Soundtracking: "Love Actually"

Chris's weekly look at music in movies gets festive for Love Actually!

Love Actually is so loaded with musical sequences you could almost call it a quasi-musical. That said, it is light on holiday music even though it is set at Christmas time. However, you can easily forgive Love Actually if you want it to be loaded on melodic holiday cheer because it uses the Christmas song of the past few decades: Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You”.

Like Spider-Man and multiple lobsters’ participation in this Christmas pageant, Love Actually throws everything it can into its insane mix but is nevertheless a delight because of the reliable charms of genre hallmarks. “All I Want for Christmas is You” is about as indispensable as they come and a guaranteed bop. How many times have you already heard it this holiday season and how many more times will you hear it again before it’s over? Despite its ubiquity, the answer to both questions is “probably not enough”.

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Contest: mother!

Yes, yes, we know. We talk about mother! a lot. (We've never felt so close to Norman Bates). So herewith a contest just for TFE readers. We're giving away two prizes courtesy of Paramount. The big prize is a combo of the Blu-ray of mother! and a book on the making of. The runner up prize is just the movie itself.

The mother! Blu-ray combo pack (new this week) includes access to a Digital HD copy of the film as well as the feature film in high definition and bonus content like "mother! The Downward Spiral" and "The Makeup FX of mother!" as well as the DVD in standard definition. The book is described like so: 

 Equal parts visual chronicle and artful scene study, mother! The Making of the Fever Dream recounts Darren Aronofsky’s spellbinding second half of mother!, and how it was constructed, with corresponding screen grabs, behind-the-scenes photography, script cues, and the annotated maps of his shot list.

TO ENTER
Simply e-mail The Film Experience with your name, shipping address, and a sentence on your favorite thing about mother! --  if you haven't seen it yet, guess.
BONUS ENTRY
If you want a better chance to win, we'll give you five entries if you instagram, facebook, or tweet out a picture of yourself with your sink (or some other visual shout out to the movie) and the hashtags #thesinksnotbracedyet and #MotherBluRay. Got it?

7 Makeup & Hairstyling Finalists. Where is _____ ?

by Nathaniel R

We can't be constrained by the now! Yesterday the Academy announced the 7 finalists hoping to nab one of the 3 nomination spots for Best Makeup and Hairstyling but we were too busy listing the past 35 (no 37) winners of this category to mention it. So here we are a day late without a stitch of makeup on to share / discuss and grouse about the exclusions. Join us after the jump won't you?

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35 days til Oscar nominations. 35 years of Make-up

by Nathaniel R

Since there are 35 days left until Oscar nominations --well perhaps 34 by the time this is published. Damn you, ever ticking clock! -- let's look back back at the 35 films that have won the regular Achievements in Makeup Oscar. We should admit straightaway that that's fudging the number a bit for the sake of a trivia countdown. In truth 37 films have won this prize but two were before the category was an official competitive one. The first two films to be Oscared for their Makeup effects were The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao  (1964)  and the original Planet of the Apes  (1968). Nevertheless it took quite some time for a category to emerge and title changes and such until it became the character we know today (which is also sure to change again!)...

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"A Christmas Prince" We Never Knew We Needed

By Spencer Coile

It’s time to get into the Christmas spirit, readers! With a recent push from Netflix for prestige filmmaking – in 2017 we received Mudbound, and First They Killed My Father, among many less heralded offerings – everyone’s favorite streaming site is now getting festive with their new original film, A Christmas Prince. At first glance, it may seem like a sweet and predictable little RomCom, but within a week, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone on the interwebs not talking about it. 

Why has this sugary, Hallmark-esque film received this hailstorm of attention? Perhaps it is because, in a bit of marketing genius to generate buzz about the film, Netflix tweeted this: 

To the 53 people who've watched A Christmas Prince every day for the past 18 days: Who hurt you?

— Netflix US (@netflix) December 11, 2017

Could this constant viewing possibly mean that A Christmas Prince is actually... good? No, A Christmas Prince is not "good." However, it truly is an experience I recommend...

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