Beauty Break: The Time 100

Chris here to start your weekend with some star gazing. Time Magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people is here! While there's the usual assortment of world leaders, innovators, and executives (not to mentions some unsavories), it's the magic makers of the entertainment sort that catch our hearts here at The Film Experience. That ebullient Viola Davis cover to your left is nothing if not a factory for happiness.

The assembled talent and wavemakers run the gamut from Ava DuVernay to Sarah Paulson to Riz Ahmed to Constance Wu, the kind of future Hollywood we actually want to see. But the real fun of the lineup is the profiles written by other famous types about the honorees - Naomi Campbell paying tribute to RuPaul? Your icon wishes! Take a look at the photo set and tell us your favorites in the comments!

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OTD: Annie, John Cameron Mitchell, and Field of Dreams

On this day (April 21st) in history as it relates to showbiz...

Anthony Quinn

1904 Oscar winning cinematographer Daniel L Fapp (West Side Story and Desire Under the Elms, among many films) born in Kansas City

1914 Cinematographer Gilbert Taylor born in England. Though he was BAFTA nominated Oscar never bit despite high profile films and collaborations with famous directors. Credits include: Repulsion, The Omen, Dr Strangelove, Star Wars, Frenzy, Dracula (1979) and MacBeth 

1915 Oscar's all time favorite Mexican actor Anthony Quinn born (Lust for Life, Viva Zapata, Wild is the Wind, Zorba the Greek, La Strada, etcetera)

1918 "The Red Baron," the famous German fighter pilot, shot down in World War I. Snoopy in Peanuts fantasizes about him repeatedly and he's also been a character in many films including Wings, Hell's Angels, and Darling Lili 

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Best Actor - April Foolish Oscar Predix

This year's best actor race could well be entirely composed of famous stars playing real life people... as is not unfortunately uncommon as creating a wholly original character from the imagination to the point where they feel three dimensional to the audience without any "borrowed glory" can be just as if not more difficult! But awards are what they are and "true stories" are preferred. This year Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum, Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill, Benedict Cumberbath as Thomas Edison, Domhnall Gleeson as A.A. Milne, Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs, and Chadwick Boseman asThurgood Marshall. And that's just the famous real life people. Other actors going the true story / real life character route include Andrew Garfield, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Bell, Miles Teller, and Tom Hanks.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jeff Bauman, Boston Marathon bombing survivor in STRONGER

I didn't mean to predict two movies that feature stars in wheelchairs in the predictions but that's what happened with Stronger and Breathe. 

Other possibilities for awards honors this year include fictional characters played by Michael Fassbender, Timothy Chalamet, Colin Farrell, Idris Elba, Matt Damon, and Daniel Day-Lewis. Who do you think makes the list 10 months or so from now?

SEE THE CHART

previous discussions:
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
SUPPORTING ACTOR
PICTURE & DIRECTOR
COSTUME DESIGN
VISUALS
SOUND 
ANIMATION 

A Lovely Trailer for "Menashe"

Chris here. It's worth remembering as we head toward the clanging of the summer movie season that we will have some quieter cinematic treasures ahead to cleanse our palettes. One of my most anticipated is Sundance favorite Menashe, which Nathaniel recently reviewed. 

Menashe stars Menashe Lustig (loosely portraying himself) as a newly widowered father trying to regain custody of his son in their very conservative Hasidic Jewish community. If that sounds a little maudlin, the film promises to be balanced by humor and authenticity, as it stars actual residents of the Brooklyn neighborhood it depicts. The film will be the first non-English language film for distributor A24 - good to see their Oscar triumph with Moonlight isn't making them shy away from the tough sell, not to mention their commitment to new American voices like Menashe director Joshua Z. Weinstein.

The film's first trailer just dropped, and it is delicate and charming in the best way - a familiar story told in unfamiliar voices.

Shine Bright, Shine Far: The "Life-Size" Sequel We Never Knew We Needed

By Spencer Coile 

Let's journey back to 2000: Tyra Banks and Lindsay Lohan lit up the screen in the Disney Channel Original Film, Life-Size. Banks played Eve, the infamous (not to mention, ficitonal) doll who comes to life to help Casey (Lindsay Lohan) cope with the loss of her mother. In true Disney fashion, the film included zany outfits, the occasional musical number, and of course--picked up a cult following of die-hard tween fans. But for those who thought the story ended 17 years ago, think again. Freeform, the sister studio to Disney Channel, has greenlit Life-Size 2, which is expected to make its television debut in December of 2018 as a part of the studio's "25 Days of Christmas" month. 

Although the film will bring back Banks to play Eve and will supposedly be a modern-day Christmas tale, very little is known about this upcoming project. Namely, if Lindsay Lohan will return. Odds are unlikely, but die-hard fans can dream about this reunion in the meantime. Still, I cannot contain my excitement, and I hope I'm not alone. What say you, Life-Size fans? Do we need a sequel? Or for those who haven't seen the first film, are you left with a general feeling of "huh?"