Soundtracking: Blue Valentine

by Chris Feil

“You and me, you and me. Nobody baby but you and me...”

Ryan Gosling’s Dean breaks a makeout session and produces the romantic gesture lost to our time: a playlist burnt to a cd. It’s the ultimate young love gesture and met in kind with wide-eyed affection by the young woman its meant for, Michelle Williams’ Cindy. He’s chosen a song for them, in the tradition of all romances, one that will belong just to them. Before the soulful murmur of “You and Me” by Penny and the Quarters, Dean acknowledges the cliche of it as quickly as he shrugs it off. They will be different from all those other couples going honoring the ritual, he promises her. They will be special.

Blue Valentine charts the degradation of such romantic fantasies, showing us how painfully average their broken love will become, with music the embodiment of that fading vision of romance...

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We Like the Suits, Mr. Bond

by Murtada Elfadl

My favorite thing about Daniel Craig’s reign as James Bond that started with Casino Royale (2006) are his tight tight suits. They are just tight enough to allow movement yet showcase his trim buff body as the slinky spy from the British Isles. Behold

And let’s see him in action...

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What does Gwyneth Paltrow think of “Knives Out”?

by Cláudio Alves

This year’s been full of filmmakers commenting on other’s movies, auteurs criticizing blockbuster franchises and Hollywood stars lashing back. The Scorsese-Marvel wars are still active on social media and each day that goes by, another film professional adds their own two cents on the kerfuffle. To be honest, I don’t care about Chris Evans’ views on Scorsese or Michael Haneke’s opinion on Iron Man. However, it’d be lovely to read a certain Marvel-star’s reaction to the most delicious murder comedy of the holiday season. 

Wouldn’t everyone love to know what Gwyneth Paltrow thinks of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out? I certainly would…

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John Waters and other list-makers. "Freak out, baby, freak out"

by Nathaniel R

Climax is #1... according to John Waters

It’s top ten time of year (lots of them after the jump) and the great unofficial kick-off is the always delicious and on-brand John Waters lists for ArtForum. His lists are on brand because some of the films you can totally see why America’s most famous cult director would love them (his #1 fits that bill splendidly “Frenzied dance numbers combined with LSD, mental breakdowns, and childhood trauma turn this nutcase drama into The Red Shoes meets Hallucination Generation. Freak out, baby, freak out!”)  and one or two because you’ve never heard of them (obscure  indies!) and generally one or two that you weren’t even remotely expecting for its mainstream-appeal reasons. 

1. Climax (Gaspar Noe)

2. Joan or Arc (Bruno Dumont)

3. Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)...

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Best International Feature: Italy, Palestine & Indonesia's contenders

by Cláudio Alves

We're just two weeks away from knowing the 10 finalists for the Best International Feature Oscar. It'll happen on December 16th and, as we wait away the days, it's a good time to investigate the 91 submitted films. Some of them have already been reviewed here at The Film Experience, like Senegal's Atlantics, South Korea's Parasite and Spain's Pain and Glory, among others. Still, there are many less talked about films that deserve attention too, spanning from nationalities that have been overrepresented in the Academy's history to others that have still to conquer their first nomination.

Think of Italy's newest crime epic, Palestine's offbeat comedy or Indonesia's lyrical reveries through a dancer's memories…

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