Week in review: 4/28 - 5/2

The world mourned the death of another talent this week with the passing of Bob Hoskins. The 79-year-old British actor and father of four children, whose most beloved roles include an Oscar-nominated turn in the noir film Mona Lisa as well as children's' films Hook and the classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit, had been ill with pneumonia. He was 71.

Classics were much discussed throughout the week. Cult favorite Mean Girls celebrated its 10th anniversary on Wednesday, to the tune of many retrospective pieces and memes touting the line, "On Wednesdays we wear pink!" The NYT spoke with screenwriter Tina Fey, director Mark Waters, stars Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Lizzy Caplan, and Daniel Franzese (but not heroine Lindsay Lohan), as well as author Rosalind Wiseman, whose book Queen Bees and Wannabes inspired the film, about their memories of the project.

Development on the latest addition to the canonically classic Star Wars franchise is well underway, per the announcement, made on Tuesday, of seven new cast members. Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), Adam Driver ("Girls"), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (the short Blue Season), Domnhall Gleeson (About Time), Max von Sydow (The Exorcist) and Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings) are the lucky stars joining original cast members Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and the awesome Carrie Fisher in Star Wars: Episode VII.

Like that film's director J.J. Abrams, Steven Spielberg is no stranger to playing the blockbuster game. But will he be able to match his own past box-office successes? As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the director will helm an adaptation of Roald Dahl's The BFG, as well as a Cold War thriller starring Tom Hanks. The two projects announced simultaneously are Spielberg's first since 2012's Lincoln. The latter testifies to the director's competent handling of classic (or at least historical) material, but as concerns the success of his latest endeavors, only time will tell.

As it will concerning the box-office prospects of arthouse darling, Ida. The Twitterverse is awash in praise for the Polish film directed by Pawel Pawlikowski. Interview magazine got the scoop on Ida's beautifully rendered, if emotionally fraught, world, straight from the creator himself.

Ever wonder why it's so difficult for Hollywood to successfully dramatize the life of the writer and her process onscreen? Author and GW prof Thomas Mallon and Slate film critic Dana Stevens weigh in.

Ever wonder why "A113" seems to crop up in almost every one of Pixar's films? "Today" satisfies the curiosity of those most observant of Pixar fans.