Links

Village Voice Bilge Elbiri on a film review that changed his live (J Hoberman's 1992 piece on Orson Welles' Othello) - lovely personal piece
Nick Davis Chicago film festival jury picks and his own precise takes on the movies screened including high profile gems like Call Me By Your Name, and several foreign film Oscar submissions
Esquire Bryan Cranston must be seeking to sabotage his Oscar hopes this year with this admission that he's rooting for Trump to succeed
Huffington Post talks to Melissa Leo about Novitiate and becoming a gay icon with those "Consider..." ads

Another Mag amazing photos of the well decorated sets of Call Me By Your Name
EW Moulin Rouge!'s stage musical adaptation sets its debut for next summer in Boston. Which means we're probably looking at a Broadway transfer and contention for the June 2019 Tonys.
SBS an amazing interview with Katya and Trixie whose new series The Trixie & Katya Show starts real soon
Vanity Fair sits down with still-rising Tessa Thompson about her stereotype defying career
Esquire jumps on the "give I, Tonya Oscars" bandwagon. I tell you what dear readers, the ease with which this movie is getting people excited when I though it was genuinely not good (mockumentary stale, politically problematic, and cheap-looking) is going to make this Oscar season a loooong one for me (sigh). Ah well. You can't love everything... or every Oscar season. 

YNMS: "Annihilation"

Chris here. It's not too early to start getting excited for what's coming next year, right? Call it optimism to get 2017 over and done with (even if it's providing us with great films). And one of our most anticipated of next year is one that comes early: February's Annihilation.

The film is writer/director Alex Garland's follow-up to the beloved Ex Machina and is another stoic sci-fi endeavor. Based on the first book in Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, Natalie Portman stars as a biologist exploring the mysterious Area X after her husband's expedition of the land ended in disaster. Area X is a geographical anomaly of sorts, and the government may or may not know the full extent of its power. VanderMeer's series is a tricky bit of first-person genre work, so I have long been curious how it could translate to film, particularly with his creepy but evasive details of Area X. Let's take a look at the first trailer and run down the Yes No Maybe So of the results:

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would you rather?

It's time for our silly celeb-fantasy game courtesy of instagram 

...growl at Halle Berry and Pedro Pascal?
...look as fab as Anya Taylor Joy despite a hangover?
...visit Mallorca with Rossy de Palma?
... hit the museum of ice cream with Selma Blair?
... go broom-shopping with Lauren Weedman?
... get sandwiched by Janelle Monae and Tessa Thompson?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide.

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YNMS: "Thor: Ragnarok"

Chris here. Though next month brings Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we here at The Film Experience are keeping even more of an eye on November's threequel Thor: Ragnarok. The first looks of Cate Blanchett as villain Hela has had us all giddy, even those who might be irked at one of our greats hopping into the MCU at this stage. My bet is if she has fun, so will we - no matter how her turn with Indiana Jones turned out.

But it's more than actressing that's got us hyped for another go with the Asgardian hero. With Taika Waititi at the helm, we can expect a hard left turn from the previous Thor installment The Dark World's gloominess. Seriously, readers, if you haven't checked out his most recent lovable yucksters What We Do In The Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, do yourself a favor.

This week we got our action-packed first look at the vibrant trailer. Take a look for yourself and we'll break down the Yes No Maybe So after the jump...

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Thoughts I Had... This EW "Thor: Ragnarok" Cover

Though it's 240 days until Thor: Ragnarok is in theaters, the heavy promo starts now. EW's new cover features Chris Hemsworth, sans long light blonde Thor wig and thus looking far less Scandinavian (sigh) and his two female co-stars. Thoughts that came to me as they came to me without stopping to edit are after the jump...

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