Beauty vs Beast: Original Sinners

Jason from MNPP here. It is October when a young man's fancy will turn to cable-knit cardigans and exquisitely plotted murder schemes, but it's more specific this week than the usual - tomorrow night the New York Film Festival is screening the premiere episode of David Fincher's Mindhunter series (which stars Jonathan Groff as an early FBI profiler) and then on Friday The Snowman (Tomas Alfredson's film starring Michael Fassbender as Detective Harry Hole - yes really - on the trail of a Frosty-fixated killer) comes out. And so what better time to transport "Beauty vs Beast" back to the wet streets of an anonymous city on the brink in Fincher's film Se7en...

PREVIOUSLY I assume some of y'all saw Blade Runner 2049 this weekend (fewer than anticipated though!) and have opinions, but last week you shared your opinion on the original film, and while it bounced back and forth over the course of the week it was Daryl Hannah's Pris who finally squeezed the life out of Deckard with those glorious calves once and for all, taking just under 55% of the vote. Said kermit_the_frog:

"Daryl Hannah showed such promise (I'd argue that she has, unfortunately, never bettered this performance - admittedly, a high bar was set)..."

YNMS: "All The Money In The World"

Chris here. This year is going to have quite a bit of late breaking Oscar hopefuls based on fact, including Steven Spielberg's The Post (is that what it's called today?) and maybe a Clint Eastwood film about a true life thwarted terrorist attack in France. Ridley Scott is looking to quickly bounce back from the tepid response to Alien: Covenant with a real story of his own that wrapped a mere month ago: All the Money In The World. The film follows the famous Getty kidnapping and cruel patriarch J. Paul Getty's refusal to fork out the ransom dough.

Don't expect to hear "unrecognizable" dubbed just to Gary Oldman this year for Darkest Hour - this film is going hard on selling/taunting us Kevin Spacey as the billionaire in heavy prosthetics. We'll see if this ends up being a supporting or lead actor play, but might the film have awards chances elsewhere? Is it enough of a showcase for Michelle Williams to break through a stacked Best Actress race as the mother of the kidnapped younger Getty?

The film is set to close AFI Fest and opens December 8. Take a look at the new trailer and we'll break down the Yes No Maybe So...

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Quick Take: Gore Vidal on Film

Variety recently announced that Kevin Spacey is to bring Gore Vidal to our screens in a Netflix original film. Directed by Michael Hoffman (dir. The Last Station), Spacey might be the most perfect casting, and judging by some coded, jovial remarks at the Tony Awards this year, may relish a role like this.

Vidal's life has previously been on screen in documentaries: Gore Vidal: United States of Amnesia and Best of Enemies, about his combative relationship with William F. Buckley.

Vidal: Writer, bon vivant, public intellectual and unapologetic homosexual has a rich, albeit chequered history in cinema. Screenwriter for the frenzied Suddenly, Last Summer, debauched bloodbath Caligula and his own notorious novel Myra Breckinridge was adapted into X-rated 1970 film.

And as uncredited writer of Ben-Hur, he was responsible for those lingering glances between Stephen Boyd and Charlton Heston - not that Heston ever knew that...

Podcast: War for the Big Sick Planet of Baby Drivers

In this episode Nathaniel, Joe and Nick talk three new movies with our usual tangent of asides including Michelle Pfeiffer in Ant Man and the Wasp, Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur, and more...

Index (42 minutes)
00:01 National Critics Institute / Michelle Pfeiffer news
07:44 The Big Sick performances, and it's place within the Romantic Comedy ecosystem
19:00 Matt Reeves's War for the Planet of the Apes, Gary Oldman vs Woody Harrelson, prequel issues, and the original 1968 classic.
30:40 Edgar Wright and Baby Driver, plus Kevin Spacey's sexuality, and Jon Hamm as a movie actor

 You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

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Nathaniel's first restaurant review
Kevin Spacey as Gore Vidal
Emmy Drama Actress roundtable
Gay pornish Planet of the Apes gif

Baby Driver, Big Sick, Planet of Apes

Review: "Baby Driver"

by Chris Feil

Edgar Wright is back in action movie mode for Baby Driver, a crime caper just slightly enough on the offbeat side enough to stand out among the summer franchise entries. Ansel Elgort stars as Baby (no, seriously), a iPod-attached getaway driver wrapping up an undefined debt to his somewhat paternal boss Doc (Kevin Spacey). There is Wright-ian wit to spare in the set pieces and characterizations as Baby wraps up his final mission and falls for waitress Debora (Lily James), but Driver is also his messiest. With a solid supporting ensemble that features a delightfully unhinged Jamie Foxx and Spacey on his more understated side of hammy, the film is nevertheless a great launching pad for Ansel Elgort as a multitalented leading man.

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