November. It's a Wrap

!!!!!!!!!!! How is their only one month of the year left? It's nearly time for our year in review festivities to begin. So many movies left to see. So much holiday interference. Etcetera. Nevertheless we must move on by looking back. Wait, what? Here are some highlights from the month that was.

ICYMI 10 Favourites*
• Milk Eric thinks it's aging beautifully on its 10th anniversary
• Green Book and Widows a passionate podcast discussion
• Pauline, Jane, and Olympia -Glenn looks at new docks about legendary movie women
• Top Ten Ezra Miller Lewks Nathaniel appreciates his fashion
• Hirokazu Koreeda Interview Murtada interviews the great Japanese director of Shoplifters Palme d'Or winning fame
• Chris Pine's Penis Anna looks at the double standards around nudity
• The Best of Parker Posey a 50th birthday look back 
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Chris hauntingly sings the soundtrack's praises
• Blindspotting Lynn Lee on codeswitching and one of the year's indie gems
• Thanksgiving Team Experience gives thanks 

Most Discussed (you didn't miss these ones obviously!)
• 1997 Best Actress. An impromptu look back at gowns and ballots 
• NBR and NYFCC Winners - yes, awards season is officially here!
• Oscar's 10 Favorite Leading Actors the names might surprise you!  
• Rebecca remake? The rumors are true 

Coming in December!
Year in Review silliness w/ best of this & that (so specific!), SAG & GLOBE nods (exciting!), lots of interviews (transcribing now... fingers be tired), Team Experiences's favorite X-mas movies, anniversaries (Philadelphia, Gilbert Grape, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and, of course, new releases (Aquaman, Mary Queen of Scots, Vox Lux, Destroyer) and Oscar build-up mania.

Since a few of you have been asking: the new season of 'Supporting Actress Smackdown' will begin in February with the 2018 shortlist which will include some but not all of these ladies, followed by the long delayed '72 showdown in March. Ok? Ok.

* Yes we will be adding "u" to all "favorites" in honor of Yorgos Lanthimos awesome new movie.

Posterized: Terrence Malick on his 75th Birthday and his new film "Radegund"

We did this Posterized episode five years back but who would have thought that Terrence Malick of all people would need regular "updates" in filmography respective. Until this decade, Malick was like a ghost of the cinema, or perhaps more appropriately the Brigadoon of auteurs, emerging from the ether after long intervals only to vanish again just as quickly. But he's been working non-stop this decade so time's have changed.

To date Malick has made nine films with a tenth nearing completion. The posters and a still from his next project after the jump. How many have you seen? 

Click to read more ...

Would you rather?

Time for our weekly time-wasting celebrity-watching aspirational fantasy game. So, would you rather...

• do a photoshoot with Armie Hammer?
• road trip with Brittany Snow?
• go boating with Debra Messing?
• cool down post workout with Saïd Taghmaoui?
• soiree it with Isabelle Huppert & Bela Tarr?
• sip on coconuts with Nathan Fillion?
• hang out on set with Kristen Schaal and Dave Bautista? 
• have a cup of coffee with Channing Tatum? 
• or choose outfits for your very important work week with Gabby Sidibe?

pictures are after the jump to help you decide...

Click to read more ...

Blueprints: William Goldman In Memoriam

This week, Jorge's screenplay column celebrates the work of one of the most versatile and distinguished screenwriters in cinema, who passed away on November 16^th.

Most artists can only hope to leave at most one iconic piece of legacy behind after they pass way. One great novel, one fantastic painting, one life-changing movie. There are few who can produce more than one. I think we can count with one hang those whose body of work can be considered unequivocally influential and unironically iconic.

William Goldman was one of those artists. Winner of two Academy Awards for Best Screenplay (one original, and one adapted), he left behind an oeuvre that spans across decades, genres, and mediums that most writers can only dream of. Let’s take a look at his most well-remembered screenplays, most of which will be embedded in the collective cinematic culture for generations to come... 

Click to read more ...

Oscar's Foreign Race Pt 6 - Stats, Genres, and Queer Cinema

by Nathaniel R

"And Suddenly the Dawn" is the longest film hoping for a foreign Oscar nomination this year at 3 hours and 15 minutes

We've been digging into the 87 films that are up for the Academy Award in Foreign Language Film. So far we've watched the trailers, talked about female directors, first time filmmakers, and international hunks. Today a collection of scattered trivia regarding the list as well as the LGBTQ films in the running. 

LONGEST & SHORTEST
Running times are, we admit, a peculiar TFE obsession but it is what it is. The longest submission this year is Chile's And Suddenly the Dawn at 195 minutes. It's a sprawling fictional biography of a writer returning home after a long absence and takes place in three different time periods of his life: childhood in the 1940s, adulthood in the 1960s/70s, and present day old age. Did their win last season embolden Chile the way directors often get more longwinded the more famous they get? Germany's Never Look Away (just reviewed) and Turkey's The Wild Pear Tree are the only other absurdly long films, each over 3 hours (188 minutes each to be exact). The shortest entries are Costa Rica's university student pregnancy drama Medea (70 minutes) and Lithuania's sports documentary Wonderful Losers (71 minutes) but there are actually quite a few entries that are hovering just below the perfect movie length of 90 minute. In other words, a lot of international filmmakers kept it tight.

Thailand's Malila: The Farewell Flower

Queer cinema, double-category contenders, and more after the jump...

Click to read more ...