Two Ladies: Margaret and Catwoman

beedle-dee-deedle-dee-dee ♬

Margaret. Last night I was having a conversation with a reader and he asked me if I thought that Margaret, that long-delayed Kenneth Lonergan film about a traumatized young Manhattanite (Anna Paquin) was going to have any impact on the Oscar Race. I told him I'd been answering that question annually for the past five years. Each year the question feels weirder and weirder. If you're new to movie fanaticism, here's a good rundown of the timeline and the things that went wrong in getting the movie into theaters. 

Here's Matt Damon and Anna Paquin on set... in... wait for it... 2005. Matt was still a thirtysomething and Anna wasn't yet SOOKIIIIIIEEE. 

on the set of Margaret

As to the Oscar question, truthfully I care not a smidgeon. I just want to see it. It's been drifting, transparent, like a ghost in our peripheral vision for years. I don't even what to see a critic's screening. I want to buy a ticket, sit in the theater holding it, come home and frame it with the inscription:

THIS REALLY HAPPENED!"

The press release I received yesterday morning said September 30th but until the day I'm holding that ticket stub it will remain an ectoplasmic dream.

Catwoman. The Dark Knight Rises has released its second official character image (the first was of Tom Hardy's hunched back) and it's Our Miss Hathaway as Cyclops Catwoman riding a very Nolan-esque wild hog. He sure likes those dunebuggy big wheels. 

I love Hathaway. I love Catwoman. But my inner child is not okay with either of them stealing Batgirl's motorycle mojo, you know?

I had...uh... this friend... yeah, a friend... who used to pretend to be Batgirl while riding on the back of his dad's motorcycle. This...uh... friend was smart enough to not share this fantasy out loud with my dad his dad but it was a pretty regular occurence. Like, every time he hopped on the motorcycle!

Don't judge.

und i'm the only man. ja ♬

Superman and the Spit Curl

Another week, another "first look!" at another superhero. This is Henry Cavill as Superman in Zach Snyder's upcoming film Man of Steel (2013). Cavill looks fine but for the lack of eyebrows. I don't remember Cavill or Superman being eyebrow free in previous incarnatians. And of course I miss that dangly lock of Super hair that Kal-El is always rocking. There are some classics you just don't mess with... like spit curls. I can't prove it but I think that if you lop off the spit curl that's as good as making his cape out of a polykryptonite blend. He'll be down for the count in no time.

Spit Curls forever! Is what I'm saying.

Shouting, actually.

NYFF "My Week With Marilyn" as Centerfold. Er.... Centerpiece!

News continues to trickle in about this year's New York Film Festival, the 49th (September 30th through October 16th). So, yes, expect 2012's festival to pull out all the stops to honor its own 50th birthday. We always cover this festival since its the easiest for The Film Experience, being NYC based, but this year we're aiming to do thrice the amount of our usual coverage. Stay tuned.

Here's what we know so far.

Opening Night ~ Roman Polanski's CARNAGE
Centerpiece ~ Simon Curtis's  MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (World Premiere)
Closing Night & Lineup In General ~ TBA... though it's usually selections that previously debuted at Cannes or Toronto. THE SKIN I LIVE IN is frequently rumored.

The Burmese Harp (1956)Masterworks ~ This is the section where they show old films, rare prints and retrospectives.

This year they'll be screening a restored and aspect-ratio corrected print of William Wyler's much-Oscar'ed Epic BEN-HUR (1959) which is a MUST for big screen viewing. I've had the opportunity once and the chariot race has to be seen blown up for maximum effect. There will be a rare screening of Nicholas Ray's experimental WE CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN (1973) which he tinkered with until his death in 1979. And the bulk of this section is a Centennial celebration of Japan's chameleonic Nikkatsu Corporation. They're showing over 30 of their films including the Oscar Best Foreign Language Film nominees THE BURMESE HARP (1956). More on that sidebar event here.

Tickets go on sale on September 12th unless you're a Film Society member in which case you can purchase early. Among the older films, I'm definitely taking in The Burmese Harp which I've never seen.

The Lord of the Apes: The Fellowship of the Ape

Blu Ray CollectionI missed the final critics screening of Rise of the Planet of the Apes due to my Michigan trip, but some critics and pundits have gone quite wild for it. And once again Andy Serkis, aka Gollum aka King Kong aka Pioneer King of Motion Capture Performing, is getting "give him gold" attention.

Meanwhile, in an effort to make me feel even worse about missing the new flick before it hits theaters tomorrow, guess what arrived while I was in Michigan? The Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary Blu-Ray Box Set. Maybe apes aren't very good at math because the first movie was from 1968 which is 43 years ago but whatever.

It looks SENSATIONAL. I love the packaging and it's even got a gatefold timeline detailing the whole sci-fi tale. I have no idea when I'll find time to watch them all (I've only ever seen the first one which I love but mostly for camp reasons... actual NSFW *LOL* shot ) but I'll try.

So with apes on the brain, I asked Team Film Experience the following question and I want to know your answers too.

WHAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU HEAR "PLANET OF THE APES"?

KURT: Sadly, Mark Wahlberg.

CRAIG: Since The Simpsons' parody, I always think of Stop the Planet of the Apes, I want to Get Off!

MICHAEL C: In college I engaged in an ill-advised marathon of Apes VHS tapes, memories of which are blurry, but one scene from the surprisingly un-terrible, Escape from the Planet of the Apes stands out. After Cornelius and Zira have time traveled back to present-day Earth and become celebrities (of course) they bizarrely engage in one of those out-on-the-town, trying on lots of different outfits montages. I have never rewatched the movie so this is one of those movie memories I am never 100% sure I didn't hallucinate. Maybe somebody can help me out with this?

ROBERT: Usually I think Charlton Heston shouting "You damn dirty apes!" However currently I can't help but think of the commercials for the new film which make me laugh every time. Those apes just look so angry.

JOSE: Charlton Heston in a loincloth *drools*, wait, eww.

NICK: A Bachmann/Pawlenty 2012 ticket.

Your Turn. Go! What do you think of the second you hear "Planet of the Apes"?

Pfeiffer on the Move...

Michelle Pfeiffer sightings are so rare that we must share each and every one of them. The Power of Pfandom Compels Us. She arrived in LAX two days ago so these pap' shots cropped up. Where was she coming from?

She's got her passport so my guess is a break from Dark Shadows (2012) filming in London? Or maybe she's done already. You never know.

The latest from Tim Burton is an adaptation of the cult favorite soap opera about the matriarch of a troubled family (Michelle Pfeiffer) on a crumbling creepy estate. Her centuries-old vampire relative returns (Johnny Depp). Jude Law bestie/Angelina Jolie ex Johnny Lee Miller plays Pfeiffer's brother and the ubiquitous Chloe Moretz her rebellious daughter. Most promisingly, Helena Bonham Carter plays her live in psychiatrist. A live in psychiatrist! Oh the thrilling actressy neuroses that portends.

(Don't you love how I just described the entire movie like it's about Pfeiffer when it's really all about Depp!?! I'm gifted at self-deception!)  

The movie will arrive on May 11th, 2012 and no matter the quality it will make a bajillion dollars and win the Art Direction Oscar which Burton movies always do no matter how gaudy and McGothic they end up looking! 

Pfeiffer's 'Dark Shadows' home... under construction

I miss the days when the thought of a new Tim Burton was exciting. Though perhaps we should be hopeful. He did direct that iconic Catwoman performance afterall and Pfeiffer has always had a knack for elevating genre pieces (see: Catwoman, What Lies Beneath, Ladyhawke, Witches of Eastwick, Wolf, etcetera)

Are you excited about Dark Shadows or have you just given up with Burton?