The Film Experience™ was created by Nathaniel R. All material herein is written by our team. (This site is not for profit but for an expression of love for cinema & adjacent artforms.)
The Academy has announced the names of many presentersfor the big night on February 28th. The list includes the best actress nominee who gave us this often used gifable funny moment, reacting to the makeup in The Wolfman (2010).
A few writers from The Film Experience share 7 more favorite moments from the presenters after the jump, including Meryl, Jim Carrey and Emma Stone...
/Film the first footage from Disney's Moana Playbill Rapper Daveed Diggs on getting his shot on Broadway's smash hit Hamilton expanding the world. (I hope to one day see this show. C'mon lottery gods!) Gizmodo an exo suit from Edge of Tomorrow constructed from junk! MNPP pic of the day Matthias Schoenaerts in A Bigger Splash
Comics Alliance apparently director James Gunn says Captain America: Civil War is awesome and this has excited the internet for some reason. Next time someone OUTSIDE of Marvel's employ enthuses about one of their movies early, get back to us? The Envelope thinks that Mad Max Fury Road and Carol will lead Oscar nominations (with 9 each). I dare not hope that this is true because that's just so much fabulousness in one Oscar year. /Film claims that the breakout character of Star Wars is TR-8R -- this shows how well we've been following Star Wars stanning because who knew? Cinema Blend Joss Whedon talks about why he's done with Marvel Reverse Shot a deeply insightful look at Star Wars: The Force Awakens - it's possible that f I've linked to this before but even so, it's a must read. Towleroad Matt Bomer covers Men's Fitness credits Channing Tatum for his current peak physique
Hateful Tangents Interview talks to Demian Bichir about his first gig with Tarantino. Bichir gave the second best performance in it if you ask me because he realized in the absence of being given a real character to play, play a Real Character. Slate the Movie Club is in session and it's hilarious and thoughtful as always. They argue over whether The Hateful Right is "ineffably evil", share the joys of Spy and Carol, and observe tricky critical duties as with Tangerine and The Danish Girl. Bonus points for the "f*** this thing" cat gif. Cinematic Corner on her issues with the heroism of rapists and murderers in The Hateful Eight.
I'm trying to let hate for Hateful Eight go, I really am. But it's like an exorcism. It takes time and I guess I've still got some pea soup to vomit up. I've made no secret that I personally despise this movie -- but I have been reading reviews with kind of a morbid fascination because of how much people try to say it's still somehow a good movie after lining up their lengthy issues with it. I'm not the only one who has noticed this.
It is not a good movie. In fact it's kind of a betrayal of Tarantino by Tarantino because it's him fucking up things he used to do better than anyone. There is zero depth to the characterizations beyond the most simplistic "What a character!" outline, the gore (such as exploding heads) adds nothing other than wank-bank material for sadists, the dialogue is severely lacking in his usual cleverness, and worst of all Tarantino displays none of his usual skill at that constant electric hum of "shit is about to go down!" that powers all of his best films. The only tension in this particular movie is wondering when the shit will finally go down so that it will end. If you think of all of his best films the tension is alive in every scene. The scenes repeatedly feel dangerous as if anything might happen. And something nearly always does. Here we basically have any of those individual scenes only they're now 3 hours long and the tension just goes out of it completely because who cares?
In short, stop justifying this work people; It's okay to think a movie is terrible when it is! Most great auteurs have a dud (or five) somewhere in their filmography. If we try to convince ourselves that every thing a single person makes is masterful, we are denying our own critical faculties and it also makes our love for their true masterpieces highly suspect. For instance here are a five filmmakers I regularly cite when people ask me for "all time favorites": Haynes, Almodovar, Cameron, Minnelli, Hitchcock. All of them have made a film or films that were not that great or that I could not personally connect to. That does not lessen their genius for me. That just means they're human and it helps me to appreciate their masterworks more because I know the love is true and not me trying to argue myself into fandom.
Try this at home. Realize that The Hateful Eight is a shit movie and go back to loving any of his much better films. And cry with me when The Hateful Eight takes Oscar nominations from far more deserving players in ten days time.
She did this in order to kill off a paparazzi's shot at making a ton of money off of creeping on her at the beach. Smart girl. We don't follow celebrity pregnancies so have no idea when she's due but it looks like soon... CONGRATS TO ANNIE & HUSBAND.
List-Mania Top Tens: Variety (Guy Lodge), The Telegraph (Robbie Collins); Slate (Dana Stevens); Pop Culture Crazy (Kacey Bange) Lists Lists Lists: Gothamist (Best Celebrity Subway Sightings); Pajiba (Seriously F*** That Guy - a retrospective of rage); Pajiba (5 Most Intriguing new Netflix Series. They don't mention Daredevil because it's about new series but season 2 kicks off in March, fwiw); Forbes releases their "30 Under 30" List which includes both of The Force Awakens new stars, natch, as well as all three Straight Outta Compton leads.
First Oscar Commercial of the New Year Chris Rock kinda sorta prophesies those annual nasty post-show reviews you read every year.
Kieran, here. Writer-director and actor Shane Carruth (Primer, Upstream Color) has announced his latest feature. The Modern Ocean (release date still TBA), is slated to star Anne Hathaway, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Radcliffe, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Holland, Asa Butterfield and Chloë Moretz (or Chloë Grace Moretz...we'll never know. It changes with every other movie). His third feature, like his first two directorial outings, will also feature Shane Carruth as part of the cast, though one questions how big his role will be surrounded by an all-star roster.
Shane Carruth has had an interesting career. For someone whose indies have had a seemingly difficult time breaking out of the arthouse, his films often get cited in year end critical awards. Other directors have taken notice. After seeing the time-travel themed Primer, Rian Johnson consulted Carruth on the script for Looper. Quite a feat for a filmmaker who seems to take a decent amount of time between features (a nine-year gap between Primer and Upstream Color) that don't employ name actors. Will The Modern Ocean be the film that finally clicks Carruth over into mainstream acclaim? How will Carruth handle such a deep well of established actors?
The Modern Ocean isan all star piece about cargo ships searching for trade routes. That's a far cry from his earlier, micro-budget films. There are certainly indie directors who have shown that the talent doesn't dissipate once bigger budget and household names arrive. Then there are directors like Duncan Jones, who breakthrough with a heralded indie (Moon) and follow it up with a studio-funded film with big stars that has difficulty matching the early praise (Source Code). At any rate, it'll be exciting to see in which direction this star-studded new project takes him. Even if you aren't enamored of his earlier films, it's hard to deny that Carruth has a singular directorial voice. His films don't immediately recall the work of any other director working, which will always make him exciting.
How intrigued are you for Shane Carruth's new feature? Have you seen his early work?
It's your weekend box office report. Both The Martian and The Intern experienced small drops from their previous weekends, reminding everyone that Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway, who co-starred in Interstellar just last year, have always been fairly bankable. Their takes also indicate good word of mouth and leggy runs ahead in future weeks. The news was not good for Hugh Jackman and Pan however, perhaps reminding us that not every movie star can remain bankable when they're buried in silly makeup and made to look unlike themselves - not everyone can be Johnny Depp who people (for whatever reason) like to see buried in cartoonish makeup. Curiously Johnny Depp also once made a bad Peter Pan picture but that's another story...
BOX OFFICE WIDE 800+ screens (Oct 9th-11th) 01 The Martian $37 (cum. $108.7) Podcast, Matt's foot-in-mouth tour 02 Hotel Transylvania 2 $20.3 (cum. $116.8) Tim on the director Genny Tartakovsky 03Pan$15.5 NEW Peter Pan Movies 04 The Intern $8.6 (cum. $49.5) Review 05 Sicario$7.3 (cum. $26.7) Podcast, Emily Blunt 06 Maze Runner: Scorch Trials $5.2 (cum. $70.6) 07 The Walk $3.6 (cum. $6.3) Review 08 Black Mass $3.1 (cum. $57.5) 09 Everest$3 (cum. $38.2) 10 The Visit$2.4 (cum. $61)
BOX OFFICE LIMITED (excluding prev. wide) (Oct 9th-11th) 01 Ladrones (375 screens) $1.3 NEW 02 He Named Me Malala (689 screens) $.6 (cum. $.7) 0399 Homes (689 screens)$.6 (cum. $.8) The return of Andrew GarfieldReview 04 Steve Jobs (4 screens) $.5 NEW Review 05 Goodbye Mr Loser (51 screens) $.3 NEW 06 Grandma (205 screens) $.2 (cum. $6.2) Poster Blurb, Lily Tomlin's Filmography, Review 07 Goodnight Mommy (86 screens) $.1 (cum. $.6) Interview, Oscar Submission 08 Freeheld (51 screens)$.1 (cum. $.1) 09 Learning to Drive (71 screens) $.06 (cum. $3.2) 10 Labyrinth of Lies (16 screens)$.05 (cum. $.09) Interview, Review, Beauty Break
Meanwhile in select cities, business was solid for the heavily promoted human rights documentary He Named Me Malala and crazy robust for the Oscar Best Picture hopefulSteve Jobs which racked up some of the highest per screen averages ever in extremely limited release. The Michael Fassbender led drama goes wide next week.
Sadly, there continued to be a lack of interest in Julianne Moore & Ellen Page's lesbian drama Freeheld. It's grossed a tiny $140,00ish to date, despite four very well liked actors (Michael Shannon & Steve Carell are in the supporting roles). In truth the buzz hasn't been good on it (apart from a few vocal supporters) but still... I feel the guilt about not having seen it yet. In my defense, I have been totally sick as previously documented, so what little leave the house energy I've had has gone to the NYFF.
What did you see this weekend? Was it money well spent?
The Intern follows 70-year-old and retired Ben, played by Robert de Niro (who has never seemed more like a Bobby). Having enjoyed a happy and prosperous life, Ben now finds himself so uninspired by endless leisure activities that he decides he deserves another go on the merry-go-round. He lands the film’s titular position at a women’s clothing startup created and run by Anne Hathaway’s Jules, who, we are told, is a difficult woman to work for despite all evidence to the contrary. Ben and Jules become friends, as Jules realizes that even an old be-suited, briefcased, handkerchief carrying man—the icon of conservative, 1950s patriarchy—may have worth. Disturbing as this is, especially at first, The Intern gives us a real man-woman friendship—that rarest of on-screen sights, even if it is here rendered “safe” by Ben’s age.
De Niro and Hathaway shine, particularly in a hotel scene that gives them time to plumb the depth of writer and director Nancy Meyers’ characters. Meyers is one of our best character writers, but The Intern’s frenzied workplace setting doesn’t afford us time to fall in love with her creations as we did in, say, Something’s Gotta Give (2003), where Meyers simply put the camera in front of Diane Keaton and let her go. [more...]
Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 4:00PM 
