The Postman Rings Four Times

by Brent Calderwood

The Lana Turner / John Garfield classic The Postman Always Rings Twice opened 75 years ago in US theaters. Based on James M. Cain’s bestselling 1934 novel about a wife who colludes with her lover in an attempt to pull off the perfect murder, Postman had to gloss over the grime to get past the censors, but it remains one of the best-loved film noirs of all time, and its huge box office success has been credited with cementing Turner’s status as a top-billed star. 

While The Film Experience isn't set to celebrate the movies of 1946 until June, Postman belongs to multiple years. Here's a rundown of the four most famous screen adaptations of Cain’s crime novel, listed more or less in order of their critical reputation today...

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Good morning!

Did you call your mother yesterday?

2000: The year of Joaquin Phoenix's ascension

In preparation for the next Smackdown Team Experience is traveling back to 2000.

by Cláudio Alves

More than two decades after the fact, it's interesting to look back at a specific artist's career and denote the exact moment when their trajectory changed. In the moment you can sometimes see that a turning point is happening, but it's only when looking retroactively that the true magnitude of some events becomes apparent. In 2000 one actor's meteoric rise to stardom shines brighter than all others. It's fair to say that it was the year of Joaquin Phoenix's ascension…

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Our 2020/2021 season coverage is a wrap! Will the site go on? Your choice.

Our Complete Oscar Coverage
• The Ceremony Reviewed
• Best Dressed
• on Anthony Hopkins win
• on Frances McDormand's win
• Best Presenter - Rita Moreno
• New Oscar Records
• Directing Actors to Nominations & Wins - Some Statistics
• Best Picture - Black and White Edition
• Harrison Ford on Best Film Editing
• Directors aren't "official" winners in International Feature 
• What's next for our "Best Directors"?
• The Charts
• Winners List

Best of 2020
• 9th Annual Team Experience Awards -voted on by the contributors
• Nathaniel's Top 20 - from And Then We Danced to Swallow
• 21st Annual Film Bitch Awards - Our original claim to fame prizes (just wrapped up)

And Previous Highlights
from Feb '20 | March | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb  thru March 2021

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND. We'll start 'the new year' on Monday.

If you've ever considered subscribing (see right hand sidebar)  now would be a perfect time. You'll notice we didn't have much advertising this year and times have been tough. We'd like to keep going for at least one more year. We are building a Patreon and a shop as well because the just hoping miracles occur or lottery is won (without entering -tee hee) is no longer sustainable. 

SPECIAL EVENTS THIS SUMMER ESPECIALLY IF YOU'LL HELP US SURVIVE

✅ Final Supporting Actress Smackdown season and companion podcasts
✅  "Year of the month" parties: 2000 in May; 1946 in June; 1998 in July; 1937 in August; we like the time travelling=
✅  Klute (1971) - a tag team retrospective
✅ Emmy countdown coverage
✅ To Cher on her 75th Birthday
✅ And much randomness. You know how we do 'off season'

Film Bitch Awards finale: Best scenes & big results from small parts

by Nathaniel R

Christian Magby and Lance Reddick in "One Night in Miami"

You know where I am if you need me.

We're finally closing out our 2020 coverage. Five months into the calendar year. We'd say 'Oops' but in this one case we'll happily blame the Oscars pretending that the calendar wasn't the calendar rather than our own sometimes-lacking time management skills. Though we are excited to move on to 2021, in point of fact lists and awards are our happy place. That is not because they have inherent definitive value as arbiters of quality (as the naysayers like to remind). No, that's not it at all. Only time is the definitive tastemaker but even that is fallible since it never stops and collective opinion can shift dramatically from generation to generation just as it does from person to person. No we value and love lists and awards because they are superb documents of feelings about quality at a specific moment in time. What moved people en masse? The answer is all over awards season. What struck certain individuals in a seismic way? That can be found in personal top ten lists and personal awards for those who bother to make such things. 

So let's start with one of our favourite things to honor: smashing work in very limited screentime...

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