Portuguese Cinema on Criterion

by Cláudio Alves

It's not often that one gets the opportunity to promote Portuguese cinema in these parts of the internet. Despite good reviews and some acclaim across the festival circuit, it's rare to find films from Portugal being discussed internationally. Even though I love my country's pictures, I find it difficult to justify writing a piece about them for The Film Experience, especially considering plenty of readers don't have access to said films. When the opportunity strikes, one can't waste it. 

Recently, the Criterion Channel has curated two collections focused on the works of Pedro Costa and João Pedro Rodrigues, some of Portugal's most important contemporary filmmakers [some NSFW images after the jump]...

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Elisabeth Moss reads "The Lottery"

What a morbidly thoughtful surprise! NEON would you like to consider Elisabeth Moss as Shirley this season for awards. So here's Elisabeth Moss reading "The Lottery," the famous short story that catapulted noted horror novelist Shirley Jackson to fame. The video is 22 minutes long but if you don't like being read to you can always read to yourself direct from The New Yorker. 

If you haven't yet watched Shirley, streaming on Hulu, you should. It's a good creepy but non-scary option for the season with excellent performances from Moss and screen husband Michael Stuhlbarg and interesting production design too. 

Horror Costuming: Bram Stoker's Dracula

by Cláudio Alves

For the past few weeks, I've been exploring the greatness of costume design in the realm of horror cinema. None of the movies we discussed, not even those somewhat embraced in the awards circuit, got many golden laurels for their feats of costuming. That's, unfortunately, what usually happens to cinematic excellence that happens to manifest outside the boundaries of prestige drama. However, there are always a few exceptions that prove the rule. Such is the case of Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. The picture won three Academy Awards, including the prize for Best Costume Design.

The creations of the late Eiko Ishioka are some of the weirdest and most spellbinding costumes ever made for cinema and, as far as I'm concerned, she's the greatest recipient of my favorite Oscar. Michael has recently explored his first foray into the dark marvels of Dracula, and Jason has previously explored Eiko's Oscar win. Nonetheless, I couldn't let Halloween go by without revisiting this most wondrous of big-screen wardrobes. Join me on this deep dive into the nightmarish fantasy of Eiko Ishioka's Dracula…

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Fave Costume: Dr Ellie Sattler from "Jurassic Park"

We thought it would be fun to have Team Experience share favourite Halloween costumes with you. Here's the final entry from Ginny O'Keefe

It’s DOCTOR Ellie Sattler. She went to school and got a PhD in paleontology so you better put some respect on her full name!

 Jurassic Park was the first film I remember seeing. It was on a constant loop throughout most of my childhood. As a kid I would re-enact the kitchen scene with the raptors by hiding in my kitchen cabinets and crawling on the floor hoping to be unseen by my mother who just wanted to make dinner in peace! I also saw the movie in theaters when it was re-released and in 3D back in 2013 for it’s 20th anniversary. Yes, I sobbed like baby because of the power of nostalgia. This movie has always been a huge part of my life and it helped unleash my imagination and creativity as a kid. So, of course I needed to honor it on the scariest night of the year. I just happened to honor it 26 years after its original release. A little late, but better late than never...

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Beauty Break: Ten Sexiest Witches in Movies

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 👻🎃

Julian Sands in Warlock (1989) though, alas, we haven't seen it.

In the absence of writing time today, how about a visual list. Have you ever wondered why there are so few male witches (or warlocks if you will) in cinema? They're far more common on television. And when warlocks or sorcerers are portrayed in cinema they're usually asexual (sorry but Doctor Strange is the least sexy Avenger!) or old men and are just as likely to be good as evil.

Witches on the other hand are often sexual and usually beautiful... though the beauty is often an illusion. Many of those most glamorous witches are hiding a hideous side -- like they're secretly an old decrepit crone or something less than human (think of Anjelica Huston in The Witches... which we often do). Or maybe they are beautiful but their favourite disguise is something hideous (think Snow White's Queen). This frightening dichotomy and their dangerous sexuality surely has got heaps to do with cinema's male gaze. (This is a way of saying that we hoped for some gender parity in this holiday list of "Sexy Witches!" but it's almost all women.)

AFTER THE JUMP - TEN SEXIEST MOVIE WITCHES...

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