Netflix for April - Screengrab Roulette

As we do, we've spun a handful plus of new to Netflix titles and posted whichever screengrab we landed on - no cheating. Do any of these make you want to see the movie? ALSO: Which of the "new" streaming titles would you most want to read a write-up on this month? I'll obey your consensus command. 

You're in luck my little immigrant. This is America!

An American Tail (1986)
Ouch. That line of dialogue isn't aging well. (I feel like Don Bluth doesn't get the credit he deserves for being basically the only independent animator who managed to frequently get pictured made before the current animated boom which sees so many animated pictures from so many corners each year. He turns 80 this year.)

Complete list after the jump...

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RuPaul's Drag Race S9E2 - Bring It On, Bitches!

by Chris Feil

Brr it’s cold in here!
There must be some Toros Clovers drag queens
In the atmosphere!

Sorry, what with this week’s cheerleader-themed episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, I’ve got Bring It On on the brain! Last week’s premiere was Gaga-fied (and queen-lite) but this week was back to basics: a group challenge, runway, backstories, shade, and elimination. Honestly these first two episodes would be way more satisfying as one supersized episode - even this one follows the show's successful formula, but we're going to need a major uptick in energy as the season progresses.

Oh right, and that little cliffhanger of a returning queen...

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C O N S I D E R - Favorites of 2017, 1st Qtr

It's April already! We're too impatient to wait for the "halfway" mark for year in review listicles. So why not do it each quarter to encourage more moviegoing? Unlike many critics orgs and the Oscars, The Film Experience believes that moviegoing is a 12 month long activity and each month can hold worthy efforts.  Here are 3 (or 4 if we're torn) highlights of what we've seen thus far this year per Oscar category in alpha order. How will they measure up to what's still to come? (We'll hit favorite performances on Sunday or Monday)

Key films I missed in the first quarter that I might try and catch up with later: Cure for Wellness, The Great Wall, Staying Vertical, T2 Trainspotting, United Kingdom, and Wilson

PICTURE / DIRECTOR / SCREENPLAY

FRANTZ (François Ozon, written by Philippe Piazzo & François Ozon)
FUTURE PERFECT (Nele Wohlatz, written by Pío Longo & Nele Wohlatz)
GET OUT (Jordan Peele)
PERSONAL SHOPPER (Olivier Assayas)

The Future Perfect doesn't have distribution yet but you'd be crazy to miss the other three which were the most all-around well realized of 2017's releases thus far, from concept to execution on all levels. MUCH MORE AFTER THE JUMP...

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March. That's a Wrap

The first quarter is done. Wheeee. We didn't escape the post-Oscar malaise that hits every year just after all that golden hoopla so we spent most of the month obsessing over Feud and Big Little Lies but hopefully we'll be roaring back to creative life in April. Here are a dozen highlights from March in case you missed any of them.

Grease 2 (1982) random thoughts on a bad movie we love
RuPaul's Drag Race goes Gaga
Three Billboards Frances McDormand slays in the trailer
The Glass Menagerie the classic reinvented, new Broadway run
Animated Tease will it be a rough year for Animated Features?
Interview: Melissa Leo on playing 'the most hated woman' 

Beauty & The Beast (1991) ranking the songs
Buffy's 20th Manuel's instagram project 
Three Fittings: The Pirate (1948) a hallucinatory musical
Interview: Celine Sciamma on her rich coming-of-age screenplays
The Furniture: The Love Witch (2016) a cohesive vision 
Barry Jenkins his follow up project to Moonlight 

Coming in April: Nathaniel and Jason at Tribeca Film Festival, Anne-Marie returns via the TCM festival, revisits to Ladyhawke (1985), Tom Jones (1963), Election (1999), and Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964). Plus Feud's conclusion, Celeste Holm Centennial, The Fate of the Furious, Free Fire, Smackdown news (once we nail juries down), Pedro Almódovar, Barbra Streisand's 75th, and a special mini-series on rising young actors (as a brief break from always focusing on actresses).

On this day: Dietrich Ascends, Elvis Screen-Tests, and Leslie Cheung Dies

on this day in history as it relates to showbiz...

Lon Chaney as The Phantom of the Opera1776 Pioneering mathematician Sophie Germain born. She's mentioned in the movie Proof but where's her biopic? There are so many 'hidden figures' out there to tell stories about
1883 Silent film star and "Man of a Thousand Faces" Lon Chaney is born. Becomes legendary doing monstrous film roles with early horror makeup: clowns, phantoms, hunchbacks, you name it...

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