1963 Convo Pt 2: Lilies of the Field

Previously, in this '63 Party:
The Supporting Actress Smackdown 
Podcast Conversation Part 1

To close out our little Oscar 1963 celebration, Nathaniel talks Lilies of the Field and more with this month's panel: Teo Bugbee, Keiran Scarlett, Séan McGovern, and Brian Mullin. 

Smackdown '63 Companion Podcast Part 2
(42 minutes)
In which we wrap up our discussion of big budget airport trifle The VIPs. Then the panel has differing opinions on the merits of the classic feelgood Lilies of the Field. Also up for discussion: Sidney Poitier's unique spot in Hollywood history, Denzel Washington comparisons, and an aside to Alfred Hitchcock and The Birds. And, as we say our goodbyes, we each offer up one must-see film from 1963 that we hope you'll watch.

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? 

Smackdown '63 Conversation Part Two - LILIES OF THE FIELD

1963 Convo Pt 1: Liz-Mania and "Tom Jones"

Nathaniel welcomes guests Teo Bugbee, Keiran Scarlett, Séan McGovern, and Brian Mullin. We just wrote about the Supporting Actress nominated performances of 1963 but now it's time to zoom out on the films themselves and the year in question.  

Smackdown '63 Companion Podcast Part 1
(42 minutes)
In which the panel plays "tag yourself" within Best Picture winner Tom Jones while discussing Tony Richardson's cinematic eccentricities in the early '60s, the movie's politics and preference for anarchy and the Academy mindset given the political tragedies of the year. We also discuss Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton mania (Cleopatra + The VIPs). With brief asides to: Maggie Smith, Vanessa Redgrave, Benny Hill, that awkward supporting actress presentation at the Oscars, and more.

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? 

Smackdown 63 Conversation - Part One TOM JONES

Doc Corner: 'Whose Streets?'

It has been 25 years since the L.A. riots, an overflowing of racial unrest spurred on by the not guilty verdicts of the police officers charged in the beating of Rodney King. To mark the anniversary, there have been a number of documentaries about it including L.A. 92 and Burn, Motherf*cker, Burn! – unfortunately uncovered by The Film Experience due to access issues. It would be sad enough to watch Sabaah Folayan and co-director Damon Davis’ Whose Streets? in the shadow of that event; a sad indictment that in a quarter of century not much of anything has changed.

However, I sat down to watch this film last night, my digital screener playing in one tab of my internet browser while in another sits a news article about the Charlottesville protests, while in another is Twitter and in another Facebook, both flooded with angry, sad and hopeless words by friends and strangers (some call it a liberal leftist bubble, I call it an oasis) alike not entirely capable of reconciling the fact that actual Nazis have not just made a cultural comeback, but that they have done so with more political and police approval than the Black Lives Matter movement has ever been granted.

Click to read more ...

des liens

Nicks Flick Picks returns with "the fifties" i.e. the best of what he's seen after 50 movies in a given year
Boy Culture new images from the buzzy indie Patti Cake$ 
Variety interviews creatives on why they love working with Netflix
People a stuntwoman has died on the set of Deadpool 2
Vanity Fair Anya Taylor-Joy is joining director Robert Eggers (The Witch) for his remake of silent horror classic Nosferatu. So happy they're reuniting but why remake a movie that's already been remade so spectacularly? (Werner Herzog's Nosferatu is something else!)

lots and lots more after the jump including Girls Trip, James Cameron, Dee Rees, Riz Ahmed, and a fun tidbit on mother!

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"The Florida Project" Drops a Gorgeous Trailer

Chris here. We were already on board for whatever director Sean Baker would be giving us post-Tangerine, but after his follow-up The Florida Project received some of the best reviews out of this year's Cannes Film Festival, it quickly became one of our most anticipated of the fall season. The first reactions primed us for something equally heartwarming and breaking, with some stunning 35MM lensing that is just as inventive as Baker's iPhone innovation on Tangerine - and the new first trailer promises just that.

What I already sense from this candy-coated jungle that we weren't expecting is that it might be just as instantly quotable as anything we got from Sin-Dee and Alexandra ("YOU'RE NOT WELCOME!" - I mean, come on, little Brooklynn Prince is already giving such gold here). The trailer certainly sells the lighter side of this look at poverty just outside of the excess of Disney World, so we'll see just how optimistic the film turns out to be. A24 is planning a big Oscar push for the film and if the film remains a tiny tough sell for that crowd, this trailer does lay a lot of ground work for a major play for Willem Dafoe. Could he be this year's "career recognition in a sentimental role" supporting nominee? Or if it is a major player, will they pass out soft serve ice cream for some cute bit during the ceremony?

We're keeping our fingers crossed that The Florida Project is added to the TIFF lineup, but the film will play NYFF before opening on October 6.