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Gal Gadot and celebrity friends sing "Imagine" to us from their quarantines
AV Club the Olympic Flame has arrived in Tokyo... but how will the Olympics go on?
Criterion has announced its June titles - Portrait of a Lady on Fire, whoooo!
France 24 Cannes has finally made the announcement. The long running festival will not be cancelled but postponed. It will now begin at the end of June instead of mid-Ma 

After the jump including coronavirus dread at movie theaters, Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, the fate of Pixar's Onward, and more...

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A 'Blue Jasmine' Bonanza

by Murtada Elfadl

Over at Sundays With Cate, my podcast series about the films of Cate Blanchett, I just finished a three part miniseries about her Oscar winning performance in Blue Jasmine (2013). Something I thought The Film Experience readers might enjoy so I’m sharing with you. Here are some details about the miniseries:

Actor as Auteur

In part one we discuss Cate Blanchett as the real auteur of Blue Jasmine, and the many ways her performance makes her the author of the film.

The “Streetcar” Allusions

In part two, we talk about the similarities to Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, the character of Blanche Dubois clearly is the blueprint for Jasmine. The many actresses who played Blanche - including Blanchett herself in a production of Streetcar directed by Liv Ullman - or were inspired by her. From the women in Pedro Almodovar’s movies to Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence (1974) to most recently Carey Mulligan in Wildlife (2018).

Jasmine and Her Sisters

And in the final part we discuss Jasmine and her sisters within the Woody Allen oeuvre. Annie Hall, Helen St Clair in Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Maria Elena in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and Cecilia in The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), among others.

Those episodes are now available wherever you listen to podcasts or at Sundays with Cate. Let me know what you think?

The moment I fell for Kristen Stewart

by Cláudio Alves

Ten years ago, Floria Sigismondi's The Runaways was released. The film's a rock biopic and literary adaptation of Cherie Currie's autobiography - Neon Angel. It portrays her life in the late 70s when she became the vocalist for the all-female rock band for which the film is named. Influential and memorable, the Runaways burned too bright and too soon, dissolving after two years of fame, a modicum of success and a whole lot of controversy. Joan Jett, a rock icon and the Runaways' guitarist, helped produce the film and, maybe because of that, Sigsimondi's script makes her a coprotagonist.

Matters of shambolic narrative structure aside, I'm glad The Runaways is so entranced by the mythos of Joan Jett. Otherwise, I might have never woken up to the genius of Kristen Stewart…

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Greenberg's 10th and Gerwig as Muse

by Cláudio Alves 

Once upon a time, long before she was an Academy Award-nominated director and screenwriter, Greta Gerwig was the acting princess of mumblecore. Along with the Duplass brothers and Joe Swanberg, she helped solidify the identity of that often-maligned subgenre, full of naturalistic dialogue and very little in the ways of storytelling. The actress quickly transcended the limitations of mumblecore and became a starlet of the independent American cinema from 2010 to 2016, starring in such gems as Damsels in Distress, Jackie and 20th Century Women. 

Among her more frequent collaborators, Noah Baumbach stood out. She was his muse and he knew how to capture her talents like no other. Or was it the other way around? In any case, their first collaboration marked a turning point in both their careers. We're talking about Greenberg, which celebrates 10 years today…

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Dame Judi Dench loves a feline theme

by Murtada Elfadl

The new trend in celebrity videos is about hand washing and social distancing. But trust a revered Oscar winner to add a dash of poetry. Dame Judi Dench appears in a short clip with her friend and fellow actor Gyles Brandreth as they lather up their hands for the required 20 seconds. Instead of singing a song or reciting a famous monologue they recite the opening verses of Edward Lear’s beloved poem The Owl and the Pussy-Cat.

Ever the showwoman, Dench even begins purring and nuzzling up to Brandreth when they reach the line “What a beautiful pussy you are.” Nice homage to your current movie, Dame Judi, but perhaps not keeping with the current guidelines for social distancing.  

A Public Service Poem - from Judi Dench & Gyles Brandreth pic.twitter.com/jocgJtjvVd

— Gyles Brandreth (@GylesB1) March 15, 2020

 Now that Cats is available at home, have you watched yet and what do you think of the Dame’s feline moves?