Glenn Close as "The Wife" - Now a 2018 Release

Dearest Glenn Close Maniacs and Film Experience Readers (two groups which seem to have much crossover), this just in: Sony Pictures Classic has acquired The Wife for release. After a quick check in with SPC from yours truly they have officially confirmed that they're planning a 2018 release with no qualifying run for this season's Oscar race. 

This is either great news or terrible news depending on how you look at it. On the bright side, Sony Pictures Classics has several Best Actress candidates already (Annette Bening, Daniela Vega, etcetera) so why risk diluting their campaigns with another? What's more Best Actress is already a bloodbath (see the charts -- just updated to remove the Glenn Close equation) with more contenders than can possibly be happy with their fate come Oscar nomination. On the downside, sometimes you can lose heat if you wait a year for release and there's no guarantee that next year will be any less competitive. But if you're worried there's no chance for Glenn next year, do not. Blue Sky with Jessica Lange sat on the shelf forever and still ended up getting her an Oscar. Crash and The Hurt Locker both won Best Picture after waiting it out for the next calendar year after their festival debuts. Losing "buzz" or heat is a danger but not an inevitability.

But in the end, whatever happens, great performances are their own reward and Glenn Close nailed this one - see our TIFF review if you missed it. 

Soundtracking: "The Breakfast Club"

The 1985 Smackdown is coming, so Chris looks at that year's iconic track from The Breakfast Club...

Is there a better era for films defined by a single song (and vice versa) than the 80s, particularly those from John Hughes? Hughes was more than a master of understanding the teenage disposition, and music was always a part of his equation. But the pillar of this kind of definitive relationship of song and subject in his films is The Breakfast Club and “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds. You can’t separate one from the other: hear the song and suddenly you’re monologuing an “athlete, basket case, princess, etc.” piece; see its iconic poster and you’ll hear a “hey hey hey HEY” in your head.

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YNMS: Tomb Raider

Seán here. Another day, another reboot, another Academy Award Winning Supporting Actress. And not unlike Angelina Jolie at the time, Alicia Vikander is aiming to capitalise on an Oscar with a leading role in a big star making vehicle. Vikander has an advantage compared to Jolie at this time, with some notable credits like Ex Machina and A Royal Affair to upsell her Oscar. Angelina Jolie has had one of the patchiest filmographies for anyone supposedly a mega-famous superstar. The two Tomb Raider films Jolie starred in were snoozefests, making the 2018 reboot something no one is going to be precious about, while raising the important question "why bother?"

The reason is that - at least on paper - Lara Croft is a perfect action heroine.

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NYFF: Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Before We Vanish"

by Jason Adams

I want you to close your eyes. I want you to close your eyes, and picture Love. Not Valentine's Day Heart Cards or little sugary candies that say Eat Me, and not the faces of the people you've held hands with on cold afternoon walks, although the latter will probably help you on your way of getting there. I want you to picture the entire concept of Love. The warmth and the palpable agony of it - the electricity of fingertips and further parts intertwining and entangling, and the aftershock of separation - the whole dang lot.

Now I want you to imagine the violence of all of that being torn out of your body...

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