Eddie Redmayne and the Fantastic Beasts

Manuel here sharing the first look at Best Actor incumbent Eddie Redmayne in his first* blockbuster outing.

Yes, that's everyone's favorite ginger as Newt Scamander in the Harry Potter spinoff series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which takes its title from one of the many textbooks Harry & co. used during their tenure at Hogwarts which J.K. Rowling actually released as a real book back in 2001, and if you've gotten this far and understood what all of those things mean, chances are you are the teensiest bit excited about plunging back into the world of wands and wizards. (And/or irritated at WB's shameless attempt at keeping the franchise alive).

And if you're wondering who's responsible for Redmayne's oh-so-dapper look  it's none other than the great Colleen Atwood. And if this is any indication, the film will at least be pretty to look at. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to shop around for a sapphire blue coat and brown wool suit.

*He'll surely want us to forget Jupiter Ascending.

Peter Sarsgaard's Stellar 2015

Murtada here. Peter Sarsgaard was lost for a few years either in films that no one saw (Green Lantern, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh), that no one noticed him in (Blue Jasmine, An Education) or that were instantly forgotten (Knight and Day, Lovelace). Some feared he would never deliver on the searing promise he showed in 2003’s Shattered Glass. But 2015 is shaping up to be a fantastic year for him, with not one, not two but three incredible performances in Pawn Sacrifice, Black Mass and Experimenter.

More on the performances........

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Women's Pictures - Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay!

When beginning a month long retrospective of Mira Nair, there probably isn't a better intro than the opening of Salaam Bombay!: A brightly colored circus, a stonefaced child left behind, a train ride to the bright streets of Bombay. Nair's films are eye-catching spectacles that find the beautiful in the mundane. But her playfulness is sharply contrasted with the real issues her films address. Salaam Bombay! is an observation of the secret world of the often-overlooked children living on Bombay's streets that balances bright visuals with social realism in order to paint a complex picture of Indian homeless youth.

Mira Nair's first feature follows a closeknit group of kids living between the cracks of Bombay city. The stonefaced boy at the beginning is Krishna (Shafiq Syed), who goes for an errand for the circus owner and comes back to discover that his temporary home with the circus has left without him. Krishna makes his way to Bombay, which is as colorful as the circus, but also more dangerous. Krishna eventually gets a job selling tea, and falls in with a group of urchins. He befriends a drunk, a prostitute, and her daughter. He's illiterate but street smart and is trying to save the unimaginable sum of 500 rupees to bring back to his mother - though he's not sure where he is. But don't mistake Krishna's story for a Dickensian tale of woe. Salaam Bombay! is not melodrama. Nair approaches her subject with empathy and curiosity, and gets the children to open up to her as well.

more...

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Nicole, Queen of the Amazons?

In her continual quest to spent every waking moment of her adult life on film sets (girl enjoy that lovely farm for a month!) our Nicole Kidman has lined up two potentially awful / potentially awesome new roles this week. (That's in addition to the films she's already shot that have yet to hit theaters.) The biggest ticket is Wonder Woman (2017) the sequel/prequel (?) to next spring's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The role in question is apparently Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons and mother to our wondrous woman.

Whatever would Cloris Leachman make of this? 

Do you care about Nicole Kidman appearing in Wonder Woman?

No. Take a break already.

Only if she's playing Wonder Woman

Yes, I'll see her in anything.

Poll Maker

Cloris  looks none too pleased. If you're of a certain age you'll remember that Cloris Leachman played the role on TV's Wonder Woman and she was the only member of the cast who truly embraced the (unintentional) comedy of Amazon Island. 

That's a ridiculously high profile film but the more intriguing project is the film adaptation of the best seller The Silent Wife about a woman who plots her philandering husband's murder. Our Ms Kidman has been attached to that one for a couple of years but now it has a director and that's where the intrigue comes in. It's none other than maestro of sexually charged thrillers Adrian Lyne (Indecent Proposal, Fatal Attraction, Lolita, 9 1/2 Weeks) . Lyne hasn't made a movie in 13 years but it's worth noting that he didn't go out with a whimper. He just quit. His last film was Unfaithful (2002) which was a hit and nabbed Diane Lane well deserved acting awards including an Oscar nomination. Lyne is now 74 years old but this year alone should have definitively put a stake in the undead assumption that directors age out of their gift -- see George Miller & Ridley Scott's huge artistic successes this year in their 70s and their entrenchment in the Best Director conversation. 

The movie star's recent femme thriller work has opened and closed without much excitement but Lyne is a big deal in that genre, even wrestling an Oscar nomination from it for Fatal Attraction, so godspeed to them both.

The Bening to the Rescue!

Murtada here. 2015 is a banner year for actresexuals. From Clouds of Sils Maria in the spring, to the summer of prickly older ladies (Lily, Blythe and Meryl) and through to this month’s Brooklyn and Carol, we were spoiled. Looking forward to 2016 though, it is looking barren. It might just be early days as the release calendar hasn’t taken full shape yet.

But fear not actressexuals, Annette Bening’s coming to rescue us all from more stories about men and the obsession with their legacy and position in the world (ahem Steve Jobs!). Here she is, in glorious ratty overalls on the set of 20th Century Women. Mike Mills' long awaited follow-up to Beginners is a casting dream with lead roles for The Bening, Greta Gerwig and Elle Fanning. Bening is Dorothea Fields, a mother raising her teenage son, Jamie, in Southern California in the summer of 1979. Also in Jamie’s life are a sophisticated photographer (Gerwig) and his teenage friend (Fanning). Mills based the characters on women he knew growing up.

And what’s with those blue overalls? And she’s not looking too happy. Hopefully that means there’s lots of drama to deal with. Mills after all made a poignant and beautiful story in Beginners, another movie he based on his personal experiences. That led to Christopher Plummer winning an Oscar. Could he work his magic for The Bening as well?

Are you excited for 20th Century Women? What other 2016 releases do you think can continue the actressexuals bliss we are having now?