Saturday, August 26, 2017 at 9:02AM Two truths.
Is Jessica Chastain the New Jessica Chastain?
— FILM TWlTTER (@filmtwiter) August 17, 2017
Biggest fight in combat sports history, sorry Mayweather/McGregor #ThorRagnarok pic.twitter.com/BjsPvqYnRN
— Chris Hemsworth (@chrishemsworth) August 23, 2017
After the jump: cool cats, controversial fav Scorsese, eclipse jokes, Emmy jokes, niche actressexual polls, and much more...
Monday, July 3, 2017 at 3:00PM Jason from MNPP here - I think that most of us have mixed (to put it mildly) feelings about Tom Cruise, who is celebrating his 55th birthday today (yes, he was Born on the Third of July). But there's no arguing that his radar for Big Mainstream Action Movie Success has seemed fairly fine tuned for all of the four decades that he's been batting in the major leagues. Well... until The Mummy this summer, which more than just being a bad movie (he's had plenty of those) felt like an actively bad choice for him particularly. The role didn't fit him and he didn't manage to make it fit him by the sheer force of smiling will that his stardom's been so foundationally built upon.
So perhaps that why now he's finally stepping back into the role that made him a star in the first place, and asking us to remember when something as simple as a jet plane and a pair of aviator glasses was all it took to throttle the box office - the Top Gun sequel, subtitled Maverick, was finally made official this week - it will be out in two years (July 2019) and it will be directed by Joseph Kosinski, who worked with Cruise on the (underrated, says me) sci-fi flick Oblivion. So let's look back ourselves, here on this Patriotic Eve, at the movie as American as American Military Might...
PREVIOUSLY I was about to say that we couldn't have made a more wild swing, celebrating Tom Cruise this week to having celebrated Peter Lorre last week, but you know... not really? Perhaps as Cruise grows older he can embrace his diminuitive weirdness to similar effect. Anyway as for last week's Maltese contest it was Bogart who won, but barely, with just 53% of the vote. Said Tom:
"I think both are lucky Mary Astor isn't here. But as it is I vote for Sam. He does such wild and unpredictable things."
Friday, June 16, 2017 at 3:15PM Four more reader questions to kick off the weekend. Wheeee. As ever, I'd love to hear your answers to these questions thrown my way.
MATT ST CLAIR: Is there an unseen awards contender this year that you are hoping doesn't fail?
NATHANIEL: My "please let this be successful" hopes reside with Blade Runner 2049 (because the original's reputation being tarnished would be such a pity), The Greatest Showman (because musicals MUST continue to thrive) and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (because it's infinitely annoying that Annette Bening doesn't have an Oscar yet and didn't even get nominated for such gorgeous work in 20th Century Women). While we're well- wishing please let Wonderstruck, How to Talk to Girls at Parties, and The Florida Project could be bigger hits than usual for Todd Haynes, John Cameron Mitchell, and Sean Baker, since they're three of our most distinctive American auteurs. I could go on but I'll stop as no genie grants unlimited wishes.
CATBASKETS: I've been thinking a lot about straight actors getting their starts or big breaks playing gay roles--Hugh Grant in Maurice, Guy Pierce in Priscilla, DDL in Beautiful Launderette, Charlie Hunnam in Queer as Folk, Eddie Redmayne in Savage Grace, etc. etc. Do you think this was/is a major rite of passage for actors? Do you think this will slow down now that there's more awareness/active demand for gay actors to play these roles?
Monday, June 12, 2017 at 10:35AM By Nathaniel R
Universal's attempted monster movie franchise launch didn't go so well. The Mummy met scathing reviews and a disappointing opening weekend. Now, a $32 million launch would be major news for many films but not for a $125 million budgeted feature starring Tom Cruise that is intending to launch a whole "universe". Not everything can be Marvel's Cinematic Universe, Hollywood!
In the absence of a strong competitor and on terrific word of mouth (no small thing), Wonder Woman continued her reign at the box office. Given a relatively small second week drop (43% while DC's usual superhero sophomore frame drop is 67%) the Amazon princess is looking to join the $300 million club stateside which will put her right up there with Supes and Batman. DC's "Big Three" indeed.
Charts and further comments after the jump...
Thursday, June 8, 2017 at 8:10AM 
Must See
EW has new images from Mary Poppins Returns. Oh please let this be good. Please let it be good.
Linkage
Decider the 50 most important LGBT characters in tv history - they'll be doing essays on the top 10. Two of our contributors were included in their polling.
The Guardian thinks Tom Cruise should ditch the heroics and play an unsavory character again. We heartily agree. He seemed to lose all his artistic ambition (if not his general ambition) right around the time of the Kidman divorce. It's been almost a two decade stretch of franchise heroes only now with rare exceptions like Rock of Ages and Collateral.
Deadline Donald Glover talks Atlanta and taking on the famous role of Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise
Guardian Remember Blue is the Warmest Color? Director Abdellatif Kechiche is auctioning off his Palme d'Or and other memorabilia to pay for his next movie
Variety on the common thread that unites the shows that Netflix has recently cancelled. Guys, I'm so sad about Sense8. It wasn't perfect in any way but it was so earnest and original and sexually inclusive (sigh)
Coming Soon Ryan Coogler and Michael B Jordan are fast becoming a fiercely committed director/muse duo. They're going to make a school cheating drama Wrong Answer after Black Panther. It will already be their fourth movie together and they only made their first one, Fruitvale Station, four years ago.
MNPP Jason uncovers a mystery about the naked hustler in Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Interview Matthew McConaughey interviews his screen son from Interstellar Timothée Chalamet, reportedly about to breakthrough to the big leagues with Call Me By Your Name
She's a Wonder... Wonder Woman
Variety Wonder Woman banned or delayed in a few countries
The New Yorker an intriguing review of Wonder Woman focusing on its restraint and the style of "no style" as well as the claim that it's not just a superhero movie but "an entry in the genre of wisdom literature"
THR Patty Jenkins not yet signed on for Wonder Woman 2. The internet at large seems convinced WB/DC will throw money at her. Was the internet not paying attention when other female directors were dumped after launching big grossing franchises (think 50 Shades of Grey and The Twilight Saga)? I'm not saying this will happen again. There's more pressure and scrutiny now on this topic. I'm just saying it's more of a possibility than people are admitting given Hollywood's history of treating female directors much differently than their male counterparts.
Theater Season
Time Out NY Tony Award predictions including potential surprises
Playbill Molly Pope is starring in a new one person musical Second to Nun -readers near Virginia Beach should definitely seek this out. She is an amazing talent
Variety looks at how an Oregon theater in a small town has become a major player in prestigious American theater
Exit Video
Rachel Bloom won't be campaigning for an Emmy *wink wink*
