592 Days Til "Mulan"

Production has begun on Disney's live action adaptation of Mulan starring Liu Yufei (pictured below) whose 31st birthday is in just two weeks time. So happy birthday to her as she hits the global stage. 

Curiously Disney says they conducted a 'year long search' for the lead as if they were going with an unknown but Liu Yufei has been a busy actor for over ten years now, first breaking out in Forbidden Kingdom (2008) starring Jackie Chan...

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Beauty vs Beast: Fashion, Disasters

Jason from MNPP here with another edition of "Beauty vs Beast" -- the year 1972 is the "Year of the Month" at TFE for August and coincidentally I'd just listed my favorite films of 1972 over on my own site recently. There I chose five fave films but it's not hard for me to narrow it down further and choose my absolute favorite from that bunch - Rainer Werner Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant is my favorite Fassbinder (which is saying quite a bit given my love for Fassbinder) and it stars my favorite Fassbinder actress (I'm Team Margit from way back) in a lesbian bed death match with Everybody Else's Favorite Fassbinder Actress (Hanna Schygulla as the beautiful user Karin)... which makes it perfect for one of these polls!

bike trails

PREVIOUSLY We wish The Fugitive a happy 25 last week and y'all tossed your lot in with the man accused, unlike the Oscars, giving Harrison Ford's Dr. Kimble a 63 to 37 percent edge over Tommy Lee Jones and his Oscar statue. Said Suzanne:

"Only one of these men has Ralph Fiennes's Oscar for Schindler's List, and it isn't Harrison Ford!"

"I thought you were hot as fire..."

I thought you were hot as fire. In fact, you're cool as water."

Great Moments in Screen Kisses #91
Zhang Ziyi and Takeshi Kaneshiro in House of Flying Daggers (2004)

The Meg's Box Office Bite. Plus Ant-Man 2 Crosses $200 Million

by Nathaniel R

Until we hear further details, everything will be viewed through the lens of our apocalyptic fears about Oscar's new "popular achievement" category. Does The Meg's huge opening weekend mean it'll be up for an Oscar? I mean it has been since Jaws that a giant shark movie was Oscar nominated, so if Oscar wants to remain "relevant" they should totally start recognizing MUTANT SHARK movies! Elsewhere in box office news, Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman opened to great reviews, and much discussion, and is a total must-see "but since it didn't open big, I guess it's not as good as Slender Man and The Men so it doesn't deserve Oscar recognition, right?" he added sarcastically...

Weekend Box Office Estimates (August 10-12)
W I D E 800+ screens	PLATFORM / LIMITED excluding prev. wide
The Meg	Three Identical Strangers
1. 🔺THE MEG  $44.5 *NEW* REVIEW	1. THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS $700K on 326 screens (cum. $9.6) REVIEW
2. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT $20 (cum. $161.9)  REVIEW, PODCAST	2. 🔺THE ISLAND $282k on 40 screens *NEW*
3. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN $12.4 (cum. $50)  REVIEW	3. BLINDSPOTTING $220k on 138 screens (cum. $3.7)
4.🔺 SLENDER MAN $11.3 *NEW*  REVIEW	4. 🔺 PUZZLE $164k on 44 screens (cum. $447k)
5.🔺BLACKKKLANSMAN $10.7 *NEW* REVIEW	5. 🔺 MCQUEEN $154k on 53 screens (cum. $750k) REVIEW

Though it did very well for a Spike Lee joint, Spike Lee joints don't tend to set the box office on fire. So should he return that Honorary Oscar? I'M JUST FOLLOWING OSCAR'S LOGIC THROUGH, Y'ALL. I seriously can't stop being pissed about this "popular achievement." notion. To quote Don Draper...

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Say What? Natalie Portman in "Vox Lux"

Amuse us. Add a caption or dialogue to this first photo of Natalie Portman in Brady Corbet's Vox Lux. The movie is a 15 year long story of a young girl who survives a traumautic shooting and later becomes a pop sensation. Score by Scott Walker (Pola X!!!) and songs by Sia. Can't wait... though we might have to. No word on when it's coming out but it debuts in Venice next month.