The Film Experience™ was created by Nathaniel R. All material herein is written by our team. (This site is not for profit but for an expression of love for cinema & adjacent artforms.)
Tom Holland might've already given the performance of the summer and Spider-Man: Homecoming isn't even out yet! He attacked Rihanna's "Umbrella" in goth drag for Lip Synch Battle yesterday, bringing all his Billy Elliott & Peter Parker dance/athleticism with him to the stage. You can watch it after the jump until they take the video down of course...
It's a brand new week. Ready to get this one started with some pizazz?
Five showbiz anniversaries for May 8th as mood boosters
2009 Julia opens in limited release in the US. It's arguably Tilda Swinton's greatest performance and also as against-type as it comes for the actress who was surprised Erick Zonca thought of her for the motor-mouthed titular sociopath. If you haven't seen it, what in the universe are you waiting for?
In its honor today: Do something totally atypical today, surprise yourself!
1992Poison Ivy opens in theaters, serving as Drew Barrymore's buzzy "comeback"... yet she was only 17 years old. Child stars grow up fast, y'all...
The Muse another movie that believes shark lives are worth less than dumb humans endangering themselves Coming SoonThe Glass Castle sets a release date for August. YAY. We love a counterprogrammed adult drama in the summer Film School Rejects on the proliferation of streaming services. A bursting bubble? Gothamist Rooftop Films in NYC announces their summer lineup which includes buzzy titles like Beach Rats, Menashe, and The Big Sick MNPP Who wore it best? Darren Criss or Max Greenfield EW First images of Naomi Watts in the Netflix series Gypsy
Film School Rejects on highlights from the Godfather 45th anniversary reunion -the original cast showed up! /FilmEdge of Tomorrow is getting a sequel (with both Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise returning) and its riffing on the original film's tagline for its title: Live Die Repeat and Repeat Collider why Rian Johnson asked JJ Abrams to make a small switch to the ending of The Force Awakens to help out The Last Jedi The New Yorker Anthony Lane reviews Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. This tossed off line about Kurt Russell's character honestly made me LOL but I think it's only funny if you're old enough to know Yes albums.
Ego has built his own planet, apparently after consulting the covers of Yes albums.
Off Screen AV Club Pepe the Frog dies, killed by his cartoonist creator who was upset that his initially harmless creation had been turned into a symbol of hate by Neo Nazis EW Nicki Minaj went on a spending spree for fans for an hour on twitter, paying their student loans and tuition Boy Culture congrats to Dustin Lance Black and Tom Daley who reportedly married Towleroad a rave review of the London production of Angels in America Jezebel leaked tracklist for a deluxe reissue of Prince's masterpiece Purple Rain
Exit Video I almost never post SNL videos because frankly I never understand why people think that show is funny. It's always such a long slog with just a couple of laughs. Chris Pine hosted and did an opening number about how he's not Chris Evans or Chris Hemsworth or Chris Pratt but Chris Pine. It included one little similarity I hadnt even though of: Evans and Pine both play guys named Steve in superhero pictures that also double as World War period pieces. But this Chris Pine's guested skit about RuPaul's Drag Race is sneaky funny and super up-to-the-minute.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (reviewed) opened huge as expected, and is now #2 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in terms of this highly specific metric: Most box office improvement over the opening of the first film. Number 1 in this regard is still Captain America Winter Soldier. With the mainstream box office being totally dominated by two franchises featuring action heroes of scant relation deploying the word "family" as frequently as rounds of ammo, let's turn our attention to the films in limited release. Richard Gere is the unexpected leader with not one but two films (The Dinner and Norman) in the top five.
Superhero sequels these days seem burdened to go more bigger than bombastic. If the entire human race isn’t at stake and they aren’t finding new ways to topple more and more skyscrapers, they aren’t following the rules of engagement. So it is with some relief that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 operates very much on the same level and ambitions as its predecessor, its sights on delivering what it did before and just as well. It gets what we loved about it before, and doesn’t mistake it for empty spectacle.
That means more bickering, more quips, and more retro tunes as our space badasses once again defend the galaxy - but also about the same amount of scale in regards to what they are saving us from...