Hello my beautiful cinephiles. Nathaniel, back from my rejuvenating weekend. It's possible that you haven't missed me since the team has been doing a great job but I missed you.
For my annual post-Oscar getaway I took my first cruise. On the left you'll see me finishing up some cherry & umbrella accented cocktail. That said I wasn't very boozy at all because cruises are cheap but they find other ways to charge you (aka alcohol). I brought no internet screens because cruises are cheap but they find other ways to charge you (aka wi-fi at 75¢ a minute!). The break was good for my eyes and soul so I'm excited to talk movies again (where do we even start?). The break was not, however, good for my skin; I am an unholy mess of three colors (blinding white, near-bronze, and cherry red) because I am not accustomed to sunlight. Sunscreen is, as ever, an imperfect science when applied by human hands. Right before I left Florida I caught a brief bit of news that they were expanding their insane "stand your ground" law rather than repealing it as they should so it's a good thing I made it out alive. (Florida's politicians and electorate seem determined to remake Florida in the image of a lawless saloon in a Western with gunfights at every plot point. Shameful.)
If you've been elsewhere like me, catch up as I just did on the week's offerings...
The Great Beauty an Oscar-winning sensory experience from the Criterion Collection
One From the Heart and Dracula - Celebrate Francis Ford Coppola's 75th
Heath Ledger would have been 35 this year. What might have been?
Michelle Williams on Broadway in the Sally Bowles role in the revival of Cabaret
Jezebel and Bringing Up Baby - revisiting two Old Hollywood classics
Divisive Listings
10 Greatest Working Cinematographers - our opinionated team chose two consensus giants (Lubezki & Deakins) up top, but the other eight are more surprising. It's interesting how few of them have won an Oscar, right?
Many Faces of Jude Law - more a chameleon than he's given credit for but people never seem to agree about him...
And finally...
Things were super. Marvel's patriotic hero Captain America was a consistent talking point in review, the greater context of the Marvel Universe (how many have you seen?), and the box office where he unsurprisingly reigned. Scarlett Johansson is bereft of actual superpowers as The Black Widow but she makes up for that in the Lucy trailer.