Reader Spotlight: Lynn Lee

"Reader Appreciation Month" continues. Get to know The Film Experience community! Today we're talking to the very delightful and smart Lynn Lee who has her own blog where she muses on film & tv.

When did you start reading The Film Experience?

LYNN: I think around 2005. I remember our mutual friend Nick Davis hooked me on to TFE, and I've been reading it ever since. You bring such great insight, without a speck of pretentiousness, into such a wide range of films. And I love the variety of content on the site - the reviews, the links and blogathons, the first line/last shot series, and of course your raging actressexuality. 

Awww thanks. That last part I can do nothing about. It's just who I am! So, what's your first movie memory?

LYNN: The first movie I remember watching at home, over and over again, was The Sound of Music. I loved it, never got tired of it, could sing all the songs before I even fully understood all the lyrics. My first movie theater experience, on the other hand, was really traumatic - my parents took me to see E.T. when I was only 4 or 5, and I still remember crying hysterically at all the scary government men in white suits and E.T. appearing to die. Funny, E.T. is now one of my all-time favorite movies, but I still think it's way too intense for very young kids.

Since you went to Harvard I have to ask what you were thinking during The Social Network's opening scenes.

LYNN: Ha! I knew going in that none of the campus scenes were actually shot at Harvard, so at least I wasn't disappointed on that count. And some of the outdoor shots were actually pretty credible. But the party scenes - well, let's just say that if they had any basis in reality, I must have been going to the wrong parties when I was there.

Okay, three favorite actresses. Go.

LYNN: Ahh, favorites are so tough. Among those working today, Laura Linney is my #1. I first really noticed her in You Can Count on Me, but I remember the movie that sealed my devotion was an awful piece of dreck called The Life of David Gale, which was so terrible that none of its heavyweight cast escaped unscarred... except Laura Linney. Somehow, *she* managed to be fantastic when even Kate Winslet couldn't. I'm also kind of in love with Rachel Weisz, who brings class and intelligence as well as beauty to all her roles. And finally, Emma Thompson: will no one give this woman a role worthy of her talents?

You Can Count On... Laura Linney

Also a fan of Joan Allen (see note for Emma Thompson), Susan Sarandon, Amy Adams, Michelle Williams, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Kirsten Dunst, and too many more to list.

How many movies do you see a year?

Not as many as I'd like! Generally between 40-50 - most of them in theaters, if that gets me any extra points.

It does. It does. Have you ever dressed up as a movie character for Halloween?

Last Halloween I dressed up as Gwen Stacy from The Amazing Spider-Man, although I don't think I look very good as blonde. It was mainly an excuse to carry around a clipboard with a picture of Andrew Garfield attached to it.

Ha!

Previous Spotlights

Vintage 1983

With nothing new in theaters worth getting excited about my head has been all over the (time) map of cinema. I picked this year somewhat arbitrarily to discuss.

Were you alive in 1983? Even if you weren't do you think of it fondly? To give you a little context for the year: Ronald Reagan was POTUS and Nancy had just contributed "Just Say No" to the vernacular; M*A*S*H ended its lengthy run on television; Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was all anybody listened to; Cheers and Hill Street Blues were the Emmy champs.

Let's savor 1983's cinematic crop for a moment. Are these movies (and people) and things aging well? Is there much left to savor? 

Best Movies According To...
Oscar: The Big Chill, The Dresser, Tender Mercies, Terms of Endearment, and The Right Stuff were the best pictures nominees but they also loved Cross Creek, Fanny & Alexander, Educating Rita, Silkwood and Zelig
Golden Globe: (drama) Reuben Reuben, The Right Stuff, Silkwood, Tender Mercies, and Terms of Endearment* (comedy/musical) The Big Chill, Flashdance, Trading Places, Yentl*, and Zelig
Cannes: The Ballad of Narayama
Box Office: 1) Return of the Jedi 2) Terms of Endearment 3) Flashdance 4) Trading Places 5) War Games 6) Octopussy 7) Sudden Impact 8) Staying Alive 9) Mr Mom 10) Risky Business
Nathaniel: The King of Comedy, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, Pauline at the Beach, The Return of the Jedi, The Right Stuff, Silkwood, Terms of Endearment, The Year of Living Dangerously and Yentl. I'm holding a spot in my top ten open for Fanny & Alexander or Zelig which are weirdly movies I never get around to seeing even though I am likely to worship both given the time frame in their auteur's filmography in which they land...

Adorable '83 Babies after the jump...

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Do the Right Link

Classic
Cracked 5 true (?) stories of dangerous movie scenes. Reckless endangerment on the sets of Inglourious Basterds, Evil Dead and Carrie, among others.
After Elton "Best Movie Ever? Truth or Dare" well, it's one of them at least! Anyone who ever questions Madonna's magnificence, needs to watch it.
Gothamist The Zeigfeld Theater in Manhattan is losing a million a year and may close. This is terrible terrible news for cinema since it's the only grand theater left in one of the two most important movie markets. It's hallowed ground. The place where I first saw Moulin Rouge! and first saw Michelle Pfeiffer in the pflesh. And so many other great experiences.

Current 
BadAss Digest theories on an important deleted scene in The Amazing Spider-Man
Vulture has an excellent interview with Spike Lee on his new film, Hollywood today, and the Obamas.
Salon Who are you, Katie Holmes? 

...and this is my pick for Tweet of the Weekend from Allie Goertz

Hee.

Future
Coming Soon The Dark Knight Rises and... Charles Dickens?

The Not So "Amazing" Spider-Man

originally published in my column at Towleroad

Andrew Garfield hanging about on The Amazing Spider-Man set.

Déjà vu  is an unsettling feeling. You can’t quite place the why and whens of it but you know you’ve experienced whatever this is before. Not so with the reboot of Spider-Man which has been optimistically retitled “THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN” for 2012.  The new webslinging film arrives only five years after Spider-Man 3, that final sour note in Sam Raimi’s otherwise sweet trilogy. This déjà vu is easy to place with the “whens” and thus less unsettling if still perplexing on account of the “whys”. We’re back to summer 2002 when Peter Parker first pined for a high school sweetheart, first indirectly contributed to his uncle’s murder, first learned that with great power comes great responsibility, and first swung around a big screen Manhattan in his iconic red and blue spandex.

Franchises are the comfort food of the movies and though there’s nothing wrong with comfort food beyond its lack of nutritional value, so much depends on the delivery when it comes to the familiar pleasure. The Amazing Spider-Man spins its title card with webbing very swiftly which leaves you hoping for a zippy entertainment with key twists on the mythos to keep you engaged. But after a new corporate thriller prologue featuring Peter Parker’s heretofore unseen parents the movie settles into excessively familiar story beats. We’re forced to wait out the entire numbing origin story again and relive many story beats from the 2002 origin story, with the only major exclusions being the absence of Parker's employment at The Daily Bugle (weird) and no James Franco shaped obstacle to his girl’s affections. Other than that only the names of the major characters have changed: Blonde Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) stands in for Redhead Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) as the love interest Peter likes to photograph; Dr Curt Connors/The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) stands in for Norman Osborne/The Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) as the scientist Peter looks up to whose illegal human experimentation (on himself!) wreaks havoc on his mental stability.

Once you start talking to yourself in an out of body "evil" voice, it's just a matter of time until you're a Green Super Villain. More...

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Red (& Blue) Carpet Convo: Andrew ♥ Emma

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! We return to Red Carpet Convos with a special Spidey edition starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone at premiere events with myself (Nathaniel) and Film Experience fan and Pajiba columnist Joanna drooling on them. Moviegoers will be doing the same over the holiday no doubt as The Amazing Spider-Man tests the "how soon is too soon?" mega-question of The Reboot.... 

Is your Spidey Sense tingling?

Joanna: SPIDER-PEOPLE

Nathaniel: Before I succumb to Hollywood's cutest couple, I have to say that though I hear Michael's point, I still live in horror of how well the movie might do and how fast it will then speed up the cycle of reboots. THE HUNGER GAMES STARRING ELLE FANNING IN 2015!

Ahem. But if this movie was necessary to bring Emma & Andrew together, I accept it in all its unecessary glory

Joanna:  ‪It should be noted, that no matter what I say about their clothing, every time I look at a photo of them, I feel like I've been aggressively snuggled by a puppy.  They are the adorablest.‬

Nathaniel:  ‪a puppy with a super cold wet nose and the softest fur imaginable. A whole litter of aggressively cuddly puppies in fact.

Joanna:  ‪Where do we start?  OOOO!  Can we start with Elvira, Mistress of Darkness?‬ 

Nathaniel:  ‪Yes‬. 

Joanna:  ‪Especially because good old Andy is wearing a shiny red suit. A. Shiny. Red. Suit.‬ Not pictured: the (I'm not kidding) gold medallion around his neck.

Nathaniel:    ‪Although this is kind of like skipping ahead to the climax. The best thing is that he doesn't even seem uncomfortable but like he owns it. He's wearing the Shiny Red Suit. The Shiny Red Suit is not wearing him.‬ Which I hope is true in the movie too. Theme clothing! 

Joanna:  ‪Oh sorry!  Did I peak too early?  Well then can we take a post-coital look at the turquoise bed skirt Emma is sporting?‬

Nathaniel:    ‪These are the casual looks from press events earlier in the day at premieres. ‬Although if this is post-coital, what does that say about his t-shirt "I'm an animal lover" well... "_m a_ _nima_ _ve_ " so i'm guessing.

Joanna: ‪I bet you're a whiz at Hangman‬

Nathaniel:   ‪boggle, scrabble, hangman. I ♥ words.

Joanna:   ‪Do you love Andrew's macho T-Bird look?‬ Do you think black leather suits him?

Nathaniel:    ‪This is the only gray area in his choices thus far. It's possible that the Leather is wearing him.‬

‪How is it possible that Emma Stone is so unpredictable with her fashions and yet always looks great. Like there's no signature look at all but everything is perfect. If it were possible to hate whole litters of snuggly puppies, you'd have to hate them. Too much perfection.‬

Joanna:   ‪The fact that HE wants to snuggle her even when she wears pounds of lace and embroidered flowers restores my faith in humanity...and puppies.‬ 

Nathaniel:   ‪But even embroidered flowers look great on her. I'm dying to see her on laundry day. I bet even dirty pajamas and worn embarrassing t-shirts from 10 years ago look great on her.‬ 

Joanna:   ‪Do you miss her Ginger hair at all, though?  I think the blonde makes her look a mite pale all over.‬

Nathaniel:   ‪I do. I always miss ginger hair and it always worries me for actresses. *coughlindsay‬* Blonde is just too common. It's practically the Official Hair Color of Actressing and as such, you're never special when you wear it unless you are one of the true goddesses of the color (Monroe, Deneuve, Harlow, Pfeiffer, and a few more)

Joanna:   ‪I knew we were headed there.‬ 

Nathaniel: lol. But how sharp and natty is Garfield's gray with sweater ensemble?

Joanna:   ‪That's my favorite one!‬ As a fellow Word Lover, I have a thing for English Professor chic. If that coat has elbow patches, I'll just die.

Nathaniel:   ‪And we'll reboot you in ten years.‬ 

Joanna:  ‪To be played by an as yet unborn Fanning!‬ 

 

YOUR TURN...

Which is cuter, a litter of soft puppies or Emma & Andrew? 

Previously...
Savages premiere
To Rome With Love premiere