"Come to the Stable" and Tennis Nuns

by Nick Taylor

Today is the 75th anniversary of Come to the Stable, which has to rank among the most inoffensive, featherweight films to earn seven nominations from Thee Academy Awards. The story of two nuns, Sister Margaret (Loretta Young) and Sister Scholastica (Celeste Holm), who travel all the way from France to a wintry New England township so they can build a hospital. “Why do they go all the way to New England” you might ask, but who cares!

Specific details about why things happen are not the draw of Come to the Stable. A musician/landlord named Bob does not want the nuns to build their new hospital on a hill he owns for some reason, which doesn’t stop them from securing a plot of land and importing two dozen of their Sisters from France. At one point the nuns sneak into a gangster’s suite and successfully convince him to sell the aforementioned plot of land after they trade stories about serving in World War II. In short, every obstacle to Sister Margaret and Sister Scholastica getting what they want proves powerless in the face of their somewhat savvy, utterly guileless embodiments of faith. However, there is one enemy the women cannot pray away, one barrier they must overcome with strength, vigor, and attention. That barrier’s name, you might ask? She’s called tennis . . . .

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What's Céline Dion’s best Oscar performance?

by Cláudio Alves

Céline Dion sings from the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony.

After hours of badly shot kitsch, much Parisian rain, and the occasional surge of Revolutionary camp complete with flamethrowers, the 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremony came to a close. Thankfully, artistic director Thomas Jolly saved the best for last, ending the festivities with Céline Dion, glorious on the Eiffel Tower, singing her take on Piaf's "Hymn to Love." For those who've followed the artist's recent health struggles or watched the documentary I Am Céline Dion, the moment had added meaning. Despite it all, the great diva fulfilled what she promised, returning to the world's stage after five years away from her public. It was beautiful beyond words.

Because Oscars are always on the mind around these parts, Dion's many Academy Award performances came to mind. She has appeared in six ceremonies to sing seven numbers, ranging from Best Original Song contenders to In Memoriam segments. That makes her one of the most invited singers in the awards' history, with every appearance an event. But what is her best Oscar performance? Time to vote on a new readers' poll…

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Ranking Alan Menken's Oscar Nominations

by Cláudio Alves

Alan Menken accepts the Best Original Song Oscar for BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.
Earlier this week, Alan Menken celebrated his 75th birthday. As a stage composer turned motion picture maestro, he's authored a number of original musicals, enchanting generations across the decades. Indeed, many could probably credit Disney's favorite composer with the soundtrack of their childhood – I know I can. For his efforts, Menken amassed 19 Oscar nominations and eight victories, many of which he shared with the writers who put words to his music. To celebrate the man's legacy, I shall give him the same treatment bestowed on John Williams a few months ago and rank all his nods, both in the score and song categories…

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Yes No Maybe So: "Joker: Folie à Deux"

by Nick Taylor

Remember the fucking hubbub around Joker when it premiered at Venice back in 2019? Stephanie Zachareck fearing MRA riots? Lucrecia Martel giving it the Golden Lion? Leading the Oscar nominations with a whopping eleven citations, with Mark Friedberg’s incredible sets somehow left out in the cold? Winning Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Original Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir? Wild times!

Although Joker: Folie à Deux was first announced roughly two years ago, it feels as though the spectre of it has been haunting us for so much longer. At long last, the sequel is on its way, in just over two months. The first full-length trailer dropped less than 24 hours ago, and we here at The Film Experience are ready to dig in to whatever the hell is going on...

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Venice Main Competition Round-Up (plus London and NYFF Openers)

by Nick Taylor

BLITZ (2024) Steve McQueen

So many film festivals the past few days have come to make an announcement! Steve McQueen’s Blitz, about Londoners trying to survive a bombing during WWII starring Saoirse Ronan and Harris Dickinson, has been named the opening film for the London Film Festival. Meanwhile, the New York Film Festival will open with Nickel Boys, an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel helmed by Hale County This Morning, This Evening director RaMell Ross.

A lot of films have been announced for TIFF, and will presumably keep being announced until the festival starts in September. We’ve also received word of the full lineup for the 81st Venice Film Festival, and since they’ve got much fewer releases than TIFF, I’ll be doing a quick run-down of which titles are most exciting to me personally. While I won’t be able to attend Venice, you can still see me watching them take off from the sidelines, like a 20th century mother waving to her children as they set sail on a voyage to a new country, hoping for the absolute best but steeling myself to be strong, just in case of disaster...

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