Another Round of Links

• Scandinavia and the World makes a little joke about Denmark's Oscar winner Another Round
• Welp Magazine lists the 20 best Film podcasts of 2021. So sweet (and a surprise) that they included us.
• Variety Timothée Chalamet to play the young Willy Wonka in yet another origin movie/prequel to a popular film. (Sigh. we're so tired of fan-fiction as mainstream fiction. Mystery and using your own imagination is what makes so many classic characters great!)

More after the jump including new projects for Debra Messing, Lindsay Lohan, Yorgos Lanthimos, Sara Ramirez, and a win for Michelle Pfeiffer...

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Gay Best Friend: Damian in "Mean Girls" (2004)

a series by Christopher James looking at the 'Gay Best Friend' trope  

"She doesn't even go here" - Daniel Franzese steals yet another scene as Damian in "Mean Girls."Everyone remembers their first.

I don’t think Damian from Mean Girls was the first gay character I saw on screen. So many comedies throughout the 90s and early 00s used gay characters as easy punchlines or setup for gay panic jokes. However, Damian was the first time I saw someone who said it was ok to be gay. It would be many years before I myself came out, but Damian always felt like a touchstone to come back to. Damian is arguably the most famous example of the “Gay Best Friend” trope in 21st century movies thus far. He epitomizes the stereotype in both positive and negative ways. What stands out and makes him timeless is the way he takes up space within the school, especially at a time where gay kids often tried to “make it through” or “fade into the background.” If he was going to be a stereotype, by God he was going to let you know that he was the stereotype and you'd better pay attention...

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Links

Tik Tok "Pull the lever, Kronk" - a genius bit of Emperor's New Groove lipsyncing
Hulu Lady in a Cage - don't forget to watch as we're discussing it on Monday night. And boy is there a lot to discuss!
Matt Reeves pics of the new Batmobile in The Batman (2021)
Coming Soon Superhero Christian Bale will now be a supervillain. He's facing off with Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson in Thor: Love and Thunder (2021)...

More after the jump including Jacob Elordi, SXSW, The Eternals, Twenties, Chris Evans, and more...

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Beauty vs Beast: Scream in your PJs

Jason from MNPP here - if you went and saw David Gordon Green's Halloween this weekend did you catch that voice cameo in the classroom scene? Mirroring a near identical scene in John Carpenter's original we see the granddaughter of Laurie Strode discussing the subject of Fate in her English class, and the voice of her teacher is none other than that of P.J. Soles, aka Lynda from the first movie and a total Horror Icon. Totally! And so we feel like giving some love to P.J. today, whose seal of vocal approval must count for at least 50 million dollars of its insane opening weekend box office. Totally. Just two years before Halloween Soles memorably co-starred in Brian De Palma's Carrie as Norma, another example of "girls making really bad choices in their best friends, and so let's face them down...

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PREVIOUSLY Clearly we're on a Halloween kick, having gone the Jamie Lee Curtis route last week - only this time it was Linsday Lohan who got shivved with a knitting needle in the neck, JLC taking just under 90 PERCENT of your vote on our Freaky Friday poll. Ouch, way to kick a redhead when she's down, y'all! Said Mareko:

"Lohan is indeed great in this movie—it still pains me to think of what could’ve been had she stayed focused on her talent vs. celebrity—but Curtis is the real MVP, no question. Love that the NYT stanned for her so hard in 2003, as you do, and she should’ve *easily* scored an Oscar nom over the likes of Naomi Watts and even Samantha Morton."

Beauty vs Beast: Ye Olde Switcheroo Movie

Jason from MNPP here with this week's "Beauty vs Beast" -- this Friday the latest iteration of the freak-filled Halloween franchise hits theaters, but what of another Freaky Friday that cast the great Jamie Lee Curtis in a pivotal role? In 2003 - yes it turned 15 this past August, if you want to feel ancient) Mark Waters' remake of Freaky Friday with Curtis playing mama (then daughter) to daughter (then mama) Lindsay Lohan hit theaters, and it was a great big hit success with everybody. (I mean Jamie Lee should've snagged an Oscar nom, dammit.) So why don't we all eat a fortune cookie and repeat after me...

survey services

PREVIOUSLY We ventured back to Wes Anderson's Rushmore last week and y'all took Bill Murray's side in a squeaker (just 53%) - said lylee:

"Team Blume only because Max is so annoying (even though they're both annoying, and Blume in some ways has less excuse to be so immature)! Really, the beauty here is Olivia Williams, whom I found very appealing in this, if a little softer-edged than in her later roles. She's still one of my favorite slightly-below-the-radar actresses out there today."