Lost Podcast / Last Jedi

Surprise! The following podcast was lost after a recent move but has been recovered. This podcast was recorded over the Christmas break but the SAG part at least is hyper relevant to this weekend with the Screen Actors Guild Awards hitting tomorrow. 

Nathaniel welcomes a particularly grouchy Nick Davis and new guest Teo Bugbee who had just pulled an all nighter to see Star Wars The Last Jedi. We discuss what the hell Laura Dern and Benicio del Toro are doing in it before moving on to SAG's "Outstanding Ensemble" nominees (and other ensemble films we like, too). 

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? 

Lost Podcast Last Jedi

Tweetweek Turducken

Collected by Nathaniel R because Twitter is so toxic you shouldn't hang out there but you also shouldn't miss the more curated pleasures. Let's begin with a question that's enormously easy to answer:

Has there ever been a movie couple with better collective hair then Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeline Stowe in THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS?

— Max Weiss (@maxthegirl) January 15, 2018

An emphatic chorus of "NO!" because seriously. Never. Never has there ever. After the jump some Star Wars, a little Frances McDormand, a laugh from Sharon Stone, and guest appearances by Ratatouille and The Greatest Showman...

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A Slightly Queer Take on "The Last Jedi"

This was originally published in Nathaniel's intermittent column at Towleroad.

There’s a bit of a macro and micro thing happening at the movies. I’m not talking about Disney’s new merchandising bonanza pairing those miniature “porgs” (think CGI puffins) with towering furry Chewbacca. No we speak of the wide release and limited release divide. Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been filling houses at over 4000 theaters and is obliterating the competition (already number #3 of the year in just 10 days) while a bunch of Oscar contenders are playing, not so quietly, in limited release gigs in their pursuit of golden statues. We’ll talk about more of those again soon but first [cue yellow text crawl over space] Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

We now return to The Resistance (aka the proudly defiant “Rebel Scum”) who are even easier to relate to know in December 2017 when it feels like the world will be ending any day with each new disastrous move from our own evil empire. (Sigh) If they can just harness the light side of the force, break through that one gerrymandered code, save that one cornered group of people, fetch Luke Skywalker, they might live to see another day...

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Biggest $$$ Hauls of 2017 In Multiple Categories

Each day a different year in review party. Here's Nathaniel...

It's time for a special box office report. Though the year was dire for most studios (at least until the final quarter) with moviegoing down, especially in the summer, there are always hits. The question is only how large and what motivates people to buy a ticket. For all the griping you hear about "everything is superheroes" or "another sequel?" the biggest hits are nearly always sequels or superhero films so the audiences only have themselves to blame in a way.

We've already looked at the top grossing foreign language titles of 2017 so now to the wider releases as well as other categories. We'll break it down into multiple top tens so that it's more interesting than sequels and superheroes. (All grosses are US domestic)...

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My link runneth over

• Vanity Fair Carrie Fisher's best lines in The Last Jedi come from the actress/writer herself
• Rolling Stone David Fear's 25 reasons to love the movies in 2017
• Variety a "tsunami" of change in Hollywood. Netflix, MoviePass, sexual harrassment scandals, low box office. What's next?
• Vanity Fair Annette Bening, Whisper campaigns, The Last Jedi and more
• AV "TV Club" a lengthy but always engaging 17 part lookback at the year in culture and the small screen 

 

Much more after the jump including more "best of the year" lists, Strictly Ballroom, Hamilton, and female directors...

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