A few notes on the Cannes "lineup" that won't make it to Cannes

by Nathaniel R

Steve McQueen would have had TWO films at Cannes this yearCannes won’t be held this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic but the powers that be at Cannes have announced that 56 films that would have filled out various programs will bear the Cannes label as in "we selected them!". i.e. they would have played there. This will give the films a leg up moving forward should any of the fall festivals actually take place. This does not however tell us anything about what would have “competed” this year at Cannes since they generally only have 20 or so films in the main competition. Spike Lee was meant to preside over the competition jury this year but instead he'll do the honors next summer instead.

It will forever be lost to an alternate history what might have been this year and what film might have held the difficult task of following in Parasite’s footsteps to the Palme d’Or...

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Mizoguchi's women

by Cláudio Alves

Last time we talked about Japanese cinema, we were looking at the history of the Best Costume Design Oscar. Among the five pictures from Japan nominated for that awards, we find Ugetsu, the only Kenji Mizoguchi film to ever receive any sort of recognition by the Academy. Considering some of the director's best films are currently available online thanks to platforms like the Criterion Channel, Kanopy, and HBO Max, it seems like a good time to highlight more of his cinematic mastery. After all, there's much greatness in Mizoguchi's exquisite cinema beyond the sartorial splendor of Ugetsu…

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Japanese cinema and the Best Costume Design Oscar

by Cláudio Alves

The Academy has always had a certain difficulty in recognizing excellence from films made in any language other than English. When it comes to Asian cinema, that is especially true. Parasite's recent grand victory may be a sign that times are a-changing, but there are still branches of AMPAS that remain quite closed-off and insular.

Thankfully that hasn't been the case with thee design branches. For a long time they were the only place where you could hope to find any sort of honor given to the works of masters like Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi. Japanese cinema, in particular, has found success in the Costume Design category. Overall, five pictures from Japan have been nominated for the prize and two have won. Since all those films are currently available online, most of them streaming on the Criterion Channel, it's a good time to take a look at this peculiarity of Oscar history…

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National Pet Week: "Jiji" from Kiki's Delivery Service

Team Experience is celebrating pets at the movies (and in our homes) for a couple more days. Here's Cláudio Alves...

Me and Maggie

In my family, the history of our pets tends to be linked to a sense of loss. Through my early childhood, we had two dogs, a beautiful Cocker Spaniel called Gigi and an English Setter by the name of Minnie. Gigi had been my mother's dog and she, unfortunately, died while I was still very young, but Minnie was born the same year as me and we grew up together. That is until she got sick when I was nine, cancer quickly making the lively companion become lethargic and in constant pain. She was put down before the suffering continued and I was heartbroken. Seeing that, my mom, who had a lifelong distrust for cats due to some unfortunate experiences as a child, put her bad feelings aside and decided to adopt an adorable little kitten I had grown fond of in the weeks before Minnie's passing…

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Complete the Quarantine Recommendation Sentence(s)...

Since we're all in this together, let's share our recommendations.

1. The last movie I streamed was _______________ which I ______. 

2. I highly recommended the streaming series ________________.

3. I really wish ______________ was streaming. 

I'll share my complete sentences after the jump but join in in the comments, won'cha?

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