Almost There: Julianne Moore in "A Single Man"

by Cláudio Alves

As part of its efforts to spotlight American independent cinema, the Criterion Channel is now streaming A Single Man, that 2009 Christopher Isherwood adaptation that saw Tom Ford step away from the fashion atelier and into the film set. Terminally stylish, the picture proposes a study on grief that appears deadened itself. Stretch your senses and you'll feel the cold of cadaver skin buried under powders meant to give back the blush of life. And as much as your nose might search for rot, that stench has been suppressed. Instead, one inhales the aroma of mortuary makeup, the nostril-burning cleanness of embalming fluid, the floral notes from perfumed tissue paper stuffed inside the cheeks to fill them out, gift-like. It's all fake, yet its splendor can't be denied. 

Within this extended perfume commercial, a couple of performances shine bright. There's Colin Firth's Oscar-nominated turn as a suicidal gay man in the early 60s, while Julianne Moore plays his devoted friend, Charlotte – Charley for short…

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"Sing Sing" Is a Moving Showcase For One of 2024's Best Ensembles

by Nick Taylor

Sing Sing, the sophomore feature by Greg Kwedar, is beginning its theatrical run in the US almost a year after it debuted at TIFF 2023. This weekend it begins a limited release rollout, culminating in a wide release on August 2nd. Based on a 2005 Esquire article by John H. Richardson entitled "The Sing Sing Follies", the film follows a group of men incarcerated in Sing Sing Correctional Facility who are members of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, also known as the RTA. The development of their latest production comes with the usual stresses of putting a show together along with new disruptions to their membership, their hierarchies, and their routines. If the summaries and trailers and evangelizing reviews haven’t already convinced you this is the real deal, let me add my two cents. Sing Sing is a moving, heartfelt, sometimes despairing film, one you should see with a packed theater if you get the chance . . . .

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Relitigating Best Actress '04

by Cláudio Alves

Are you a fan of And the Runner-Up Is? Kevin Jacobsen's podcast started as a way to look at past Best Picture races, going down Oscar history one lineup at a time. However, when every year was covered, it came time to change strategy. Going beyond the biggest category of them all, he refocused his attention on the Academy Award for Best Actress and revitalized the format along the way. Three years ago, I had the honor of guesting in the 1933 episode where we discussed Katharine Hepburn's first victory, May Robson's sentimental loveliness, and Diane Wynyard's short-lived Hollywood success story. This week, it was time to return to And the Runner-Up Is and relitigate one of the greatest Best Actress races ever. It's Swank vs Bening round two, 2004 electric boogaloo…

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Yes No Maybe So: "Gladiator II"

by Nick Taylor

You the readership may have forgotten we here at The Film Experience are aware of current releases, or really anything besides Nicole Kidman. And who can blame you! It’s perfectly understandable, and the only way to shock the system out of this belief is to proposition you with lots and lots and lots of men in a swords and sandals epic. That’s right, the subject of today’s Yes No Maybe So is Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, set for release in November 2024. Trailer and first reactions below the cut . . . .

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Almost There: Eddie Murphy in "Beverly Hills Cop"

by Cláudio Alves

Axel Foley's back! Thirty years after John Landis' Beverly Hills Cops III, the franchise has been revived by Netflix, and the fourth movie is already on streaming. Across its various iterations, the series about a Detroit cop solving crimes in Beverly Hills has varied in its balance between action and comedy. However, Eddie Murphy's presence is a constant, conferring a semblance of consistency in the films. Indeed, his impact is so strong that one can easily classify him as the franchise's defining auteur. No need to be in the director's chair when one's presence in front of the camera transforms the pictures, shaping them around the gravitational pull of a true movie star.

To mark the occasion, let's look back at the flick that started it all. In 1984, Martin Brest's Beverly Hills Cop confirmed Eddie Murphy as an A-lister, and might have even come close to Oscar glory…

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