem party and then we're on to 2016's movies. At last! But first, if you haven't checked Nathaniel's own annual tradition the Film Bitch Awards (the name came from friends in college before the site existed -- yes, i was giving out imaginary prizes every year since, like, junior high -- and it stuck for better and SEO worst), please do.

Nominations and gold, silver, and bronze medals in 18 traditional categories and 22 "extra" fun ones have all been announced. Consider this a yearbook of TFE's most beloved screen adventures and obsessions from the 2015 film year. I wish we could have an awards show (perhaps a video show for 2016? though we'll need more funds first. Hint hint. Subscribe!) or forge actual medals. But for now these annual prizes will have to do!

PAGE 1  Picture, Director, Screenplay
Carol and Mad Max begin their huge medal runs. Which will emerge victorious?

PAGE 2  Acting Categories
Prizes for Steve Jobs, 45 Years, Love and Mercy, Creed, and more... 

PAGE 3  Visual Categories
Ex Machina refuses to leave empty-handed despite fierce competition

PAGE 4  Music & Sound Categories
Sicario gets much of its punch from its ear candy. Or ear poison, rather, because that shit is sinister.

PAGE 5  Extra Acting-Related Categories
*JUST ANNOUNCED* Nominations and Medals in the Limited and Cameo categories including honors for Magic Mike XXL, Grandma, lesser known actors from Spotlight and more...

PAGE 6  Memorable Characters
Prizes for Inside Out and more...

PAGE 7  Best Scenes
Here's where films of all genres and target audiences tend to rise up to joust with each other. Notices for a huge swath of high and lowbrow achievements: 50 Shades of Grey, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Tangerine, Diary of a Teenage Girl, and many more...

Please enjoy and discuss. It's more fun when movie-love is communal!