Merry Carol-mas Everyone!
Friday, December 25, 2015 at 7:01PM may you give or receive thoughtful gifts...
Preserve the good moments -- at least in your memories!
Consider how blessed your present is and your future could be...
Finally, though it probably goes without saying here at The Film Experience, cherish the cinema as well as any art (tv, plays, music, comics) that enriches your life. And share the obsession with others! We hope you're enjoying Carol week and all the year end "best of" festivities. There's lots more to come as our own awards arrive and we count down to Oscar nominations and the big night.
If you're hitting the movies today...
Catch up on our reviews of The Big Short, Concussion, Sisters, The Hateful Eight (not a review but a rant) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It feels strange and kind of wonderful on a nostalgia level to admit that Star Wars Episode VII is the best of that batch. But it is. In painfully limited release if you care about following the Oscars you should seek out Son of Saul, 45 Years, Carol, and The Danish Girl all but the last of which are excellent films; they'll all be up for a key Oscars. Two movies we haven't covered nearly enough: Joy is better than you've heard (but by how much will vary... I'm at a place of enjoying the acting and energy a lot but knowing it needed another draft or edit) and The Revenant is worse than you've heard (but by how much will vary... I'm at a place of large technical admiration but little love right now). I personally go back and forth on how I feel about both.
And if you still haven't seen them consider taking the family to Room, Spotlight, or Brooklyn, all three of which are totally better than every single one of the wide Christmas releases!
Thanks for being a loyal reader all 2015!
If you've enjoyed the blog all year round please consider a subscription to invest in us for next year. If we can muster a stable budget we can pay our writers, we can travel to festivals -- unfortunately we had to skip next month's Sundance due to the budget at the moment -- and we can find new way to entertain you.
THANKS IN ADVANCE
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Reader Comments (16)
Carol is the gift that keeps giving,merry christmas Nat.
Merry Christmas
Merry Xmas!
A Christmas CAROL is always welcome!
Merry Christmas!!! Thanks for such a wonderful site.
I know 25 years ago Misery had a seasons greetings ad campaign but Room absolutely is not a holiday movie to gather the adults in the house around,
I'm seeing Star Wars on Decenber 31, the first day I could reserve tickets to an IMAX Laser 3D screening at the theater and time of my preference with seats in the center of the theater (the Chinese). Two tickets for 44 bucks, dear ones, so it better be fuckin' amazing. (Consider this: I just saw The Bridges of Madison County for $10 total, two excellent orchestra seats, with the composer conducting the orchestra...)
- Spanking the Monkey, Flirting With Disaster, Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees
- Nailed
- The Fighter
- Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Joy
Something is very wrong with this picture, but they are great for box office. (Cooper/Lawtence/DeNiro: the Axis of Evil. Gotta wonder if Amy Adams was just too busy to play the half-sister in Joy...)
Happy Holidays!
Like Misery was a happy movie?????
Misery is an entertaining movie. It has plenty of black comedy along with the suspense. It actually feels pretty optimistic in comparison to Room. And the fact remains Misery is fantasy and Room actually happens somewhere in the world every year or every other year we hear a real life horror story of sex slavery and captivity.
/3rtful - please do not judge movies u haven't seen. ROOM would be a great option for adult families. Very cathartic and optimistic
Room is already online hence I've seen it.
You know what. This whole Carol week reminded of Joan's poor lesbian friend Carol in Mad Men.
Room is a good story but dissapointing from a directorial POV. Choppy, messy and the scene where Jack-in- the truck is atrocious filmmaking. Like, were were you doing with the camera, Mr DP?? Stand still while shooting, dammit!! Strick with a plane and hold it! Dogme 95-style but for a high school cheasy documentary. Bad!! And, of course, it is a downer. If Lenny Abrahamson takes over Todd Haynes as best director, I wil be very, very pissed off. Again, screenplay it's OK and Jacob Tremblay a revelation, indeed.
I started off my four-day weekend yesterday with The Big Short (which would have been better as a documentary) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (which could have been better with 30 minutes cut). I can't wait to screen Carol and maybe Brooklyn tomorrow!
Merry Christmas Nathaniel :) Thank you for all you do here, especially Carol week.
Cal... omg. I totally forgot about her!
Merry Christmas Nathaniel