Saturday, May 9, 2026 at 11:00AM by Nathaniel R
While I made a real effort to catch all the musicals this season I'm weaker on the plays having seen only 5 of the 18 that opened this past season. Let's talk about the nominees. I'll be sure to mention any film connections to keep the less theater-inclined interested...
Friday, May 8, 2026 at 9:00PM 
© Obscured Releasing
Every year, so-called provocateurs come out of the woodwork with films that promise to shock audiences, challenge norms and push boundaries, leaving behind broken taboos in their wake. And yet, true transgressions are few and far between. More often than not, viewers are met with the pretension of risk-taking on the part of artists too timorous to take any actual risk. When a picture comes about and honestly earns these descriptors, one should take note. So, please note Elliot Tuttle’s Blue Film. It’s the sordid yet simple story of the night spent between a gay camboy and the stranger who paid for his company.
During those hours, perversity takes on another meaning as actors Kieron Moore and Reed Birney playact a scenario in which nothing feels more verboten than a show of affection, empathy extended toward those who would rightfully revolt us. Blue Film forms a lewd poem of broken hearts and sad monsters, a mural of cumstains and razor burns, topped by a secret song that you listen to while feeling like you shouldn’t, like you’re encroaching on something so private that to witness it is a violation. All throughout, there’s this pervading sense one is peeking into what ought to remain unseen…
Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 6:22PM by Nathaniel R
While The Film Experience is about, well, the movies, longtime readers know that I like to throw in a little live theater whenever possible. And these days as with TV and Film, the line between mediums is ever blurry with stage shows making it to screen or TV and vice versa or both unconnected when they are inspired by the same novel. Though I’ve always tried to be a somewhat regular theatergoer, funding and time often refuse to comply. But during the 2025-2026 season I hit the boards a lot and managed to see 100% of the eligible New Musicals and 40% of the revivals (though I fully hope to make that 80% soon). I did less well with plays though I'll try to see something else before the big night. In short, my opinions hold more weight (with myself) since I caught a lot more of the season.
Today nominations were announced for the 79th Annual Tony Awards which will be held June 9th in New York City, and broadcast on CBS Paramount+. This year's festivities will be hosted by Grammy winner P!nk so you can bet there will be aerial action given that one of the two nomination leaders is an adaptation of the 1987 vampire movie The Lost Boys (which, a full review later). So let's talk about the musical nominations...
Tuesday, May 5, 2026 at 8:30PM 
Should Diane Keaton have been double-nominated, in 1977, for ANNIE HALL and LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR?
With their new rules, the Academy has upturned quite a number of Oscar traditions and stats. For example, actors can now fill more than one slot in each category, receiving nominations for multiple performances in a race. Looking back, it’s fun to speculate about what performers might have achieved this. Indeed, I might write something on that matter later on. Immediately, though, one case stands out. Part of it is that Be Kind Rewind’s video essay is still fresh in the memory. Part of it is that the loss of such a star still stings. Regardless, upon reading the news, I immediately latched onto the idea that Diane Keaton would have gotten two Best Actress nominations in 1977. She won for Annie Hall, but was just as tremendous and lauded for her work in Looking for Mr. Goodbar.
This all serves as a preamble for another announcement. My Oscar completism project is back on track, as I try to watch every single Academy Award-nominated performance. And since Keaton’s on the mind, especially Keaton in Mr. Goodbar, let’s explore Tuesday Weld’s Best Supporting Actress nomination for that New York drama. Also, Lovers and Other Strangers, which earned Richard S. Castellano a Best Supporting Actor nomination and got Keaton on Francis Ford Coppola's radar, effectively won her the role of Kay in The Godfather…
Tuesday, May 5, 2026 at 8:43AM By Ben Miller
Creating distance and disorienting your audience is usually not what a filmmaker strives for, especially in their feature-length debut. Luckily, director Sophy Romvari is able to utilize her own fractured memories to tell a deeply personal story in her devastatingly exceptional debut Blue Heron, now playing in limited release.
In our current entertainment landscape, plot points need to be reiterated, all needs to be revealed, and catharsis must be achieved. Romvari has no intention of giving you any of those answers, because she doesn't have the answers herself. She is looking back on her own experience without the benefit of understanding, because some things aren’t possible to fully comprehend...
