I Pledge Allegiance to the Red Carpet

Have any plans for moviegoing this weekend? I regret to inform that there isn't much new of note to choose from unless you hit the theaters that show limited releases. Though the Divergent Series has performed respectably at the box office it never remotely reached what it was going for: being the new Hunger Games in terms of loot and broad cultural reach. And interest does seem to be dwindling. The super unwieldy title of the third effort is The Divergent Series: Allegiant and it's sometimes called Allegiant - Part 1 (2016) -- at least according to IMDb. Strangely the fourth film is not called Part 2 but The Divergent Series: Ascendance. So perhaps even the studio has lost enough interest that no one is in charge of the details.

Anyway this is just an excuse to show photos from the handsome red carpet. The headliners Shailene Woodley and Theo James dressed like they were attending a funeral (perhaps they're in mourning that they still have to film another one?) so it was up to the supporting cast to bring the glitz.  

Naomi Watts (top left) provided some mature razzle dazzle (she loves silver, huh?) and here's how the young men looked: 

From left to right: Miles Teller (Whiplash), Keiynan Lonsdale (The Flash), Jonny Weston (Chasing Mavericks), Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars) and Joseph David-Jones (Legends of Tomorrow). Just as I was thinking "this cast looks very CW generic" I realized that it was no coincidence since two of them are currently in CW superhero shows. 

Which suit do you like best and what is happening with Ansel's collar? It's like he's wearing a mini towel after doing some cardio.

"Hell's Kitchen is about to explode" ...again.

Daredevil Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix. Don't forget to pick a Best Shot from the episode of your choice when you're binging this weekend for Tuesday's HMWYBS episode. Here's the schedule ICYMI

Interview: Arnaud Desplechin on 'My Golden Days' and Doppelgängers

Jose here. At one point during our conversation, Arnaud Desplechin says to me “sorry if my answer is long, when what I want to say is so simple”, in a way this could very well describe what’s so wonderful about his films, which surround simple messages with layers of rich characters and dialogues. Take for instance My Golden Days, in which he revisits the character of Paul Dédalus played in My Sex Life...Or How I Got Into an Argument by Mathieu Amalric, and is now played in flashbacks by Quentin Dolmaire. The film is all about the joy and terror of first love, but Desplechin sees it through a labyrinth of emotions and plotlines that involve everything from double identities, to wise college professors.

Propelled by the extraordinary performances of newcomers Dolmaire and Lou Roy-Lecollinet who plays Esther (Emmanuelle Devos in the 1996 film), My Golden Days is Desplechin’s most romantic, melancholic work to date. The film was received warmly by critics in Europe, played in Cannes and the New York Film Festival in 2015, and is now opening in American theaters, it was also nominated for 11 César awards, giving Desplechin his very first win for Best Director.

JOSE: You won the César for Best Director for this film, did the award feel more special in any way because it was for this project?

ARNAUD DESPLECHIN: It sure was, I interpreted the win as being because this film explored territories I’d explored before, it was a collage of bits and pieces from my previous works. I guess it also had to do with the two young actors, they brought a sort of freshness to the film, the plot, lines and scenes are dark and they brought light to it. During the writing I went for tough situations: loneliness, despair, mourning, but who cares, because I knew we would find two young actors to enlighten it. I owe this César to them.

Read more after the jump.

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Posterized: Saoirse Ronan

Since we forgot to celebrate Saint Patricks Day and since Brooklyn is fresh on DVD, let's talk everyone's favorite current Irish lass! Saoirse Ronan is only 21 years old (she turns 22 next month) but she's already logged over a decade of work having started as a child in a Irish television series called "The Clinic". Her first movie role was as Michelle Pfeiffer's daughter in the romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman shot in 2005 though it took along time to emerge due to behind the scenes studio and distribution dramas. Her breakthrough Oscar-nominated performance in Atonement (2007) quickly followed. She's now ascended to a real movie star with her warm engaging film-carrying work in Brooklyn (2015).

Let's repeat a bit of Oscar trivia since it's quite impressive and important: Saoirse Ronan (nominated at 13 and 21) is only the 4th child star in history to received an Oscar nomination before and after turning 18. The very short list includes only the icons Jodie Foster (first nominated at 14), Natalie Wood (first nominated at 17) and Sal Mineo. (first nominated at 17) so that's astonishingly good company for Saoirse! (If you count "special" non competitive Oscars you can include Judy Garland, too, who received a "juvenile" statue for The Wizard of Oz when she was 17.) Most child stars peak when they're children, you see, but Saoirse is surely just getting started. 

How many of her films have you seen? (all posters after the jump)

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The BFI's 30 Best LGBT Films of All Time

Have you seen the British Film Institute's 30 Best LBGT Films of All Time yet? The list was compiled in honor of the 30th London LGBT Film Festival and features a delightfully wide range of global cinema, classics, and new favorites.

There have been complaints of recent films performing so high on an All Time list, but it's important to remember that LGBT film has become increasingly more common and less niche in recent years - such a list is naturally going to be drawing from a larger pool of candidates from the past 20 years.

The BFI's number one is the most recent and we might have had a few things to say about it here at The Film Experience. Yes, the beloved Carol took the top spot. Say what you will about this months-old film winning an All Time title, at least our beloved has finally won something! It's also exciting that they awarded a film directed by an LGBT person, as our stories are historically rewarded when told by straight persons.

Following right behind is another gay romance: Andrew Haigh's Weekend. The film is recent to the world, but an even more recent release in Italy where it is just now opening five years after its debut. It even drew unusually large crowds, too - despite pushback from the Vatican.

The Full List after the jump...

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