Review: "Cyrano, My Love" & "By the Grace of God"

by Cláudio Alves

Pity those who live in the shadow of Oscar's champions. Such is the case of two French films from last year which now arrive in American theatres. If they were Hollywood productions, we'd surely be talking about Cyrano, My Love and By the Grace of God as potential contenders. As it stands, they can expect some golden recognition in the shape of the César rather than a little golden man. They must also expect eternal comparisons to more famous movies... 

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Ten Years of "A Serious Man"

by new contributor Michael Frank

The Coen brothers have always been masters of crafting a world the audience vaguely understands, but has never experienced. They create characters that are utterly ridiculous, acutely specific, yet still relatable to the common audience member. After 10 years, their dark comedy A Serious Man holds up better than even they could have imagined. It’s a twisted laughfest that agonizes and tickles for a wildly enjoyable 100 minutes. 

A Serious Man isn’t a movie that I’ve rewatched time and time again. It’s one I’ve jumped in and out of over the last 10 years, seeing a snippet here, a snippet there. If you jump into any part of the film, the atmosphere is always the same. You’re quick to realize the plight of Larry Gopnik, and the rapid shrinking of his happiness...

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Lina Wertmüller's History-Making "Seven Beauties"

The Governors Awards (Honorary Oscars) will be held on October 27th, 2019 with director Lina Wertmüller, actress Geena Davis, director David Lynch, and actor Wes Studi celebrated. We'll be discussing each of them before then.

by new contributor Camila Henriques

In Seven Beauties, Lina Wertmüller is not interested in sparing the audience. That becomes clear in the first minutes of the film, when we’re presented with a myriad of images of the Second World War: Hitler, explosions, destruction. In the background, a voice over speaks with a hint of melancholy and irony about “the ones who keep going and going just to see how it will end”... 

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Over & Overs: Twister (1996)

In Over & Overs we ask Team Experience to share movies that they've seen countless times and tell us why.

by Tony Ruggio

As a kid growing up in Texas, with family in Oklahoma and Nebraska, I had a morbid fascination with tornadoes and the would-be thrill of storm chasing. My fascination was outweighed only by the sheer fear of death. The possibility of finding yourself at the mercy of mother nature was all too real in Tornado Alley, at least for a nine year-old. In the summer of 1996 in air-conditioned theaters an entire country (and myself) learned about the Fujita scale, from itty-bitty F1 tornadoes to mile-wide F5 monsters. Twister was a multiplex phenomenon and the first disaster film in decades to strike hot at the box office. With mixed reviews and Independence Day casting a big shadow, it was then somewhat forgotten...until cable came to the rescue. 

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Robert Forster (1941-2019)

Photographed by © Hama Sanders

As you have undoubtedly heard by now the Oscar-nominated Robert Forster (of Jackie Brown fame) passed away last Friday of brain cancer at 78 years of age. This news came as quite a shock to us here at TFE, which is part of why we haven't mentioned it...

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