Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 7:00PM Here's Eric to continue our mini Kirk Douglas fest. The actor turns 100 tomorrow
The story goes that Kirk Douglas was so disappointed that William Wyler didn’t cast him as the lead in 1959’s Ben-Hur that he optioned Howard Fast’s similarly-themed novel Spartacus for his chance to conquer the Roman Empire...
Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 4:01PM This year's Oscar race for foreign film has the usual number of World War II dramas, biopics, and historical epics but as far as we can tell it's only got one Latin American LGBT drama about a damaged old man's thorny relationship with a poor street hustler he picks up who keeps coming back thereafter for more cash and the more mysterious pull of companionship. That film, Desde Alla / From Afar, now available to screen on Netflix, began its breakthrough journey winning the Golden Lion at Venice in 2015 for first time narrative director Lorenzo Vigas. I talked to him about working with an Oscar winning screenwriter, that Venice honor, and his terrific young find, Luis Silva, who holds his own opposite one of the Latin America's finest actors, Alredo Castro.
The interview is after the jump...
Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 12:46PM With La La Land opening tomorrow (go see it) we must discuss it's already combed over reception from film critics and awards pundits and the like. When La La Land took the Best Picture prize from the NYFCC last week, certain pockets of people were outraged. Suddenly it was a "safe" movie, middlebrow, something utterly and completely common. 'Boy meets girls. Boy loses girl. UGH Romantic Dramas, am I right?!' Awards season backlash and contrarianism is a real thing though people try to pretend it's not each and every year and consider their motives solely pure. I know I've been guilty of it myself. I trust exactly no one in the entire talking-about-movies ecosphere who claims they haven't. Awards season is like politics; It affects everyone, even or especially those who rage against it and claim it to be meaningless to them. File that type under "the lady doth protest too much".
Naturally I was quick to jump to La La Land's defense whenever this happened. This was not because I love it (which I do...but keeping it 100 it's not a Moulin Rouge! level masterwork or anything) or even because I am a die hard warrior for the musical form. No, I bristle solely because this stance is ridiculous. La La Land is absolutely the furthest thing from a "safe" or common movie. And how uncommon it is, after further research, was stunning even to me!
Some lists before the revelation...
Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 10:33AM 
Chris here with one of our newest favorites - well, new to the movies at least. Janelle Monáe has already been such an effervescent musician and entertainer this decade, crushing it with ferocious moves and slick style. The leap to movies was only inevitable with all that charisma. This year she's made quite the successful transition, landing right in the middle of Oscar season with supporting roles in two contenders Moonlight and Hidden Figures. Both films and characters are quite different, showing the star's range and excitingly delivering her breakthrough for two black narratives.
But it's not just happenstance of two great projects in the same season. In short order, Monáe proves to be as much of a natural cinematic talent as she is a musical one. Without any of the stunted skills of her pop contemporaries trying out this acting thing, she's already the kind of screen presence you just want to spend more time with. In short order, Janelle Monáe deserves to be a damn movie star...
Thursday, December 8, 2016 at 8:12AM by Daniel Crooke
Judging by Hollywood’s gluttony with the bottomless box office buffet of remakes, sequels, and reboots, it’s a fair assumption that the average development slate subsists on a diet built purely on previously existing properties. Spider-Mans make for a great snack, Mummys are the perfect midnight meal, and Beauty and the Beast is the latest on Disney’s plate of microwaved leftovers. This week, as Frank Oz’s classic 1986 horror-comedy musical Little Shop of Horrors hits Warner Bros’ menu, the budding beast bellows once more: feed me!
