Would you rather?

We haven't done one of these in a month or two. So let's gaze at pretty Celebrity instagram pics.

Would you rather
...meditate with Chris Hemsworth?
...take a hike with Helen Hunt and pup?
...go horseback riding with Hilary Swank?
...relax in Mexico with Tessa Thompson?
...get a face mask with Alan Cumming?
...attend storytime with Sandy Powell and Glenda Jackson?
...hit the waterfall with Luke Evans? 
...admire Stacey Abrams with Kerry Washington?
...get fit with Viola Davis?
... or revive Cruella DeVil with Glenn Close?
...do a press day with Nicole Kidman?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide. 

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Yes No Maybe So: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

by Nathaniel R

Chadwick heading for a posthumous Oscar nod?

How about them songs I give you?

Netflix is trying the shotgun approach this year by releasing one buzzy potential Oscar contender after another. Perhaps they felt emboldened by landing two (The Irishman, Marriage Story) of the nine Best Picture nods last year and coming close to a third with The Two Popes.  Of course no studio ever has only hits but they've already released Da 5 Bloods, i'm Thinking of Ending Things, The Boys in the Band, and Da 5 Bloods and still to come are The Prom, The Life Ahead, Pieces of a Woman, The Midnight Sky, Hillbilly Elegy, and tonight's topic: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom so they'll probably do well this year with an overall nomination tally. How many actual Best Picture contenders is a more difficult question.

About Ma Rainey...

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Best Actress Predictions

by Nathaniel R

Sophia Loren with her son, director Edoardo Ponti

We try to save the best for last. We know where our bread is buttered. Or, rather, what kind of bread we like in the first place, and which buttery spread is the perfect topper. Which brings us to BEST ACTRESS...

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First Images: "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"

by Nathaniel R

Look, it's the first images from Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, based on the August Wilson play of the same name. It's part of his Pittsburgh Cycle of 10 plays documenting the African American experience (with each of the ten plays set in different decades). Denzel Washington is planning to produce all 10 (2 down, 8 to go... how many more will Viola get to star in?). Ma Rainey's... is set in the 1920s and stars Viola Davis as the singer Ma Rainey and Chadwick Boseman as her trumpeter Levee (the two 'star' roles in the show) and involves a very heated recording session and fights therein. The costumes you see here are by the indefatigable four-time Oscar nominee Ann Roth, who is still doing great work regularly at 88 years of age...

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Links: Fletch, Hamilton, most-watched on Netflix

• /Film Exciting project alert: Viola Davis will headline 19th century drama The Woman King from Old Guard director Gina Prince Blythewood
• Deadline Paul Thomas Anderson's 1970s high school drama is shifting studios from Focus to MGM

More after the jump including Hamilton, Nine Perfect Strangers, a streaming stage recommendation, a reboot of the Chevy Chase franchise Fletch, and that 10 most watched Netflix list

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