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.)
Stewart and DeBose at the world premieres of their movies in 2021
This year, we saw two openly queer women receive first time nominations in the Academy’s acting categories. Famously, the Academy rarely nominates openly LGBTQ performers while often honoring straight actors for playing queer roles, something that was considered “brave” until shockingly recently. But how have out queer performers fared in the past?
If like me you've been hanging on every miniscule drop of news regarding South Korean masterpiece-maker Park Chan-wook's next film over the past six long, long years since The Handmaiden came out -- the film's titled Decision To Leave and it stars Lust, Caution powerhouse Tang Wei and it's been in some state of being filmed for the past two full years -- then consider today's random Park-related gift a gallon of delicious water in the desert. It doesn't have to do with that movie, but it is it's own worthwhile thing -- Apple commissioned Park to shoot a short 21-minute film on an iPhone as part of a series they're doing (selling phones, natch), and he came up with "Life is But a Dream," a martial-arts fantasy horror musical (yes, all of that) that stars the terrific Kim Ok-vin, previously so killer in his 2009 vampire flick Thirst. We love a reunion! Especially with talents this fine. The entire short's online now, watch:
This is actually the second time Park's made a short film for Apple on a phone -- in 2011 he directed a thirty-minute short titled "Night Fishing" which you can also watch right here. That won the Golden Bear for Best Short. Next up for Park -- after Decision To Leave, I mean -- is an HBO limited series titled The Sympathizer, an adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book which will apparently star Robert Downey Jr. in multiple roles, which all sounds very Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove to me.The lead, described as "a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy," has not been cast yet. I'd ask for casting suggestions but I have to imagine that the acting pool for "half-French half-Vietnemese" is smaller than most and they'll probably end up going with an unknown?
We've revived the long dormant "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" club and kicking us off is Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley which is up for four Oscars including Cinematography. Each week anyone who would like to join is welcome to post their choice for the chosen film's best shot. We'll add more Nightmare Alley shots if any more come in.
Click on these "Best Shots" to see why these players chose it...
Welcome back to the series, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Nathaniel R. Each week we'll discuss a single movie via a particular shot. Anyone who'd like to participate can choose their own!
Best Prop
When you're reading your mark, as former circus psychic Pete (David Strathairn) teaches us, you're searching for external clues to internal damage. The fatal flaw of Nightmare Alley, up this year for Best Picture, may well be that Guillermo del Toro, though a gifted filmmaker, isn't much for interiority. But oh his surfaces! Overly lacquered beauty and the ugly rot it's faililng to hide are the greatest assets of his latest film. On that note we must pause to honor the funhouse sequence early in the film which operates like a veritable FYC ad for the Oscar-nominated Production Design. The set amazes and one particular prop in the 'funhouse', a mirror stating "TAKE A LOOK AT YOURSELF SINNER" is a perfect offhand joke. We know very little about Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) but he already knows he's "no good". The camera lingers for a second on the mirror, to make sure we do...
Baz Luhrmann's career began explosively with two of the most endearing, unusual, and entertaining films of the 1990s (Strictly Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet). His promise as a Great Showman was realized with his masterpiece Moulin Rouge! (2001) which was only his third feature. Unfortunately in the 21 years since that very modern movie musical revitalized its genre, he mostly vanished from movie screens. He's made only two features since, the disjointed epic Australia (2008) and a box office hit adaptation of The Great Gatsby (2013). Nearly a full decade later we finally have a sixth feature. His latest, which was untitled long enough that its official title Elvis is hysterically anti-climactic, is a biopic of the rock n roll superstar. The movie hits theaters on June 24th, so let's break the trailer down with our Yes No Maybe So™ system...
Friday, February 18, 2022 at 2:00PM 
