Linkers Dozen

• MovieMaker Bruce Willis retires from acting after Aphasia diagnosis. Our heart goes out to him and his loved ones.
• World of Reel polled 150 critics (including me) on the best films of the 1970s. No surprise to see The Godfather top it even though it wasn't on my list (we could only choose 10-15 films each). Four of my selections made the top ten (Nashville, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, and Network)
• Pajiba great piece on Ryan Reynolds turning himself into a brand while becoming blander as an actor

More after the jump including Essie Davis, Chang Chen, Taron Egerton, Hugh Jackman, and the aftermath of The Slap at the Oscars... 

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Doris Day @ 100: "Pillow Talk"

By Christopher James

Doris Day had the biggest hit of career with "Pillow Talk," which was her first movie with Rock Hudson

Doris Day’s sole Oscar nomination came for Pillow Talk. If this isn’t the best performance of her career, it’s at least the most iconic version of her persona. For those looking to get a sense of her star character, this is the best place to start. Pillow Talk was the highest grossing movie of Day’s career, and the start of her most bankable period. According to the Numbers, Pillow Talk was the fifth highest grossing film of 1959 with $18 million box office (roughly $182 million adjusted for inflation). In addition to acting, Day also sings three songs in the film, most notably the titular song that plays over the delightful opening credits.

It’s impossible to resist the pairing of Rock Hudson and Doris Day in Pillow Talk. While Down with Love most infamously used this film for reference, so many modern romantic comedies and sitcoms mine from Pillow Talk, which effectively wrings laughs from miscommunications, mistaken identities and odd couple dynamics...

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Streaming Roulette April '22: Sweet Birds, Edgy Postcards, and Moon Knights

Bridgerton Season 2.

Are you watching Bridgerton Season 2? I'm trying to pace myself but I'm watching it too fast because I am eager for the extremely beautiful pair of Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley to consummate their love instead of just staring angrily at each other. I will never get over how widely accepted the trope of 'people who hate each other are obviously in love!' is in movies and television since it has no parallel in real life. I've never met a couple in real life who discovered their love because they aggravated and hated each other so much. Have any of you? 

Okay, time for this month's streaming roulette. You know the rules. We highlight new-to-streaming movies and an occasional TV series by freezing them on the scroll bar at entirely random places and just sharing what pops up. No cheating*!

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Doris Day @ 100: "The Man Who Knew Too Much"

To celebrate Doris Day's Centennial we're watching a few of the superstar's movies...

by Cláudio Alves

No matter how popular she was in her heyday, it's hard to look at Doris Day's lasting legacy and not think she's a tad underrated. Perhaps not as a comedienne or a songstress, but surely as an actress. Especially as a dramatic actress. While Day consolidated her stardom with many musicals and romantic comedies, her range went beyond such genres. She could as easily make her audience swoon and laugh as she could break their hearts and rile up adrenaline through pure suspense. So as we celebrate the star's centennial, let's appreciate the full breadth of her talents and shine a light on her brief stint as one of Alfred Hitchcock's (not so) icy blondes…

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That's a wrap on the 2021/2022 film awards season!

Another film year has wrapped up here at The Film Experience. Though we go by the calendar year for all awards purposes, when it comes to the film year, we think of it as as running from the day after the Oscars through to the next Oscar night. So Happy 2022 to all of you. We're about to start all over again.

THE BIG SHOW
• The Ceremony Reviewed
• The Slap
• Best Dressed Polls
• 5 Best Speeches
• Top 10 Fashions
• On the 3 Hosts: Amy, Regina, and Wanda
• Ranking the Clips
• Appeal to the Academy re: Lady Gaga
• Podcast Discussion

EXTRAS
• Chris James' Fabulous Annual Oscar Party
• The Help as Good Luck Charm
• Records & Trivia
• What's Next for the Directors
• What's Next for the Actors
• What's Next for the Actresses
• Winners List & Charts

And of course there was a lot before that as well if you click on any tag for various actors and films!

Best of 2021 - Off-Oscar

• Nathaniel's Top 12 - from Flee to The Power of the Dog
• 22nd Annual Film Bitch Awards - Our annual celebratory medals party in 40 categories from the Oscar parallels to Diva of the Year, Best Cameos, Musical Sequences, and more.
• 10th Annual Team Experience Awards - Voted on by all of our contributors
• Year in Review Lists - Entertainer of the Year, etc...

Previous Highlights
May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec | Feb 2022

WHAT'S NEXT?
If you've ever considered subscribing (see right hand sidebar --> ) now would be a perfect time. The site operates on the barest of shoestrings and it's been really tough for a few years now. We'd like to keep going until our 25th anniversary but we need help. 

COMING THIS SUMMER IF YOU'LL BE HERE TO SUPPORT US

✅ Supporting Actress Smackdown Season (and companion 'year of the month' festivities for 1951, 1997, 2004) - dates TBA

✅ Emmy Coverage - we're hoping to do more than we've ever done (the budget thing again -- gotta sell more advertisements!) so let us know what series you'd to see more on right here. Which are 'most cinematic' to you?

✅ CINEMA: Cannes Film Festival, Elvis, The Northman, Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen, BROS, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, and Mrs Harris Goes to Paris among others.

✅ "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" weekly film club -- join in!

✅ Centennial Parties: Doris Day (early April), Judy Garland (early June), and Eleanor Parker (late June)

✅ And much randomness. You know how we do 'off season'