On this day: Grace Kelly became a Princess, Madonna's "Live to Tell" and more...

On this day in history as it relates to showbiz!

1907 Composer Miklós Rózsa born in Budapest. He becomes an Academy favorite in the early 40s and is nominated 17 times for his music with 3 Oscar wins (Spellbound, A Double Life, Ben-Hur) 

1922 Emmy winner Barbara Hale (Perry Mason) born in Illinois

⇱ 1946 Hayley Mills born in London. She becomes the very last winner of the special "juvenile Oscar winner" for Pollyanna (1960) and chases it with the classic twin comedy The Parent Trap (1961). Did you know she was TFE's favorite classic child star? Now you do.

1947 James Woods born in Vernal, Utah

1953 Rick Moranis born in Toronto. Today's movie fans probably don't know this but in '89 he starred in 3 consecutive $100 million grossers in one single summer (Ghostbusters II, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Parenthood) and it was a very big deal because back then the same people weren't in every movie. TFE's theory is that casting is divided into two eras, pre Samuel L Jackson and after. After Samuel L Jackson (ASLL) it's mandatory to only have excessively familiar faces in every franchise, and it's even okay if they're competing franchises or the same franchises with different roles. It's madness! 

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Thoughts I Had... Gaga & Cooper's "A Star is Born"

Chris here. Filming has officially begun on the long-developed remake of A Star is Born, which is both the cinematic debut of Lady Gaga and star Bradley Cooper's first time in the director's chair. Gaga may have some big shoes to fill after Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand, but this one promises its own unique point of view: a fully country-western soundtrack. Intriguingly, Cooper will be filming live at music festival Coachella over the next few days, so you can bet we'll get a look at some of Gaga's original songs - but the studio has also given us our first look at the duo. Some first thoughts...

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The Furniture: Toni Erdmann and the Dangers of Corporate Upholstery

"The Furniture" by Daniel Walber

[You can click on the images to see them in much more magnified detail.]

Toni Erdmann is a film about chairs. It is also a film about couches, though less so. Its grander themes, the culture of global capitalism and the relationship between parents and adult children, are excellent stuffing for oddly shaped poolside chaises and hideous hotel sofas. The milieu is convincingly skin-deep, punctuated by passionless objects that look blankly up at the uproarious behavior of the characters.

This satirical furniture represents some of the best production design of 2016, though Toni Erdmann may not be the first film to come to mind.

It plays a supporting role, commenting in muted colors. Yet Maren Ade’s comedy of personal and professional tension has a thoughtful design sensibility, perfectly attuned to the non-places that have been projected across the globe by transnational corporations...

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Beauty vs Beast: Age Ain't Nothing But A Couple of Numbers

Jason from MNPP here, wishing Jennifer Garner a happy 45th birthday with this week's edition of "Beauty vs Beast." I know Garner's got some fans up in here, and I know that we are all hoping she can pull her career out of this slump its been in - even when she's had a hit movie like Dallas Buyers Club most people found her role superfluous to the plot. Anyone who watched Alias knows she deserves better. I'm hoping for a post-divorce Kidman Bump. I contemplated tackling Juno for this competition since the film's turning 10 this year but there's no solid VS. there so instead we'll go back to her big hit in 2004 - 13 Going on 30, in which she abuses in two timelines a never more adorkable Mark Ruffalo...

PREVIOUSLY Turns out The Film Experience community loves F. Scott Fitzgerald's book The Great Gatsby as much as I do and we've got lots of opinions on the movie versions - as for which Daisy we prefer, it was Baz's blonde Carey Mulligan loved those beautiful shirts just a little more, to the tune of 51% over Mia Farrow's 49. Said Aaron:

"Call me crazy, but I thought Carey Mulligan nailed the vocal pitch of Daisy. She was sinewy, a bit aloof, yet girlish and sexy. I thought she reeked of money, as described in the book. It's an incredibly difficult part to nail, since so much of Daisy (in the book) exists through Gatsby's ideals and dreams. I think it's ok if the actress playing her comes off a little empty, cause I think that's the reality of Daisy herself.

There were a lot of things that didn't work in Luhrmann's version, but I thought the casting was solid for the most part (other than Tobey Maguire, whom I'm allergic to in everything). Edgerton and Debicki were especially good in the film as well."

Best Supporting Actor - April Foolish Oscar Predix

By Nathaniel R

It's only 321 days until the next Oscar ceremony. That may seem like a good long time but we rarely go days without thinking about it so it'll  be here before we know it. The latest chart to go up is BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR. The Supporting categories are always tricky to suss out before the films are seen because supporting players generally need some fire from their films to make a dent, no matter how good the actual performance is. What's more we rarely know the full extent of what a supporting role entails this early as only the leads generally factor into early synopses. Nevertheless we forge a chart of possibility...

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