10 Years Ago Right About This Very Second...

... Oscar night was wrapping up for the films of 2000. The lady whose smile devoured the world was loving her life.

Did you watch on that night? Were you into the Oscars yet? How is that particular race holding up for you.?  It broke down like so among the "Big 8"

• Picture: Gladiator
• Director: Steven Soderbergh, Traffic
• Actress: Julia Roberts, Erin Brockovich
• Actor: Russell Crowe, Gladiator
• Supporting Actress: Marcia Gay Harden, Pollock
• Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, Traffic
• Original Screenplay: Cameron Crowe, Almost Famous
• Adapted Screenplay: Stephen Gaghan, Traffic

It was a spread the wealth night. Honestly, I'd forgotten that Almost Famous won Original Screenplay since it missed the Best Picture slot that many expected it to nab. You can blame the Weinsteins and the late entry Chocolat for that, I suppose. The other wins I remembered. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon won 4 Oscars but I still think it got the shaft (among their nominees) and should've taken Best Picture with ease. And I still maintain that Erin Brockovich was the keeper from Soderbergh's double dip.

And remember this? Winona Ryder sure loved musicians back in the day (in more than one way).

Thoughts? Jump back a decade, won't'cha.

Cast This! "Les Miz" For the Big Screen

In the annals of "the movie business is SO weird" and "Hollywood is terrified of musicals" few things beat the case of the 1998 film version of Victor Hugo's French revolution classic Les Miserables. Despite being moved into production during the 90s when the British mega-musical of the same name was well into its record breaking stage run, Hollywood thought it time to revive the book, which had been filmed many times before, but not as an adaptation of the ginormously popular musical.

Hollywood is currently repeating this dunderheaded mistake with umpteen Wizard of Oz projects in development that ARE NOT Wicked the musical, which is so popular that it has been already earned more than half a billion dollars at the box office.

What is wrong with Hollywood?

So back to Les Miz. Admittedly we tend to travel in packs with people who share our interests but I didn't meet one person around the late 1990s who didn't say "Why isn't it the musical?" with a genuinely confused look on their face. Everybody was into that musical. It was as popular as Cats and Phantom of the Opera the two other pop culture musical phenomenons of the 80s. I also didn't meet one person who was eager to buy a ticket the movie without the songs.

So Uma Thurman played Fantine but didn't get to belt out power ballad classic "I Dreamed a Dream", Claire Danes played the pitiable orphaned Cosette but didn't get that wonderful crosscut romantic triangle "A Heart Full of Love",  Liam Neeson played Valjean but didn't get that 11th hour manly weep-a-thon "Bring Him Home". Etcetera.

Fantine (UMA) Dies From Musical Malnourishment

Word is that Tom Hooper may be directing the first film version of this musical as his follow up to The King's Speech. Honestly, if he pulls this off, we'll pretend that this year's Oscars never happened and stop being angry on behalf of David Fincher.

Les Miz is perfect for big screen. Let's talk why and cast the characters after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Reader of the Day: Bill

For today's reader of the day meet Bill. You know him as "Billy Held an Oscar" in the comments. Enough with you 90s babies ;) Let's have a few earlier babies! Billy discovered The Film Experience through those now defunct Stinky Lulu Supporting Actress Smackdowns (RIP). I believe it had something to do with Maureen Stapleton, his favorite actress. So let's start there.

Billy Held THIS Oscar

Nathaniel: You got to hold Maureen Stapleton's actual Oscar for Reds (1981), right?
BILL:  Yup. Shortly before she passed away, I was able to spend an evening with her at home in Lenox, MA. A few years prior, I had created a site that detailed her career. As a result, a friend of Maureen's contacted me and asked if I would like to join him to visit her. It was truly wild. Maureen told me how she knew Humphrey Bogart and we talked about her role in 'Queen of the Stardust Ballroom'. The walls were adorned with autographed pictures, inscribed to her, from Clark Gable, Ethel Merman, JFK, Cary Grant, etc. If you looked to your left there was an Oscar, if you turned right there was an Emmy and a Tony, etc; Sensory overload. We also talked about our hometown (I grew up a few blocks from her childhood home). The best part of the evening was when Maureen's nurse came in and said, "Maureen, one of your films is on Turner Classic Movies". We watched as Robert Osborne introduced 'Bye Bye Birdie' and made mention of "future Oscar winner Maureen Stapleton". You don't have too many nights like that one in your lifetime.

I don't imagine, no. I mean, I can't imagine. Whose Oscar would I most like to hold in their presence? Hmmm.

Okay before Maureen there was... What's your first movie memory?
My first moviegoing experience was when my parents took me to see Grease. But my first movie obsession was Nine to Five. Having just seen The Electric Horseman on this new channel called HBO, I had fallen completely in love with Jane Fonda. Shortly thereafter, the television promos for Nine to Five aired and I was mesmerized. Jane Fonda, Dolly, and Edith Ann all in the same movie.

Fonda, Edith Ann, AND Dolly?I went through all of my grandmother's magazines (McCalls, Redbook, etc) and cut out any full-page ads I could find for the film; I checked the paper every day and clipped the 'Coming Soon' and 'Now Playing' ads too. Then I hung all the ads/clippings on my bedroom wall, along with a 'Nine to Five' sign that I made out of construction paper, and began campaigning for my parents to take me to see the film. I still have the ticket stub. 

Oh how I wish I'd kept my early ticket stubs. Did you ever dress up as a movie character for Halloween?
C-3PO. It was horrible. I hated it. Who I really wanted to be was the Bionic Woman but my parents killed that dream.

Are your coworkers aware of your movie addiction?
Coworkers are painfully aware that I am a huge movie fan. They know that the Oscars are a day of worship. I've run an Oscar pool at the office in years past. People really get into it. They research info online regarding the nominees and last year I had one co-worker attend a showing of all the nominated short films so he could cast an informed vote on his ballot.

In addition to Stapleton, I know you love The Bening. Any new actresses that are exciting you out there?
I still remember the rush I felt seeing The Bening in The Grifters and sadly, I haven't really had that rush with many of the younger actresses. Carey Mulligan came close in An Education, as did Emily Blunt in The Devils Wears Prada. For now, I am very happy devoting myself to Annette Bening and Maureen Stapleton. Another will come along ... I'm always on the lookout.

"I'm not like anyone else. I'm me."

By now you've read the obituaries, scoured the career appraisals, maybe you've put in a DVD, donated to her charity in lieu of flowers, wiped away a tear, or done something silly to commemorate Elizabeth Taylor. Maybe you've just marvelled at how difficult it is to wrap one's head around the loss of a true Giant, capital and italics intended, and not just because that's one of the only titles in her filmography that doubles as an apt descriptor of its star. 

A friend of mine told me last month when she was dramatically hospitalized on Oscar weekend, that he'd been commissioned to write an obit (just in case). I actually felt bad for him. "You'll never be paid," I said...

READ THE REST AT TOWLEROAD

* This is my last piece on Liz for awhile. Between this and Tennessee Williams week (which ends tomorrow) we've become lost in time. Must jump back to 2011 pronto. Or at least by April 1st, when The Film Experience traditionally admits that the new film year has in fact begun. Here we go again...

Break out the Bubbly For "Best Shot"

I hope you're enjoying Reader Appreciation Month! (If you're waiting on a prize from various contests... i believe everything has gone out.) The reason I used to love blog-a-thons -- before the Dire Oversaturation of late2008 / early2009 which seemed to kill them off -- was the sense of community and the revelatory nature of 'multiple eyeballs on same object' . So "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" has been a wonderful experience thus far.

CHEERS!

BTW wasn't it shocking that so few of Wednesday night's contributors chose Brando-related images? There was a lot of "Hey... Stella!?!" discovery rather than "Hey Stellllllaaaaaaaa!" going on if y'know what I mean. Here's what Brando thinks about y'all ignoring him.

So here's to everyone who has been contributing! To those of you playing along at home, have you been imbibing the multiple takes with abandon -- are you weighing them against your own unnamed favorites? Honestly, with both Memento and Streetcar which kicked off season two, I feel like I've learned new things about each film by reading the contributions. So thanks to two timers: Serious Film, Movies Kick Ass, Cinephilia & Sass,  Pussy Goes Grrr, Against the Hype, Luisergho and Okinawa Assault. And a round of applause and/or welcomes to  Victim of the Time, Dial P For Popcorn, Film Actually, Amiresque, The Owls Are Not What They Seem and Encore's World.

NEXT UP...
Join us and pass this on to your movie-loving friends.

• March 30th  PSYCHO (1960, Alfred Hitchcock)
• April 6th      HEAVENLY CREATURES (1994, Peter Jackson)
• April 13th    AKIRA (1988, Katsuhiro Ôtomo)
  Maybe they'll have announced their official casting and we'll need to vent again? We've never tried an animated film in this series. Let's take a look at anime's international breakthrough.
• April 20th    THE CIRCUS (1928, Charlie Chaplin)
  Water for Elephants arrives in theaters on the 22nd, so let's prep with a three ring classic.
  
• April 27th    SOMEWHERE (2010, Sofia Coppola)
  Experiment. This comes out on DVD on the 19th. We've never done a brand new release the week of... so why not?