Chris Gives Thanks!
Wednesday, November 22, 2017 at 10:12AM by Chris Feil
Happy Thanksgiving, readers! I'm reaching into the walls of The Film Experience and feeling my heart beat with nothing but gratitude. Whether it's talking about music in movies on my column Soundtracking or dishing RuPaul's Drag Race, I truly love being a part of this marvelous team and engaging with all of you lovely readers even when my sink isn't braced yet.
This year I am especially thankful for:
• My first TIFF experience. Truly a dream come true!
• Breakthrough starlets Tiffany Haddish, Daniela Vega, and Beanie Feldstein.
• Perfect line readings of snacks (see Tracy Letts's "Doritos" in Lady Bird and Michelle Pfeiffer's mother! "Lemonade!"
• Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 and Faces Places for reminding me that compassion and connection are the most transformative forces for healing.
• Colin Farrell's beard.
• Mike White for writing 2017's best line of dialogue in Beatriz at Dinner: "Try healing something. That is hard."
• Raw, Staying Vertical, and mother! for reminding me that movies can still shock me.
• Armie Hammer's dance moves. Michael Stuhlbarg's grace.
• Coco's "Remember Me".
• Oh honey Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova honey. Hoooonnnnnneeeeyyyyy.
• Debut female filmmakers like The Lure's Agnieszka Smoczynska, Novitiate's Margaret Betts, and Raw's Julia Ducournau
• Podcasts You Must Remember This, S-Town, and Throwing Shade.
• Sally Hawkins for making me cry, Octavia Spencer for making me laugh, and Guillermo del Toro for reminding us that no one is unlovable.
• Betty Gabriel for reinventing the word "no" in Get Out.
Chris Feil lives in Columbus, Ohio. You can easily beetlejuice him into your conversations by talking about soundtracks, RuPaul's Drag Race, and WALL•E. He is remembering to notice the collateral beauty around him. Chris has also written for Paste and Decider, and sometimes also writes at filmmixtape. Follow him on Twitter!
Read more about Team Experience here.
All Chris Feil articles
Reader Comments (5)
I'll be in Columbus for Christmas. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
YES TO BETTY G!
Happy TGiving!
this is beautiful. love the unexpected shout out to Betty Gabriel. and that's a beautiful way to look at THE SHAPE OF WATER (though i still wish i loved the movie as much as everyone else!)
i'm thankful for you for being such a loyal friend and fine writer and dependable contributor.
Thanks, Chris. Great list. And THANKS for this site! One of my daily reads.
This year, I’m thankful for Sarah/Sara, in no particular order:
Paulson – for fantastic and varied performances since I first noticed her in Down with Love
Gadon – for Alias Grace
Polley – for Alias Grace and NYTimes opinion piece
Bareilles – for the songs, She Used to Be Mine and Brave
Parish – for the line reading, “Yes, exactly, yes” over and over and over, on W1A
Ramirez – for filling in the Broadway star slot on Madame Secretary (due to Neuwirth and Miller departure/maternity leave) and rocking her character’s look
Silverman – for openly sharing feelings when a beloved friend did really bad things (FU, L.C.K.)
Gellar – for portraying one of the BEST (still, 20 years later!) characters on television
Lancashire – for being sincerely humble (and adorably shy) when receiving major, deserved accolades (like a BAFTA or an OBE)
Not thankful for:
Sanders - for obvious reasons, mainly because she's a liar and ridiculous
Wonderful list, Chris--Happy Thanksgiving!