15 Great Moments Inside Movie Theaters in '15

Confession: I am extremely terrible about keeping a calendar, or even a letterboxd list which I update sporadically from time to time before forgetting again. In short the only "diary" of any sort I have is this ode to movies you're visiting now... The Film Experience. Nevertheless in reviewing the film year I realized that I haven't been frequenting NYC's wonderful repertory theaters as much as in past years. Must fix.  And I really have to do a better of keeping track of what I'm seeing in general lest I actually forget I saw something and it's missing from LISTS. *gasp*

But I  ♥ going to the movies. And if you're reading this it's safe to assume that you do too. So it's list time. Please share your favorite moments of moviegoing this year in the comments. 

15 Favorite Moments Inside Movie Theaters in '15
because it's the best place to be!
 

15 The Incredible Hulk (2008) 
April 29th: That moment when my best friend and I suddenly realized that we could leave anytime during the Marvel Movie Marathon (preceding the premiere of The Age of Ultron) and still get the same seat. What a relief. I mean... nobody should have to sit through Iron Man 2 ever again!

14 Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
April 6th: Sitting down for a special invite-only screening of Clouds of Sils Maria and seeing so many actors I loved in the audience (Diane Lane, Parker Posey, Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin). Turner was surprisingly willing to make conversation afterwards, her voice miraculously even lower than onscreen in person; she kindly ignored my fairly obvious terror at finally meeting one of my all time favorite goddesses.

13 Hateful Eight (2015) - INTERMISSION ONLY!
Dec: Though I've admired Teo Bugbee as a writer for over a year (and she's written for the site on rare occasion) we finally met recently and every time we managed to sync up our schedules (lunch, drinks at a bar, a screening of Hateful Eight) it somehow become an extra imaginary screening of Carol we talked about the movie so much. Basically Teo is the only way I made it through Hateful Eight. 

Carol, Chi-Raq, two older classics and more after the jump...

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Review: Anomalisa

Tim here. The biggest strength of Anomalisa is that it's the most prominent, prestigious animated feature made in the U.S. for an exclusively adult audience in ages and ages. Since Fritz the Cat, probably; maybe even of all time. The film is the brainchild of Charlie Kaufman, who initially wrote it as an audio-driven stageplay performed by the same cast as the movie; he turned it into a stop-motion feature with the help of co-director Duke Johnson, a veteran of the dark Adult Swim satire Moral Orel. Oddly, it's perhaps the least outré film of Kaufman's career, despite being animated. Or maybe it's exactly the dirty trick of the movie that Kaufman's most ruthlessly realistic story ever would also be the one that is the least objectively "real" of all of them.

That story centers on Michael Stone (David Thewlis), a melancholy author traveling to Cincinnati to give the keynote speech at a conference for customer service representatives. Michael is not a happy man, a fact omnipresent in every facet of the film, from Thewlis's perfectly drained line deliveries, those of a man who could do with a good cry and is too tired even for that, to the painfully bland color palette of the film. [More...]

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Who's Your Favorite Dame?

Imelda Staunton. Photographed by David Rose. [Source]Here's Murtada on his favorite subject; British ladies of a certain age who delight on screen and stage.

Happy New Year! Some Brits usher in the new year celebrating their newly bestowed knighthoods. This year Queen Elizabeth II honors, among others, Idris Elba and David Oyelowo. There are different designations to the honor. For example Imelda Staunton became a CBE i.e. not yet a Dame but well on her way. It’s obvious The Queen hasn’t ventured out to the theater in 2015 or Staunton would be Dame Squared for her triumphant Mama Rose alone.

This year’s newly minted Dames are British TV stalwart Barbara Windsor (EastEnders, the Carry On movies) and Welsh stage veteran Sian Phillips (Daniel Day Lewis’ mother in The Age of Innocence), who was once Mrs. Peter O’Toole.

But when we talk dames we mostly talk about the holy trinity who still have vibrant movie careers: Judi, Maggie and Helen. No last names necessary if you say Dame first. Oscars and other awards, big successes on the boards on both sides of the Atlantic and long thriving careers for all three.

But who is your favorite? To help you decide let’s dig a bit deeper. [More...]

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December. It's a Wrap

No. No. We aren't wrapping 2015 yet. There's still prizes to hand out and a few more lists to finish writing. But we can and must wrap up December since it ends in a few hours when everyone will be kissing on everyone and screaming "Happpy New Year!" 

Since the film year doesn't truly end until the last Oscar statue is handed out, it'd be more accurate to scream...

Happy New Calendar Year -- the Oscars Are Only 58 Days Away!"

But try convincing the drunk masses to scream that one out at midnight tonight!

December Highlights
• SAG Ensemble who got left out even though their film was nominated? 
• Son of Saul Interview the director and star of Oscar's foreign film frontrunner (now playing)
• Star Wars Oscar History then but now?
• Critics Choice Shark Jump we embarrassed ourselves like never before over the new Star Wars
• Outstanding Achievement in Abs meet the new Tarzan, more eight-packy than the previous Tarzans
• Mildred Pierce Manuel looked back at Todd Haynes pre Carol, HBO miniseries
• Julianne Moore Acts for Tips in Times Square
• Brokeback Mountain, Mermaids, and Doctor Zhivago we celebrated the 10th, 25th & 50th anniversaries with our favorite scenes and memories
• Production Design: Room one of the year's most creatively boxed-in challenges 
• "You Need Serious Hair" magical DIY makeovers

BEST OF 2015. PERIOD
We spent a lot of time obsessing over the year's best picture Carol, it's true. But mostly we've had a ton of fun sharing our "15 best of '15 lists". There's a few more coming but if you've missed any please do dive in. We've already covered:

• Scariest Moments BOO!
• Hardest Working Actors ubiquity for days
• Best Things on TV from Veep to Penny Dreadful
• Greatest Screen Hunks dino trainers, strippers, boxers, and farmhands ohmy
• Movie Animals Not all of which try to eat Leonardo DiCaprio!
• Co-Star Chemistry these pairs caught lightning in a bottle!
• Biggest Box Office Hits in 4 different categories

• Worst of the Year Hateful Eight and other things that aggravated
• Red Carpet Looks only one per lady allowed 
• Delicious Music Videos Sia, Tame Impala, Madonna and more
• 15 Most Popular Tweets

 COMING IN JANUARY
The Film Bitch Awards for 2015 (we stuck one toe in thus far), the BAFTA nominations, The Golden Globe and SAG Awards, various Guild Nominations, and much Oscar Mania. You should also expect lots more on the big Oscar titles including interviews and second looks. Plus we'll gaze at Sundance from afar (since we couldn't afford the trip this year - tight budget for 2016). ANY REQUESTS?

To Gong Li on Her 50th Birthday

One of the screen's all time great beauties turns 50 today and she's still completely ravishing. Gong Li holds the fascinating distinction of being the only Chinese cinema star that Oscar has ever been consistently interested in. Despite Oscar's historic (and frankly bizarre) resistance to Asian cinema, even in the foreign film categories, an incredible six films from her resume have been nominated for Oscars.

Alas she has not been nominated herself, though she was "in the conversation" as it were on two separate occassions.  A Gong Li beauty break and those six of her most famous films after the jump... 

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