'Shortbus' restored... just in time for our sexphobic era!

by Nathaniel R

Dearest readers, January kills me. I feel overwhelmed for 31 days in a row from the moment I wake up to the moment I fitfully sleep and I never even get to have sex (that's on topic, sorry!). There are always too many things: Oscar campaigns, best of lists, numerous deadlines, transcribing interviews, Sundance. Each year in January (why January?) there are also cool revivals and restorations that emerge at the same exact time everything else is happening (including the re-emergence of those "qualifying" Oscar releases). This is a long and navel-gazing way to say that one of the most singular movies of the the Aughts, John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus (2006), has been restored and is in theaters again right where it was born in New York City. Unfortunately we haven't made it to the theater yet.

I loved it so much in 2006. It meant a lot to me for numerous reasons back then, the simplest being that I needed it, being a newish gay New Yorker who had years of sexual repression to unpack (Hello Mormonism!). So for a quick fun reminiscence, let's talk about its history right here at the site's own Film Bitch Awards...

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Oscar Volley: Will Best Film Editing only have Best Picture nominees?

By: Tim Brayton and Chris James

Frontrunners "Belfast" and "The Power of the Dog" will also likely duke it out in Best Film Editing.

Welcome to our Oscar Volley series at The Film Experience. Each day, member of Team Experience will have a conversation about one or two of the Oscar categories. Today, Tim and Chris tackle the Best Film Editing race. This race has long been a predictor for Best Picture. In the past fifty years, only Birdman (2014), which was famously designed to look like it had no editing at all, and Ordinary People (1980) were able to win Best Picture without a nomination in this category. Will the branch have a few tricks up its sleeve or just got with the five hottest Best Picture contenders...

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Sundance: Another Inappropriate Relationship in ‘Palm Trees and Power Lines’

By Abe Friedtanzer

In film and television it’s very common to find a romance happening that probably shouldn’t be, with too wide an age gap that’s either just unappealing or actually illegal. That’s a central problem some have with Licorice Pizza. The Alliance of Women Film Journalists actually has a category in their awards titled “Most Egregious Age Difference Between Leading Man and Love Interest.” Palm Trees and Power Lines is the latest reminder that if something feels off, there’s probably good reason to raise alarm…

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Sundance: Falling asleep (and in love) with 'Blood'

by Cláudio Alves

Bradley Rust Gray's Blood nearly put me to sleep. I mean it in a positive way, despite the negative readings such statements usually entail. At times, it felt like watching a 111-minute ASMR video crossed with a stubbornly understated character study. Even the casting appears designed to induce visceral relaxation, from Carla Juri's whispery intonations to Issey Ogata's unmistakable voice. Gray has devised a film of hypnotic qualities, extrapolating its protagonist's search for inner serenity to the audience's experience of movie-watching. At times, like when a gentle song unfurls with lyrics about dozing off, it almost seems as if Blood is winking at the semi-conscious spectator, sharing a joke, giving permission to dream… 

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DGA Nominees: Anderson, Branagh, Campion, Spielberg, Villeneuve

by Nathaniel R

And now the 'super thursday' of Guild Awards comes to an end with the Directors Guild of America nominations. The Directors Guild has historically been the best 'predictor' as to the Best Picture lineup though that distinction ceased being really important in 2009 when Oscar expanded its Best Picture lineup. Since then we've only seen one DGA Feature Film nominee that didnt show up in Oscar's Best Picture list (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) though we've several several DGA nominees who didn't show up in the parallel Oscar list for Best Director. Make sense? Okay, let's discuss their nominees...

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