Tweetweek and the Wonder Women

Hooray. SquareSpace has fixed their Twitter problem so now tweets can be displayed properly again. Essentially we like doing these roundups for two reasons. One, it's easy to miss good stuff on twitter in the presence of an endless stream of stuff.  Two, some of you don't use twitter and are probably more sane for it but you shouldn't be denied seeing amusing, insightful, or otherwise shareable brief thoughts on topics both deafening and underdiscussed.

And while we're on the topic of underdiscussed... 

Thoroughly enjoyed Rebecca Hall as a sexy stick in the mud in Professor Marston & the wonder women. pic.twitter.com/N6L9a9Lpf6

— Murtada (@ME_Says) October 20, 2017

Wholly agree with Murtada on this one! I'm sad that we didn't give Professor Marston and the Wonder Women its due here at TFE. Maybe when it hits DVD or streaming we can all dig in together? Surprisingly solid with Hall acing her complex leading role (as per usual).

After the jump topics from Mindhunter through Into the Woods to Call Me By Your Name and beyond...

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"Lady Macbeth" and the Men Who Love Her

By Spencer Coile 

Even at a quickly-paced 89 minutes, Lady Macbeth is unafraid to work slowly and dilligently. Based on Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolai Reskov and directed by William Oldroyd, this is a meticulously made tale of sexual repression and desire. It follow Katherine (Florence Pugh), a young woman married off to a man twice her age. Caught in a loveless, sexless marriage, she plots a better life for herself and then ensures, by any means necessary, to achieve her goal. 

The film (out now on DVD) is a dizzying narrative of deceit and treachery. Despite taking place in a stuffy 19th century English household, its twisted web of sex, love, and murder smolders. I would be lying if I said I didn't find myself screaming "Ohmygod!" over and over again throughout the film. Lady Macbeth evolves into something far messier, more suspenseful, and ever more intriguing than what first meets the eye... 

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La Pfeiffer and the Original Song Oscar Race

by Nathaniel R

Here's some rather surprising news: Michelle Pfeiffer sings the closing credits song of Murder on the Orient Express. The song is called "Never Forget" which we never in danger of doing for anything Pfeiffer. Though opinions vary about how well the goddess sings, we personally love it when she croons. Case in point: Grease 2 (1982), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), The Prince of Egypt (1998), and Hairspray (2007). Listen it's not her fault that her character in Up Close and Personal (1996) was supposed to be a bad singer or that "Miss Baltimore Crabs" is Hairspray's worst song!

"Never Forget" is written by two-time Oscar nominee Patrick Doyle, a regular on Kenneth Branagh films, who also composes the score. La Pfeiffer is, of course, not the sort who would deign to sing in front of the whole world on Oscar night so they will reassign the vocals if the song is nominated.

Regardless the Original Song category is beginning to show its possible contenders so we've updated that chart and still suspect the leader is The Greatest Showman's catchy "This Is Me" - which was recently performed in NYC by Keala Settle & Darren Criss.

We eagerly await the full eligibility list of 80ish songs we've never heard from 40 movies we've heard of and 20 movies we didn't know existed before this always surprising list hits. 

50th Anniversary: Wait Until Dark

by Tim Brayton

This week marks the 50th anniversary of Wait Until Dark. The grotty thriller was initially mostly sold on the basis of a third-act gimmick (the climax takes place in total darkness, and theaters were instructed to turn down all security lights and such things for the climax). And yet here we are, half a century later, and gimmick or not, the film holds up extraordinarily well. It's one of the best thrillers of its generation, with two of the best genre performances ever, one from brand-new screen actor Alan Arkin (it was just his second feature film role), the other from beloved screen icon Audrey Hepburn, functionally at the end of her career (she'd retire for nine years, and only made four more films over the next 22 years).

Quite a strange Audrey Hepburn vehicle it is, too...

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Calling "The Disaster Artist"

Chris here. We don't spend much time celebrating movie turkeys here at The Film Experience, but the upcoming release of The Disaster Artist provides a unique opportunity of sorts. The film (which I reviewed at TIFF) recounts the making of "worst movie of all time" The Room with James Franco directing and starring as the film's eccentric creator Tommy Wiseau. And it's looking like the film is drumming up an equally idiosyncratic Oscar campaign before its early December release.

What looks like an homage billboard has something a little more special. Take note of Artist's posted phone number - because James Franco has been taking calls.

Two Billboards Outside Hollywood and Highland pic.twitter.com/KNB2w0diL6

— A24 (@A24) October 25, 2017

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