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!
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THANKS IN ADVANCE
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!