Link vs Link

• The Guardian ranks the best "Vs" movies after the success of Godzilla vs Kong. Really fun list
• /Film You've probably heard by now that Rian Johnson scored a massive deal for his Knives Out sequels. They'll be going to Netflix for um... $400 million. Daniel Craig will be reprising his role for new mysteries.
• AV Club Edward James Olmos talks about his "random roles" in this always engaging series

More after the jump including Lil Nas X, Olivia Colman, Kung Fu, Thandiwe Newton, and new projects from Sam Mendes and Alex Garland...

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Beauty vs Beast: Pre Endgame

Jason Adams from MNPP here with this week's "Beauty vs Beast" -- a little movie called Avengers: Endgame will be hitting a couple of screens this weekend (we count Thursday nights are "the weekend" now in blockbuster world) with the blunt force of a megaton bomb; this time next week it'll be nothing but breathless box office masticating and eulogies for the fallen. So today, in the ever so brief calm before that oblivion, let's look back at last year's Infinity War appetizer and face down the great big goof heard round the galaxy -- that time Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) let his emotions get the best of him and let Thanos (Josh Brolin) live to snap another day... 

web survey

PREVIOUSLY While every week is a good week to be Emma Thompson Week last week we made it official in honor of her 60th birthday, and the Merchant Ivory character to top them all turned out to be, with 68% of your vote, Margaret from Howard's End. Said Marsha Mason:

"Remains of the Day is the better film imo, but her performance in Howards End sticks with me a little more."

Father Figures, the best and worst of 2017

Each day a new "year in review" piece. Here's Ben Miller...

I’ve been a father since 2012.  It’s one of the great joys in my life.  If you classified me as a person, father would be near the top of how I would want to be described.  I want to be a good father and I strive to be. 

But, generally, I don’t look to film for guidance.

Terrible fathers are a touchtone of cinema.  From Jack Torrance to Daniel Plainview, movie dads rarely get the chance to show how great they can be for their children.  2017 surprisingly provided us with a bevy of complex relationships between parents and their progeny, and the dads actually got a chance to shine.  Check out the top ten great dads in 2017 films.  (I also included five terrible fathers, because 2017 gotta 2017.)

TOP TEN GREAT DADS IN 2017 MOVIES
Spoilers for all of these films are included

01 Larry McPherson, Lady Bird (Played by Tracy Letts)
Lady Bird and her mother, the central figures in the film, aren't the only ones to benefit from Larry's warmth (we previously discussed this characterization here). Even when faced with a fruitless job interview, he smiles in the face of adversity, opting for a big bag of Doritos.  When his son comes in for the next interview, there is no animosity.  Larry straightens his tie, pats him on the shoulder and tells him to go get ‘em.  He does this while losing his job, providing for an extra person in his house, losing his daughter to college and suffering from years of depression.  God bless Larry McPherson. 

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7 Makeup & Hairstyling Finalists. Where is _____ ?

by Nathaniel R

We can't be constrained by the now! Yesterday the Academy announced the 7 finalists hoping to nab one of the 3 nomination spots for Best Makeup and Hairstyling but we were too busy listing the past 35 (no 37) winners of this category to mention it. So here we are a day late without a stitch of makeup on to share / discuss and grouse about the exclusions. Join us after the jump won't you?

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Living in a Post-Credit World

By Spencer Coile 

Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

I work part-time at my local movie theater. Yes, it is as glamorous as it sounds. Working there has been pretty eye-opening, leading me to witness the best and worst of humanity (he said dramatically). Lately, though, as I am cleaning the theaters, I've become privy to an ever increasing trend: the post-credit scene. Between Kong: Skull Island, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (one of them features Elizabeth Debicki's Ayesha, pictured above) to even a fifteen-second long trailer to the third installment of the latest entry into the Grey world after Fifty Shades Darker, audiences have come to expect something once the credits begin to roll...

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