• Vulture Every Kirsten Dunst role ranked. Wonderful piece by Matthew Jacobs though crazy/beautiful is too low!
• Letterboxd The Writers Guild of America's 101 best screenplays of the 21st century (thus far)
• Interview Colman Domingo interviews Zendaya
• IMDb top 100 stars of 2021 (by their STARmeter rankings) topped by Elisabeth Olsen (WandaVision). The lsit leans heavily into stars from popular shows or movies like everyone from Bridgerton, Ted Lasso, Mare of Easttown, the MCU, and even the star of Squid Game (though the list is heavy on blonde American women). Surprisingly high ranking for Alexander Skarsgård given that he had a mostly quiet year and Kathleen Turner somehow made the list, too, not that we're complaining as longtime fans.
More after the jump including a Shang-Chi sequel, West Side Story plus Steven Spielberg's next film, a big Alessandro Nivola get, the teaser to Across the Spider-Verse, and the top ten list seasonal kickoff...
• MNPP Alessandro Nivola to co-star in Todd Haynes Peggy Lee Biopic as Peggy's (Michelle Williams) first husband
• Out West Side Story has been banned in six Middle Eastern countries over the inclusion of the trans character of "Anybodys" (played by nonbinary actor Iris Menas). If you recall Anybodys was portrayed as a 'tomboy' in the 1961 film...
• TFE ... ICYMI we talked about "Anybodys" and West Side Story's one queer moment in our retrospective
• /FIlm Jennifer Lawrence and Adam McKay will follow up Don't Look Up with another project together, an Elizabeth Holmes business satire/biopic
• The Escapist on the triptych of epics this year The Last Duel, Dune, and The Green Knight that ask what it means to be the hero of your own story
• THR If West Side Story doesn't work out for another Spielberg Oscar this year, there's always next season. The Fabelmans, based on Spielberg's own childhood, is due Thanksgiving 2022. Michelle Williams and Paul Dano will play his parents
• Variety Drake has asked to withdraw his Grammy nominations (no reasons given) and the Academy has complied
• Deadline Destin Daniel Cretton will direct a Shang-Chi sequel for Marvel, plus develop a Disney+ show
• Vulture hilarious piece by Rachel Handler investigating Netflix's current slew of Rom-Coms
Top Ten Season
• ArtForum we failed to point out John Waters list which we usually give a whole post. Whoops. His list has a few surprise exclusions -- no Almodovar, no Titane (both of which seemed up his ally) and Annette tops his personal chart
• Vanity Fair Richard Lawson lists his favourites from Bergman Island to The Worst Person in the World
• TIFF lists the best Canadian featuers of the year from Canada's Oscar submission White Fortress through All My Puny Sorrows
• IMDb Their CEO shares his top ten of the year and somehow includes both true greatness (Passing) and true trainwrecks (The Little Things)
• IMDb Their senior film editor has more Oscar bound tastes citing Dune, Licorice Pizza, and more
Exit Video
First teaser to Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse. We love teasers like this that just give you one full scene. That's the way to do it.