Instagram Battles: Juliette, Naomi, or Jess?

Would you rather 

...play foozball with Juliette Lewis?
...eat birthday cakepops with Naomi Watts? 
...go horseback riding with Jessica Chastain? 

A photo posted by Juliette Lewis (@juliettelewis) on Sep 23, 2016 at 6:10am PDT

Why eat one, when you can have them all? #cantstopme #mybirthday #cakepops #strangeinvention #sorrynotsorry 🎂🎂🎂 📷@samtaylorjohnson #gypsy #bts

A photo posted by Naomi Watts (@naomiwatts) on Sep 28, 2016 at 2:37pm PDT

Meet my set horse, Amigo. "And amigos we'll forever be." #womanwalksahead #NMfilm #gettingmyrideon

A video posted by Jessica Chastain (@jessicachastain) on Sep 28, 2016 at 3:29pm PDT

Linkscaping

Comics Alliance Joss Whedon on which Avenger would make the best US President
Vulture Tom Ford celebrates Jake Gyllenhaal's lack of manscaping
THR Viola Davis to star in Steve McQueen's Widows, a female heist picture 
Acidemic offers tips for hunting for buried genre treasures (in this case vampire films) on Amazon Prime
Bloody Disgusting the "Godfather of Gore" Gordon Lewis has passed away at 87. He's the cult filmmaker Juno and her new pal Jason Bateman obsessed over together
Huffington Post Danielle Brooks and Gabby Sidibe love their plus size bodies for Lane Bryant. Cute commercial

Watch This an interview with John Butler who made Handsome Devil which will hopefully get a release soon. Fair warning: the type is ridiculously small. What is this, Tumblr?
Coming Soon Dr Strange gets wobbly cosmic blurs motion posters
US Weekly continuing the garbage fire theme of 2016 in which both people and Love keep dying, Naomi Watts & Liev Schrieber are breaking up 
EW Tom Holland in Spidey suit with mask off, a image from filming a scene or just goofing off?
CASFFA 2016 our own Glenn Dunks was on the jury and Best Film went to Eva Nova which is Slovakia's entry in Foreign Film
TFE... those foreign film charts if you missed them. Sooo many exciting prospects to seek out 
Playbill Tony Awards announce their eligibility dates for next summer. The awards show will be June 11th 
Playbill The Broadway adaptation of Disney's Frozen just had a creative team shakeup
Kenneth in the (212) King Cobra opens next month. I forgot all about James Franco's latest gay baiting 

Off Cinema
Time Out lists the 25 best Broadway cast recordings of the new century. I definitely don't love the whole list (the high placement for The Full Monty is rather baffling) but there are many gems here. The two albums I've listened to the most from this list are Wild Party (love this write up) and The Light in the Piazza (utterly sublime -it would've been my #1)
Slate the cast of Wil & Grace reunites for a special episode about the 2016 Election
John Oliver breaks down the Trump scandals vs the Clinton scandals. The punchline is a work of prop department genius 

Tweet of the Day
Post-presidential debate movie jokes for the win 

Last night's debate was like a nightmare version of 9 to 5 in which Dabney Coleman had the same amount of screen time as Dolly, Jane, & Lily

— Matthew Eng (@Eng_Matthew) September 27, 2016

Instagram Zen

Another scorcher today so take it easy if you can. Here are three moments of celebrity chill to inspire you if you're stressed about the week: Naomi Watts drinking Watts Rose, waterfall gorgeousity with Luca Calvani, and a staring contest with Chris Hemsworth.

Who drank all the vino??!! Cheers to my bro for his #wattsuprose #heputmeuptothis #spokesister #brotherlove 😜🍷🍇

A photo posted by Naomi Watts (@naomiwatts) on Aug 14, 2016 at 6:51pm PDT

This is Great!! #LifeIsGood #Nature #gratitude #MightyHeart #brrrr

A photo posted by Luca Calvani (@lucalvani) on Aug 14, 2016 at 8:10am PDT

Had an epic "stare off" with this vicious beast today, neither of us gave an inch and both refused to back down, it went for 7 hrs and then she passed out. We both have major respect for one another now but I'm pretty sure I'm top dog round these parts from here on #turfwar #neverbackdown @valleyeyewear #doglife #humanlife

A photo posted by Chris Hemsworth (@chrishemsworth) on Aug 14, 2016 at 3:27am PDT

I Pledge Allegiance to the Red Carpet

Have any plans for moviegoing this weekend? I regret to inform that there isn't much new of note to choose from unless you hit the theaters that show limited releases. Though the Divergent Series has performed respectably at the box office it never remotely reached what it was going for: being the new Hunger Games in terms of loot and broad cultural reach. And interest does seem to be dwindling. The super unwieldy title of the third effort is The Divergent Series: Allegiant and it's sometimes called Allegiant - Part 1 (2016) -- at least according to IMDb. Strangely the fourth film is not called Part 2 but The Divergent Series: Ascendance. So perhaps even the studio has lost enough interest that no one is in charge of the details.

Anyway this is just an excuse to show photos from the handsome red carpet. The headliners Shailene Woodley and Theo James dressed like they were attending a funeral (perhaps they're in mourning that they still have to film another one?) so it was up to the supporting cast to bring the glitz.  

Naomi Watts (top left) provided some mature razzle dazzle (she loves silver, huh?) and here's how the young men looked: 

From left to right: Miles Teller (Whiplash), Keiynan Lonsdale (The Flash), Jonny Weston (Chasing Mavericks), Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars) and Joseph David-Jones (Legends of Tomorrow). Just as I was thinking "this cast looks very CW generic" I realized that it was no coincidence since two of them are currently in CW superhero shows. 

Which suit do you like best and what is happening with Ansel's collar? It's like he's wearing a mini towel after doing some cardio.

Valentine's - The Painted Veil

Team Experience is sharing favorite love scenes for Valentine's. Here's Josh...

It's a familiar and tested recipe to throw a beautiful period frock on an actress worth their weight in Oscars, and set her literary romantic troubles against a luscious location. Actressexuals and their mums will be clutching their pearls in the cinema on the first night it opens, and rewatching on DVD instead of reading the book for years to come. But let this not detract from The Painted Veil, the underrated and oscarless (not even nominations!) gem from 2006. 

That divine poster image of Edward Norton and Naomi Watts drifting along the river is plucked from the films most beautiful scene. The scenes beauty is due in no small part to Alexander Desplat's score that rides the romance of the film perfectly. His 'River Waltz' which accompanies the scene echoes the films romantic arc, its gentle chords and progressive structure mirrors the very real struggle of Kitty and Walter as they have 'waltzed' around one another in a tricky marriage, peppered with early acts of deliberate cruelty. As they ease into the relationship, and let the rhythms of their new life together guide them, they become entwined and supportive partners. The score also playfully references Gnossienne No 1 by Erik Satie, a piece used in the film first diegetically playing in the party that Walter first swoons over Kitty passing him in the hallway, and then again as Kitty plays the tune on a rickety piano in the orphanage as he watches on. A moment of projected love, and a moment of genuine discovery of love.

And the scene is lusciously visual. Much credit to the location scouts for finding this location in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China. Wide blue eyed Naomi and her gorgeous lace parasol, and swoon worthy Ed Norton in a crisp linen shirt, set against those towering rock faces and sprawling bamboo. It's a smorgasbord of romanticism and a perfect antithesis from their first gruelling journey, one that Walter made them make on foot, to punish Kitty. This is a rare romance that let's us fall in love the same time the characters do.

Our Valentine's Series
A Room With a View (1986)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Before Sunset (2004)
Love Songs (2007)
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
Beyond the Lights (2014)