The Film Experience™ was created by Nathaniel R. All material herein is written by our team. (This site is not for profit but for an expression of love for cinema & adjacent artforms.)
Director Curtis Hanson passed away yesterday at the age of 71. Word is that Alzheimer had forced a retirement five years ago.
Eminem won a Song Oscar for his collaboration with Curtis Hanson in "8 Mile"
Hanson's brush with A list "prestige" was brief (3 Oscar nominations for producing, co-writing, and directing the much-admired LA Confidential) but his career was a fine example of versatile craftsmanship. He served as an important reminder that there's more to directing than auteurial stamps...
Brangelina No More Vox looks at the parallels between Liz & Dick and Brangelina EW Madame Tussaud's already separated Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's wax counterparts. Nathaniel wept. (Seriously, I'm not doing okay with this. I don't care if anyone thinks its silly. Double star wattage couples of this magnitude happen only a few times a century.) Slate ranks the remaining A list power couples
Brangelina, smack dab in the middle of their storied romance
Liz and Dick were only divorced for 16 months before they got back together so if I may put in an early request for 2018 Wishes. Lots more (and not just Brad & Angie) after the jump.
Do you like the Passengers trailer? The film, opening December 21st, is a mainstream-aimed original. Those are not quite an endangered species (yet) even though it feels that way after this summer of numbing sequels, remakes, and franchise extensions.
Anne Marie has been chronicling Judy Garland's career chronologically through musical numbers...
The terribly tricky thing about early TV (or really any TV) history is that episodes are often filmed and aired in different orders. Because of the discrepancies in airing schedules, we will be following in the order in which they were shot. After the CBS lawsuit was settled with the agreement that Judy Garland should make a show for CBS, the question became what kind of show to do. It took two years for the usual contract negotiations, delays, and upheavals to settle enough for that question to be decided. On June 24, 1963, Judy Garland recorded the first episode of a variety show titled (unsurprisingly) The Judy Garland Show.
The Show: The Judy Garland Show Episode #1 The Songwriter: Mel Torme (uncredited) The Cast: Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Jerry Van Dyke
The Story: A musical variety show seemed to be the perfect format for Judy: it was a popular genre that took advantage of its star's talents in not only singing, but also dancing and sketch comedy. Just two problems: 1) by 1964 the variety show was considered "old hat" and 2) CBS decided to air this new/old variety show against Sunday night behomoth Bonanza.
With the pressures of broadcast television, a new creative team (including Mel Torme), and her disintegrating relationship with Sidney Luft, Judy Garland requested that her first guest be someone she could trust: Mickey Rooney. The company line was that she was doing an old pal a favor, though it's clear from watching the clip that he's doing her a favor as well. Judy begins the clip full of nervous energy - she even mouths some of Mickey's lyrics - but eventually two decades of partnership and four decades of friendship put her at ease. By the time they get to the reprise, Judy Garland is genuinely, truly having a good time just being herself. The question was whether Judy Garland herself was something TV audiences would tune in for.
Oh sure... Liam Neeson you say. So did I at one point. But Silence is looking like an increasingly imaginary film, don't you think? I'm not dumping him from the predicted lineup just yet though The Supporting Actor Chart has a ton of movement post-festival explosion.
The biggest chart debut goes to Peter Sarsgaard as Bobby Kennedy in Jackie (they love actors as real famous people and he's typically strong) while Michael Shannon moves on up for stealing the entire show in Nocturnal Animals. And with the eyebrow-raising news that Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is not debuting for critics before its NYFF premiere, have we been overestimating that film? What a strange decision!
Finally what to make of the men of Moonlight? They're all terrific but due to the triptych nature of the film, not a one of the men is in more than a third of the picture. My favorites were Trevante Rhodes (the lead character as an adult) and Mahershara Ali (a major figure in the first third) but you could fill up a whole supporting actor category with the men in Moonlight. No really. Here they are...
The Men of "Moonlight"
Mahershala Ali as Juan
Alex R Hibble as "Little"
Ashton Sanders as Chiron
Andre Holland as Kevin
Trevante Rhodes
as "Black"
With apologies to Jharrel Jerome who plays Kevin as a teenager and is also really good (but we have to stick to five because them is the rules)
Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 4:00PM 
Eminem won a Song Oscar for his collaboration with Curtis Hanson in "8 Mile"
