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.)
While Meryl continues her triumphant march towards Oscar nomination #17 for The Iron Lady (and possible Oscar #3) we've been tabulating your opinions about her 16 previous nominations.
I received a lot of mail about this and since I love reader participation I'm not complaining! Don't misunderstand. But that means it's taking me some time to tally up the results including, most beloved performances, which performances are underseen but have über-devotees and so on. I'm halfway through so results are coming next weekend but a few sneak peeks before then. Stay tuned!
A lot of folks are dissing this trailer spoof whatsit heralding the oncoming Oscar but I think that's just a sympton of "you can't please everyone anyone" on the internet / when it comes to Oscar. I'm sorry but I ♥ the moment that they open the briefcase and the golden glow emerges. That shiny naked gold man brings me joy every damn year. It's true! Even when I hate him I love him.
Sure the ad is meaningless / not hilarious but it's kind of fun in a stupid ha-HA way. You were expecting cutting edge comedy with Billy Crystal?
That said I will readily admit that it is a bit odd to have former co-stars of Transformers as your key actors. Nothing against Josh and Megan but no A listers were available? (Remember when Robin Williams was A list? That's as dusty a notion as Billy Crystal hosting the Os--- uh, never mind.)
In much more euphoric Oscar news... I am planning to marry Entertainment Weekly's new Oscar cover. It was love at first sight. It's my favorite Oscar cover since, oh, ever. I considered actually buying it and writing it up like a live-blog magazine read but I couldn't find it anywhere in my neighborhood. Supposedly it hit newsstands yesterday.
Clooney and Viola Davis are both such class acts and if that's who were celebrating, can it be February 24th tonight, please?
She’s amazed at how the Best Actress race is shaping up this year. “Can you wrap your mind around someone throwing you into the ring with Meryl Streep?” she marvels. “I just don’t understand the competition thing. How can you compare two actors’ performances? How do you say one is better than the other?”
“I know how you do it,” Clooney says to Davis. “You have to play Margaret Thatcher and she has to play the maid.”
And yet... In regards to the frontrunner for Best Actor. The only thing that could make this cover better was if it was Brad Pitt in the tux.
While I love Clooney as a celebrity as much as anyone does, he already has an Oscar and I think if we're in the mood for one of those Movie Star Appreciation Nights come late February, we've got a more deserving idol right next door in Brad Pitt! He gave not one but two career best performances this year! And though that blurb might not mean much coming from many loudmouth journos, it means a lot coming from me since Brad Pitt is one of my all time favorite actors. Thus I am able to say "career best" without any of the not so subtle "I was never impressed before" connotations that "career best" citations arrive with. I think he's been sorely undervalued (as an actor) his entire career.
Amuse us by adding dialogue or a caption* to this first image of Peter Sarsgaard and Amanda Seyfried in Lovelace (2012)a biopic about the porn star of infamous Deep Throat fame.
The film will be directed by Oscar winning documentarian Rob Epstein and Emmy winner Jeffrey Friedman and will co-star Hank Azaria, Wes Bentley, James Franco, Demi Moore (as Gloria Steinem!), Robert Patrick, Eric Roberts, Sharon Stone and Juno Temple. [Note: This is not the same Linda Lovelace biopic that Lindsay Lohan was supposed to star in in one of those hallucinatory moments when it looked like she might get her shit together. That competing bio will star Malin Akerman.]
Just a heads up. I was pleased that people passed this around twitter after I posted it but DO NOT READ The New Yorker review ofA Separationbefore seeing the film. I recently named the movie Best of the Year but one of the greatest things about it, that I was careful not to spoil in my review or any of my subsequent writeups or awards postings is how it keeps defying expectations and throwing more and more complications your way. That New Yorker review, which is meant to be an enticement to see it and is otherwise beautifully written, will significantly damage your viewing pleasure as it gives away several twists and nearly the entire plot. You're welcome. And for shame Anthony Lane! Why do that to readers and potential ticket buyers?
Boy Culture Congratulations to actress Kristy McNichol, who is now out of the closet. That'll mean something to anyone over the age of like, um, 35 (?). Otherwise y'all might be like "who?". But she was a big deal in the late 70s/early 80s. Think "Family" or "Empty Nest" on television and summer camp classic Little Darlings (1980) wherein she was deflowered by Matt Dillon! Thompson on Hollywood Christopher Tellefsen on the rhythms of editing. He did such great work on Moneyball I think. Hello Giggles has 100 Things You Should Know About Downton Abbey Deadline which films are popular in their home countries? In Contention has the Central Ohio Critics film winners. But I can't deal with typing up ANOTHER list. No offense, Ohio! Hey Deanie is not convinced by Bérénice Bejo in The Artist
NYT "Seeking the next red carpet knockout" interesting piece about young actresses trying to find the dress and what happens when they do. (Though it makes you appreciate actresses who never bother, too) Rope of Silicon The biggest flops of 2011, budget to gross. Flavorwire Audrey Hepburn's screen test for Roman Holiday. One of those first time's the charm Oscar smashes. Ah, I love that movie. Electronic Cerebrectomy I love when people post super random extensive personal lists of their favorite things of a year. It's like a scrapbook of everything -- not just movies. I'd do that if I didn't have 100 other lists to make. Serious Film 2011 Superlatives: Best use of profanity. Google celebrates the centennial of Charles Samuel Addams best known as the creator of The Addams Family. City Arts Armond White releases his annually inane "better than" list. I shouldn't like. It's such obvious trolling link bait. But I can't help myself. I do find his distaste for Lars von Trier highly amusing since you'd think the provocations just for the sake of provocations (Jack & Jill > The Descendants et. all) would mark them as soulmates.
Ugh, I used to love blog-a-thons so much. And then there were too many of them and I gave up. But then every once in a while you find one that looks so fun and you didn't know about it and you just want to die a little inside. Have you seen the BlogalongaBond?
It's hosted by The Incredible Suit which I've been reading for a month (and love). But I didn't know about it. It's been going on for a year already! One Bond film a month counting down to the 50th anniversary of Bond with the release of SkyFall (2012)! They're up to Octopussy (1983) now which is the very first Bond film I ever saw so if I weren't a crazy OCD completist type person it would be a great time to join in but I already missed 12 movies and all the Connery ones. Boo!
That said, how invested are you in James Bond movies, Bond Girls and the like? We might do something.
As someone who is absolutely not feeling it today -- why do some days torment us, so? -- I thought I'd best *finally* finish updating the Oscar predictions. So I'm working on it. As ever I'm sure you'll tell me exactly where I'm right and wrong.
Even though I'm not technically feeling it today, I am most definitely feeling it in terms of the Oscars this year. It's SO exciting for once. Lots of confusion in each category I think. Just the way we like it. If predictions aren't difficult, they aren't fun.
Picture I'm guessing 8 nominees though I think Moneyball is stronger and War Horse weaker than my chart suggests. Though perhaps this is wishful thinking? Director If Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and Steven Spielberg are all nominated here, that would be madness. I need to do the statistics but I am pretty sure that that would be the most previously nominated group ever assembled in Best Director since they're the 3 most nominated living / working directors. But as of this writing I don't think Spielberg is in. Actress Tilda and Glenn aren't invulnerable for very different reasons. Rooney Mara was surging while ballots went out but it's not really an Oscar type role so who knows? And then there's still Charlize (just interviewed) sneering at all of them in her Hello Kitty shirt. Everyone else is toast. Actor I'm taking a risk because I keep hearing Michael Shannon's name even though his movie is basically gone. But then so is Leo's.
Shannon got one nomination by surprise. Can he pull off surprise #2?
Supporting Actress I still think this category is VERY difficult to predict. Someone with a lot of precursor attention isn't going to make it. People always say it's easy to predict this one until you remind them that six women have won plentiful precursor attention. Six ≠ Five. Supporting Actor totally diffuse if you ask me beyond the Branagh-Plummer-Brooks triangle. Wouldn't it be a hoot if Corey Stoll or Viggo Mortensen made it in? Screenplay Original is still super crowded and impossible to figure with at least five major contenders ineligible for the recent Writer's Guild noms. Adapted is easier but not completely simple.
CALENDAR FUN! Today, I got the hugest package in the mail. I mean it was enormous. And this thin calendar to your right was all that was inside. HA! Here's to killing trees for nothing! But it did immediately remind me that I need to nail down my calendar for 2012. I want it to be the best year ever here at The Film Experience. I really do. The Bext Exotic Marigold Hotel promisese to open on May 4th. In worse news, The Wettest Country has been moved back AGAIN. Now they're saying August. Let's face it: that movie is never going to open. If both do open as intended who knows. Oscar 2012? The Help, The Tree of Life and Midnight in Paris, all summer releases, are still in play for 2011's race.
Here's some dates you should know about as we move forward into our busiest month.
JANUARY DATES
Sat. 7th National Society of Film Critics... ending critic prizes.
Mon. 9th Directors Guild Nominations ... which was once the most accurate predictor of anything-ever as to what would be Best Picture nominated. The last few years have made those statistics useless with all the changes as to # of nominees.
Thur. 12th BFCA "CRITICS CHOICE" AWARDS (yes, we'll live blog or something)
Fri. 13th Oscar Ballots due.Nothing on this day or forward can affect who gets nominated.
Sat. 14th LAFCA Awards Ceremony (not televised)
Sun. 15th GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS (yes, we'll live blog or something)
Mon. 16th ACE Eddie Award Nominations (Editing) and we'll do Oscar chart updates .
Sat. 21st Producers Guild Award Ceremony (not televised)
Sun. 22nd FOLLIES closes on Broadway... heading to Los Angeles but without Bernadette Peters. *sniffle* Do not miss it! Oh and also this is the day when we'll post our final predictions for nominations in all Oscar categories.
Tues. 24th OSCAR NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED
Sun. 29th SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS (Yes, we'll live blog or something)
What are you looking forward to? Oscar Prediction comments?
Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 12:01AM 
