Beauty vs Beast: Won't You Remember Me

Jason from MNPP here on this chilly March afternoon thinking of leaving it all behind and boarding a train out to Montauk -- tomorrow marks the 15th anniversary of one of the Great Films of the new century (née millenium), Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which rescrambled our brains for the first time on March 19th 2004, and we've never been the same since. Have you watched it lately? I watch it basically once per year, which guarantees I have one great big sobbing session at least once per year. Anyway we've already done one of our "Beauty vs Beast" contests for the film's leads before, so today we'll dive a little deeper into the film's exceedingly fine stable of supporting players -- on one side we have the delectably weaselly Patrick (Elijah Wood) and on the other the more-confused-by-the-minute Mary (Kirsten Dunst), who both enrich the film's main romantic thrust in surprising and sad ways...

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PREVIOUSLY Y'all truly surprised me with last week's contest that pit Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool's lead lovers against one another -- Jamie Bell took the lead early on and never looked back, taking 65% at the end; it's very rare for actresses to lose here on TFE! Why do you think it happened this time? Said Mareko:

"I'm #TeamGloria in life (what an underrated talent) but lean toward #TeamPeter in this movie. Annette and Jamie really are sublime together, and isn't it interesting that she did back-to-back movies set in 1979? Imagine Dorothea Fields and Gloria Grahame in the same universe, living a mere hour away from each other!"

Beauty vs Beast: Liverpool Lovers

Happy Monday, Jason from MNPP here with this week's "Beauty vs Beast" -- we'll be wishing one of TFE's favourite actors a happy 33 this week when Jamie Bell celebrates his birthday on Thursday. We love Jamie and are hoping for good things from his turn as Elton John's right-hand-man Bernie Taupin in Rocketman this spring... and yet we can't help but feel like it's another bridesmaid role. Why won't Hollywood let Jamie shine? He was the lead in the indie crime thriller Donnybrook which came out a few weeks back -- did any of you catch that?

Anyway for this week's poll we're probably dooming his chance to shine, again, by pitting him against one of our most beloved actresses (and one who's in the biggest movie of this past weekend, to boot) -- his co-star in 2017's Film Stars Don't Die in Livepool, the queen Annette Bening. This movie got lost in the Oscar shuffle last year, which remains a damn shame -- both Bening and Bell are stunningly good as the dying actress Gloria Grahame and her late-life love Peter Turner. But now you gotta pick!

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PREVIOUSLY And speaking of Captain Marvel stars, Brie Larson might've crshed the box office this weekend but she got her bum handed to her in last week's Scott Pilgrim poll -- Ramona Flowers used her crazy big sledgehammer to drum up 64% of the vote. Said Bushwick:

"Can we get these two actresses together again?! Preferably in a film that garners Larson another nomination (and Winstead her first)!"

Beauty vs Beast: Rock Star Wars

Hello and Happy Monday everybody, Jason from MNPP here with a brand new edition of our weekly "Beauty vs Beast" series, wherein we ask you to take a side between a "good" movie character and a "bad" movie character. With Captain Marvel out this weekend let's glance back at one of our fav Brie Larson roles (one of many -- we always love Brie Larson), her small bit as Scott's own ex Envy Adams in Scott Pilgrim vs The World. We're facing her off with Scott's current paramour Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), which might seem unfair given Ramona's in, you know, basically the entire film and has an arc and all that. But don't count out Brie -- she has the best scene in the film, her kick-ass performance of "Black Sheep," the Metric song. (Watch it here.) 

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PREVIOUSLY Twas a cake-walk for our favorite Nicky Hoult in last week's Fancy Tuxedo battle from the Oscars -- he black-tied up Joe Alwyn with 77% of your vote. But some people said we shouldn't fight at all, like Peggy Sue, who had the answer we were looking for:

"A threesome."

Beauty vs Beast: Our Favourite Fellas

Jason from MNPP here, wishing everyone a Happy Oscar Hangover Monday -- the mood swings last night were particularly violent, but then we live in a rollercoaster world in 2019 so the evening felt par for the course. Personally I had some villains I was rooting against last night but today in the light of day I don't feel like being particularly cruel so I'm going to go another direction with this week's "Beauty vs Beast" competition and celebrate one last time before we move on to new things my favourite red-carpet duo this season -- the fellas of The Favourite, Nicholas Hoult and Joe Alwyn, who trotted out their sharpest looks of the year on the red carpet, Nicky in Dior and Joe in Tom Ford. Nothing diabolical here, let's keep it light -- just choose!

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PREVIOUSLY Two weeks back it was the ladies of ROMA facing off for us, and leading lady Yalitza Aparicio took home your prize with 58% of the vote. Here's a selection of what Jones had to say (I recommend you click back and read the whole comment though because it's boss):

"To understand Cleo's character is necessary to not only understand existing at the margins of society but to be familiar with what it is like to exist at the margins of a household: being intimate without having a voice or autonomy. To people unfamiliar with these class structures and Mexican indigenous people this could read as blank but reflect again..."

Beauty vs Beast: Who's the Boss

Happy Monday, Jason from MNPP here with this week's "Beauty vs Beast" poll -- this week we're tackling the two Oscar-moninated performances at the heart of my favorite film of 2018, Alfonso Cuarón's ROMA. Yalitza Aparicio is Cleo, whose pregnancy via local ne'er-do-well charts the course of the film; Marina de Tavira plays Senora Sofia, Cleo's boss whose own relationship is faltering. Two women ghosted, but which is your tops?

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PREVIOUSLY Rachel Weisz won a BAFTA yesterday for The Favourite but even more importantly today she officially won last week's Disobedience poll against her fellow Rachel, McAdams -- might as well toss that BAFTA in the trash, Rach! Said David S:

"Rachel Weisz... love her forever, and I never foresaw her career picking up now instead of ten years ago. I love how proud she is of the love scene, which is one of the best and most specific I've ever seen. I would nominate her for Best Actress and Best Supporting this year, if I had the power! The performance even improves on the second viewing. So does McAdams's. It's all just very subtle... I noticed on Letterboxd that almost no one I follow actually saw this. I hope it gets more viewers over time."