Thoughts I Had... While Looking at 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' Poster

Thoughts I had while looking at the Age of Ultron Poster as they come to me...

Wow, that's ugly! And since this movie would make a billion dollars even if they advertised with a giant stinky turd as the poster, you'd think they could be a little more creative. You can get away with anything, Marvel, so make it count. Revive the art of the movie poster... it's not like you don't know the important of a good "cover" for your comic books.

And don't make it so obvious that Samuel L Jackson is bored of his role. 

Where's Drew Struzan when you need him? His posters could assemble multiple characters, amplify their already potent iconography, be fun and beautiful all at once. If you love poster art of the 1980s, you should consider buying his coffee table book.

Who knew that the Black Widow was a fan of Tron: Legacy ? 

You can see The Vision floating up near the top. They let him keep that bright yellow cape though we don't know if his skin will be red and his costume green. Seems unlikely. That's a lot of primary colors for a movie! I don't know why but I now equate his relationship with The Scarlet Witch to with Doctor Manhattan & Silk Spectre so if there's not a CGI generated scene co-starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany with a bright red penis, I'm going to be disappointed.

Thor is about to hammer Captain America [ahem]

I hope the robots made of pixels have more character than those nameless alien pixels they battled at the end of the first movie.

I miss The Leftovers (I'm not the only one who was reminded of this). Come back Carrie & Justin

OMG remember The Rapture (1991)? Mimi Rogers was so amazing in that movie and it seems like no one has seen it. My Oscar nominees that year woulda been Foster/Davis/Sarandon/Rogers/Dern with apologies to The Bening! (What? It always comes back to best actress.)

Black History Month: Pulp Fiction (1994)

Our Black History Month through the lens of Oscar continues with Jason on Samuel L. Jackson...

If you'd like a master class in screen-acting (not to mention a Minor in Pronouncing Vulgarity in New & Unique Ways) then you couldn't do much better than by studying the two times Sam Jackson's called upon to recite his character's favorite Bible scripture, Ezekiel 25:17, in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. The scenes essentially bookend the film with Jules holding an audience captive through just the conviction of his delivery. Hardly the last time Sam would manage that feat.

More...

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"I'm gonna ask you, okay? And you say yes, okay? Are you my mom?" / "Yes, sweetie"

This is your daily reminder that Julianne Moore won an Oscar* 

A lot of actors have played Juli's screen kids over the years. Hopefully not all of them have been too traumatized by it since she plays "bad mommy" more often than good one. In fact, here's a list of them because a) it's fun to make lists and b) we go above and beyond here at The Film Experience. We really do. So you should like us on facebook, follow Nathaniel on twitter, and sign up for the forthcoming newsletter pretty please!

Julianne's Screen Kids... It's a Boy / Girl / Ghost

1. Uncredited (Newborn) - Nine Months (1995)
2. Chauncy Leopardi (Stepson) - [safe] (1995)
3. Mark Wahlberg "you're my baby boy" & Heather Graham "I love you mom!" (Honorary Children) - Boogie Nights (1997)
4. Haunting Offscreen Presence (Child She Isn't Allowed To See) - Boogie Nights (1997)
5. Liv Tyler - Cookie's Fortune (1999)
6. Victoria Rudiak (Dead Child) - A Map of the World (1999)
7. Hayley Lochner (Other Child) - A Map of the World (1999)
8. Tom Cruise (Stepson) - Magnolia (1999)
9. Haunting Offscreen Presence (Imaginary Child) - World Traveller (2001)
10. Will McAllister - The Shipping News (2001)
11. Ryan Ward & Lindsay Andretta (Ignored Children) - Far From Heaven (2002)
12. Jack Rovello & Ed Harris (Same Character) - The Hours (2002)
13. Christopher Kovaleski & Matthew Pleszewicz (Dead Child - Or Did The Child Ever Exist At All ???) - The Forgotten (2004)
14. Trevor Morgan, Ellary Porterfield, Monté Gagné, Robert Clark, Michael Seater, Erik Knudsen, Jake Scott, Jordan Todosey, Ryan Price, Shae Norris, Abigail Falle, Luca Barbaro, Brando Barbaro, Jack Murray, Evan Rose, Jessica Pollock, Emily Persich, Maxwell Uretsky, Brendan Price, Melanie Tonello, Julia Megan Thompson, Connor Sharp (Impossibly Large Brood) - The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005)
15. Marlon Sherman (Missing or Dead Child ???) - Freedomland (2006)
16. Haunting Offscreen Presence (Dead Child) - Children of Men (2006)
17. Barney Clark & Eddie Redmayne- (Same Character) - Savage Grace (2007)
18. Max Thieriot - Chloe (2009)
19. Mia Wasikowska & Josh Hutcherson - The Kids Are All Right (2010)
20. Emma Stone - Crazy Stupid Love (2011)
21. Paul Dano - Being Flynn (2012)
22. Onata Aprile - What Maisie Knew (2013)
23. Haunting Offscreen Presence (Dead Child) - Don Jon (2013)
24. Chloë Grace Moretz -Carrie (2013)
25. Kate Bosworth, Hunter Parrish, and Kristen Stewart - Still Alice (2014)

And now the first of them (Eddie Redmayne) has just won an Oscar! As I said in yesterday's New Oscar Trivia post it's the first time our Best Actress & Best Actor winner have previously costarred as mother & son.

Which of her screen kids will be next?

Maybe Emma Stone who was so delightful while practicing with a LEGO Oscar? Or Wahlberg or Moretz or Stewart or.... what'cha think?  

* How long can I keep this up d'ya think?

New Oscar Trivia. Courtesy of the 87th Academy Awards

What does a fresh list of winners bring? Why... New TRIVIA of course! 

Do you think Patty Arquette has seen SAVAGE GRACE?

picture birdman director alejandro gonzález iñárritu, birdman actress julianne moore, still alice  actor eddie redmayne, theory of everything supporting actress patricia arquette, boyhood supporting actor j.k. simmons, whiplash original screenplay birdman adapted screenplay imitation game foreign film ida animated feature big hero 6 documentary feature citizenfour cinematography birdman editing whiplash production design grand budapest hotel costume design grand budapest hotel makeup and hair grand budapest hotel  visual effects interstellar score grand budapest hotel song "glory" selma sound mixing whiplash sound editing american sniper  live action short the phone call documentary short crisis hotline animated short feast ...I forgot to ask all of you how you did on your predictions? I did decent but not spectacular 18/24 (but i heard from a few readers who said I helped them win their office pool so there's that) but the short film categories messing me up as usual grrrr

After the jump, there's lots of trivia brought on by the 87th batch. If you have a really good one I forgot, I can always update the post so please to enjoy and comment... 

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Curio: Oscar Snacks 2015

Alexa here. I knew early on that my annual Oscar pig-out this year would feature the pastry at the center of Wes Anderson's latest. Not only because it was probably my favorite film this year, but because Wes kindly supplied detailed instructions for making the Courtesan au Chocolat.  A literal invitation to create my own Wes Anderson diorama!  I had to try.  

 

It was all fun and games until the assembly, when the mini towers toppled like dominoes. Damn you, Wes! 

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