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.)
Actually it's just a reg'lar ol' podcast. But Nick, Joe and Katey are three and they're dreamy so that counts. My blog pals are back to discuss the Oscar race with me (if you're new I'm Nathaniel). Topics covered include...
Kathleen Turner and John Waters beaming with Happy at the Writer's Guild Awards. What do you think their Oscar ballots look like? (I'm not sure if they have them but the comment question remains.)
The Film Doctor 10 questions regarding 127 Hours Cinebeats Tura Satana (RIP) Slant new book on Spike Lee's classic Do the Right Thing. Latino Review EEEeeeee. "Ursa" could be the villainess of the rebooted Superman. Good luck trying to top Sarah Douglas's bitchery in Superman II (1980). Although, I'm heartened that Rosamund Pike is in the running. She deserves a big high profile movie star breakthrough.
Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and Zod (Terence Stamp) in Superman II
Go Fug Yourself reveals their SAG best & worst dressed from their substantial readership polling. Was I supposed to know that Rooney Mara was Kate Mara's sister? The things that slip by you... Pajiba "Top 5" Stars Unworthy of Their Status Cinema Blend wonders if James Franco isn't spreading himself dangerously thin. He might be Oz: The Great and Powerful now in addition to nine other projects. Pop Matters reviews the box set "The Films of Rita Hayworth". Ugh, why didn't I get a copy for review? Incidentally, if you ever happen to see Tonight and Every Night (1945) you'll feel a strange sense of deja vu. It's the same story as Oscar nominee Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) albeit told in a different tone and from a different angle.
Finally, be very afraid: Finding Neverland The Musical is heading your way soon. I'm only joking about being afraid. The songwriting team employed here did the enchanting music to Grey Gardens and Peter Pan is a long time stage tradition so why stop now? Plus, if you think about it certain gaggy, twee or pushily sentimental projects could (hypothetically) work much better with the distance from reality that song and dance can provide in much the same way that animation lowers our guard to things we'd think weren't soggy with sentiment in live action. I actually think that The King's Speech, which I think is a good film but no "best", would make a fine musical; the King doesn't stutter when he sings so right there embedded in your concept is the opportunities to show songs as transcendent rescue from daily troubles. Sounds perfect for a movie musical... though you'd have to have had a different cast. I'm not sure anyone would have wanted to see/hear Colin Firth (Mamma Mia) or Helena Bonham-Carter (Sweeney Todd) singing again, now would they?
P.S. Unrelated: Pixar's 25th anniversary was just a few days back. Some words coming up this week.
It's a big day for USA history today. 100 years ago today in 1911 Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois. He lived there until his college graduation in the early 30s. By 1937, after a brief dip in Iowa, he was seeking movie stardom in Hollywood. Forty-four years later he became the 40th President of the United States.
Reagan in the late 20s or early 30s in Illinois
He remains the only US President who ever starred in motion pictures, though he isn't remotely the only entertainer who has been elected to public office. Even when movie stars don't express a desire to run for office, they often dive in in a big way. (Warren Beatty is a prime example. His political life has a supporting role in the book STAR.Today is the last day to enter the contest to win the book).
Jane Wyman & Reagan in 1940. She won "Best Actress" shortly after divorcing him.My own feelings on Reagan are mixed.
I loved the idea of a movie star president as a kid and because of my general proclivities towards arts & entertainment I'm still fascinated -- sometimes against my better judgement -- by stories in which politics and the arts are entangled such as the political leanings of various actors, Lincoln's assassination in a theater, political battles over arts funding, the assassination attempt on Reagan himself by a deranged fan of Jodie Foster and Taxi Driver, etcetera.
I wasn't politically aware in the 80s but as I mapped out my own political feelings later on, I became horrified. I think the play Angels in America which takes place during the AIDS crisis when Reagan ruled America and was unforgivably silent on the matter helped me along the way to that. Imagine what immediate funding for research and prevention could have done early on; speeding us to a cure or saving millions and millions of lives.
Though Reagan himself was more liberal than today's right-wing (what past Republican isn't? Things have become... extreme.) the movements that he pushed forward like the deregulation of the economy have had disastrous long term effects: see Oscar's documentary frontrunner Inside Job next time you're in the mood for the scariest movie of the year.
Confession: Strangely, I have never seen a Ronald Reagan movie. Not even King's Row or Bedtime for Bonzo! Have you?
Serious Film's Michael C. here for this episode of Yes, No, Maybe So wherein we make a snap judgment on BRIDESMAIDS, Hollywood’s attempt to give female audiences a Hangover of their very own.
Women certainly have some balance coming to them. In road trip comedies they’re usually lucky to get the role of the humorless, castrating wife/girlfriend. If they’re not lucky they play the stripper, who in Vegas films stands a decent chance of ending up in a shallow grave in the desert.
Bridesmaids also represents star/co-writer Kristen Wiig’s stab at big screen stardom because she can’t go on forever being SNL’s last line of defense against total un-watchability, and God knows MacGruber didn’t do it for her. Simply put Wiig is appointed Maid of Honor by Maya Rudolph making her responsible for sending her friend off in style, which in this case entails rounding up her colorful band of bridesmaids to go to Vegas for a bachelorette party. ROAD TRIP!!!
The main draw here is clearly the cast, which is one big bag of “Yes!” I can’t spot a weak link. In addition to Wiig there is Rose Byrne, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, and The Office’s Ellie Kemper, who couldn’t be more adorable if she was manufactured by Hello Kitty. I’m especially pleased to see Reno 911’s stellar Wendi Mclendon Covey get such a high profile gig. Her reactions to Kemper’s “princess theme” and McCarthy’s “female fight club” ideas are the funniest part of the trailer. Another reason to be psyched: it is directed by Midas Touch TV director Paul Feig. His credits read like a roll call of the greatest shows of the last decade, Arrested Development, Freaks and Geeks, Mad Men, Parks and Rec, 30 Rock. I feel obligated to buy a ticket out of gratitude alone.
I have long-standing rule of avoiding movies that have trailers in which curse words are replaced by sound effects so that’s strike one there. On a more substantive note, the movie looks like it leans pretty heavily on broadly drawn types – the jaded one, the ditz, the butch one. Also, is it too much too ask that women get one movie that doesn’t center on a wedding? Seriously, if you went by Hollywood comedies you would think single women do nothing with their evenings but tip back glasses of white wine in order to stave off thoughts of suicide because all their friends are getting married to orthodontists and cranking out horrible children. I’m offended on your behalf, ladies.
Of course, there is a good chance Wiig is as annoyed as I am with the culture's wedding obsession and is dragging the material out in order to give it the send up it richly deserves. It’s so hard to tell with trailers. That fact that this one is a few notches shy of uproarious could be a sign that it showed only the most trailer-friendly, punched-by-Mike-Tyson type jokes instead of funnier character beats. It could also be a sign that the better jokes simply aren’t there. I’m pretty on the fence about this one.
Oh, wait…Is that Jon Hamm there at the end? Okay, I’m in. What can I say? I think he is a comic genius trapped in a Rock Hudson body. Poor guy. What say you? You would think this collection of talent would have to do something worth checking out, but then that's what I said before I sat through Date Night.
Sunday, February 6, 2011 at 9:51PM 
Actually it's just a reg'lar ol' podcast. But Nick, Joe and Katey are three and they're dreamy so that counts. My blog pals are back to discuss the Oscar race with me (if you're new I'm Nathaniel). Topics covered include...
Melissa Leo's personal FYC ads
