Revisiting Rebecca (Pt 1) Off to Manderley

A 75th Anniversary Special
Alfred Hitchcock's Best Picture winner Rebecca (1940), based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier, is 75 years old this month. To celebrate, Team Experience is experimenting with something entirely new: a baton pass viewing of sorts. We don't even know how it will turn out so we hope you'll stick with it and enjoy. Five of us will be watching Rebecca in shifts. So we each get about 26 minutes of it to write about. As your host, Nathaniel, it's my duty to start running when the gun goes off. In this case perhaps lighting an Olympic flame and starting to jog is a more fitting analogy?

Flames... Breathing.... on the side of Mrs Danvers face...

Part 1. By Nathaniel 

00:01 How I do love the MGM Lion roar. First some loud David O. Selznick fanfare in the form of a title card and then a Selznick pictures tag and later another Selznick credit. Guess who's paying the bills? And then a silhouette of trees, which hey, Isn't that how GWTW's title cards begin, too? Bragging much, Selznick?

Opening credits in old movies are always over so quickly. This one names only 35 people, and 5 of them are the writers. Can you imagine?

35 names wouldn't even cover the visual effects department credits on a remake of Rebecca from the fire sequence alone (this sentence was not intended to give Hollywood any ideas). Once Pandora's Box of Credits was unlocked, credits got longer and longer.

02:00 We begin on wrought-iron gates with one of the most famous of opening movie lines. 

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. 

(Something no one ever said about Lars von Trier's Manderlay.)

In her dream state opening monologue our protagonist (Joan Fontaine's Mrs de Winter) mentions the supernatural. She drifts like a spirit through those gates, winding through fog and trees until she conjures up a silhouette of Manderley, "secretive and silent," which is just as well because the lies begin immediately thereafter. She tells us that "Time could not mar the perfect symmetry of those walls" but that's the end of any notion of immortality. More...

Click to read more ...

Is the End Nigh for The Simpsons?

Sebastian here, reporting some non-news that could turn out to be big news for a staple of Sunday night television.

What's on TV? Maybe not them.

The Simpsons has been on the air for over a quarter century, longer than any other U.S. primetime television series.* But every streak has to come to an end at some point, and it's possible that the end may come as soon as this fall.

As of right now, there has not been official word from Fox about a renewel of the show past the already ordered 22 episodes of the current production run. 15 of those will have aired by May 17, the end of The Simpsons' 26th broadcast season. That leaves seven episodes for a 27th season, and uncertainty after that.

How likely is cancellation? Website Dead Homer Society gives this analysis:

These negotiations have gone down to the wire several times over the (sigh) decades, and they always find a way to pull through because everyone involved keeps making money that way.  Yes, the ratings get lower every year, but that’s true for network teevee in general; and for all its many (many) problems, Zombie Simpsons is still strong among the youthful demographics that advertisers pay top dollar to reach.

But that was a week ago. Last night, Erika Isabel Verga, on The Simpsons' animation staff since 2006, tweeted:

That moment when a director goes around saying good-bye to the remaining crew saying "See you next season, if there is one..." #TheSimpsons

— Erika Isabel Vega (@eiVega) April 14, 2015

Wether they get cancelled tomorrow or continue to run for another 30 years, The Simpsons have without a doubt earned their place in the pantheon of popular entertainment. For the sake of the many hard-working artists employed by the show, let's hope there will be certainty on this matter soon.

*) This post originally stated that "The Simpsons has been on the air longer than any other scripted television series in the history of the medium," which is not true.

Daredevil 5-7

Previously: Episodes 1 and 2 and 3 and 4...

In the next three episodes the tension really escalates as Fisk starts taking down his own accomplices and Matthew's life gets far more crowded with thorny alliances.

Great moments in set decoration. Check that anonymity pledge behind Daredevil's altar ego Matthew Murdock

1.5 "World on Fire"
An extremely busy and successful episode: Claire & Murdock get closer holed up in his apartment and then suddenly further apart. Fisk & Vanessa get closer on a second date. Daredevil realizes he's been framed for last episode's beheading. Nelson & Murdoch get a client asking them to fight their slum lord and Fisk moves against the Russians with things-go-boom devastation. 

Major Characters Introduced: Elena Cardenes (Judith Delgado) the client in question. Marci Stahl (Ami Rutberg) Foggy's ex and a rival lawyer.
Crimes: Suicide Bombings, Mass Murder, Accidental Murder, Slum Lord Intimidation and Neglect, Police Brutality
Body Count: 5 blind Asians? 100 or so Russians? Guessing.
Cameo: Fun shout-out to superhero tropes: 'are you one of those billionaire playboys I've heard about' 
More... 

Click to read more ...

Curio: Movie Amigurumi

Alexa here with some film craftiness. Amigurumi, those Japanese, uber-cute, anthropomorphic crochet dolls have been popular now for long enough that I thought they'd be jumping the shark already.  But damn if I don't find some interesting ones that catch my eye: I geek out on a frequent basis and make plans to buy movie-themed ones, or decide I will learn to crochet to make my own.  Then I promptly forget about it.  

Available for purchase here.

Maybe they have jumped the shark: this Exorcist pea-soup scene amigurumi set might have reached maximum amigurumi. In any case, after the jump you can see my favorite film-themed amigurumi, in case some of you are inspired to go gift shopping, or take up the crochet needles yourself...

Click to read more ...

Q&A Part 1: Avatar the Musical (Not Really) & Instant Classics

For this week's "Ask Nathaniel" party, I asked people to be inspired by the theater (Tony season is upon us) or by the science fiction genre. I promised 10 questions. 10 answers but that's too long. So here's part one of two: 4 questions today. 6 tomorrow. here we go...

I started drawing myself as a Na'vi but got bored when I realized my lack of hair meant I couldn't ride dragons. Unfinished.STEVE: Do have fear that the million Avatar sequels that will happen will ruin the magic of the original for you?

NATHANIEL: I love Avatar but it will ruin itself. Technological breakthroughs rarely age well because there's always another technological breakthrough around the corner to make the previous one look antique. The exception is something like Star Wars because its success wasn't really about how "new" it looked. In fact, it was successful because it was so good at being an old thing (adventure serial) and using old techniques in improved new ways like models and matte paintings and whatnot. I think it's quite funny that the upgrades when they "fixed" the Star Wars trilogy later on actually made them seem less timeless. Computerized Jabba the Hut for example totally places you in the exact moment of when CGI looked like that. Puppet Jabba is forever.

Plus will those three Avatar sequels actually happen despite the current plans? James Cameron has only made two films in the past 20 years and he's already 60 years old. I realize he's planning to shoot them simultaneously but if he weren't he'd be wrap up a full Avatar quadrilogy in 2044 or so and then retire and/or die at 90.

JAMES: What witches do you think Meryl Streep was offered when she turned 40?

OMG I LOVE THIS QUESTION. I have ignorantly never questioned this  despite the fact that Meryl Streep has been quoted about this a few times. [More...]

Click to read more ...