Monty @ 100: The absolutely bonkers "Suddenly, Last Summer"

Team Experience is watching ever Montgomery Clift film for his Centennial

by Mark Brinkerhoff

Much has been written at The Film Experience about Tennessee William’s one-act play-turned-wild-ass movie (including again here, just last week), though with Elizabeth Taylor and Katherine Hepburn going head-to-head, how can you not? But generally un(der)discussed among the trio of stars of Joe Mankiewicz’s 1959 film, adapted by Gore Vidal of all writers, is the by-that-time uninsurable Montgomery Clift.   

Reuniting onscreen for the third (and final) time with Taylor, his closest friend in real life (who, in fact, made it possible for him to appear alongside her by resolutely refusing to do the film otherwise), Clift gallantly cedes the floor to his co-star...

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"Mother! Oh God, mother! Blood! Blood!"

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"Enola Holmes"

by our new Italian contributor Elisa Giudici

It's been a while since a Netflix film prompted me to write in my cinephile What's App group chat: "ok everybody, I have a fun movie to suggest." After the boring disappointments of The Devil All the Time and Project Power, after the unspeakable horrors I witnessed in The Last Days of American Crime, I confess I log in my Netflix account holding my breath. Enola Holmes brought a sigh of relief. Nothing life-changing, mind you, just a fun, entertaining movie that reimagines the canon of Sherlock Holmes, the classic of classics. Conan Doyle's detective is one of the few fictional characters who keeps getting adapted in fresh ways without ever wearing out his welcome. 

Giving Mycroft and Sherlock a little sister is not entirely new...

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The Strange Pleasures of "Strange Days"

by Cláudio Alves

In a future that's now our past, Strange Days tells a beguiling and disturbing tale of addiction and police brutality. Kathryn Bigelow's most most ambitious project to date, at least at the level of form and theme, opened in movie theaters twenty-five years ago today. Mixing social commentary with action excitement, insane feats of camera choreography, and feverish performances, the movie's a testament to its director's skill even if it wasn't the title that won her the Oscar. It's also a heady thrill ride that's out to dazzle the spectator, to shock them and galvanize too. Pleasure and violence are forever intertwined in this dream of celluloid.

The setting is Los Angeles on New Year's Eve, 1999, and the air is suffused with the threat of revolt. Strange Days, which opened in movie theaters on this very day in '95, posits a near future where technological advancements have made it possible to record and share memories...

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Yes No Maybe So: "Promising Young Woman"

by Lynn Lee

Could this be Carey Mulligan’s year?  When the first trailer for Promising Young Woman hit theaters last December, this viewer, at least, immediately sat up and took notice.  Mulligan plays emphatically against type as a modern-day nemesis aptly named Cassandra, self-packaged as a poisoned bonbon of sexual pliability, and spurred to vengeance by an unpunished rape that caused her to drop out of medical school.  Reviews at Sundance affirmed the power of Mulligan’s performance, and the movie seemed poised to remind the world that she’s still a formidable actress who deserves way more attention than she’s received since her breakout Oscar-nominated turn in An Education. 

Then the pandemic happened, and PYW’s release—originally set for April— was indefinitely pushed back.  Now it’s rescheduled for Christmas Day, and the movie poster and a second trailer have dropped.  Will it be enough to get Mulligan in the 2020 awards conversation?  Let’s break the trailer down, YNMS style...

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