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Entries in Brooklyn (31)

Thursday
Nov262015

Jose Gives Thanks

Jose here. As a non-American, Thanksgiving has always been my favorite US holiday because it's the time of the year when it's socially acceptable for people to put marshmallows and cranberries on everything. A practice which I refuse to stop during the other 364 days of the year, but which for 24 hours helps me bond with the people I love, as I argue about why movies with subtitles are as nourishing as turkey and gravy.

Other than complex carbs, I'm also thankful for

...J.Law away from Dior's gold and diamond shackles. She has rarely looked better than in the black Ralph Lauren she wore to one of the Mockingjay: Part 2 premieres.

...Charlotte Rampling's skinny jeans in 45 Years.

...3D movies that challenge everything I thought about the medium (thank you Gaspar Noe and Wim Wenders)

...for world cinema, and for the opportunity I've had to talk to so many international filmmakers this year. It was my personal mission to interview as many directors with Foreign Language Oscar submissions as possible, and I'm appreciative of the warm response you've all given to the interviews (there are more to come...)

...Finally learning how to pronounce Saoirse Ronan's name (sear + sha ♥) so I can tell everyone how much I adored her work in Brooklyn. (Also, kudos to that movie for getting what it's like to leave your home behind to start anew abroad. It's one of the best films about immigration since Elia Kazan's America America.)

... Michael B. Jordan running around in grey sweatpants in Creed.

...The fuzzy feeling, and donut craving, every time I watch Tangerine

...theatre people popping up in movies (Lillias White in Nasty Baby! Brian d'Arcy James in Spotlight! Audra McDonald in Ricki and the Flash! Nikki M. James in Lucky Stiff! Patina Miller in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 2) not to mention the beauty that was The Last Five Years.

...Rooney Mara and Kristen Stewart proving they are brilliant actresses and winning awards for their work in France.

...Marion Cotillard's "spot" monologue from Macbeth. 

...Nina Hoss in Phoenix. Greta Gerwig in Mistress America. Rose Byrne in Spy. Laia Costa in Victoria and the girls from The Wonders and Fort Tilden.

...the movie gods granting me an audience with Winona Ryder.

Finally, I'm thankful for  "Oscar Winner Julianne Moore" (and don't you forget it!)

You can read more about our contributors at the about page and click here for all of Jose's work

Jose & Murtada at the Fox Searchlight Holiday PartyJose Solís (Fashion / News / Interviews)
Jose Solís wanted to write about film since he was a child which is why he followed the yellow brick road and moved to Oz (ahem NYC) to make his dream come true. He has been writing about film since 2003 and regularly contributes to The Film Experience and PopMatters. He is also having a torrid affair with Broadway and theatAH and writes about those at StageBuddy.com. He is a member of the Online Film Critics Society. 
[Follow Jose on Twitter]

Wednesday
Nov252015

Chris Gives Thanks

Greetings from Chris! As the newest member of Team Experience, I'm so grateful to be able to share my point of view with you loyal readers in a space for our collective obsessions, unique observations, and global perspectives. Thank you all!

So, I am thankful for

...all of the vibrant and fully-realized women in minor roles that populate Brooklyn. Any one of them could have their own film, and I want Jessica Pare's sales manager to be my bestfriend/life coach.

..."This makes me wish they had been able to find my father's remains" in Trainwreck.

...Jason Robert Brown. We got The Last Five Years on big (but mostly VOD) screens this year, but if his masterpiece "Parade" was getting the big screen treatment, this list would be entirely comprised of that news.

more...

Click to read more ...

Monday
Nov232015

Podcast: Room, Brooklyn, Spotlight

Nathaniel and Nick are back, after an unexpected podcast hiatus, to catch up before the Thanksgiving holiday. 

43 minutes 
00:01 Intros, Carol's opening, Hateful 8 gossip
04:30 Split feeling on Room
11:19 Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn
20:06 Complicated platform releases, audience confusion, and dismissed "flops" of October including Truth
32:25 Delayed reaction to Black Mass
34:40 Spotlight's conflicts, arc, quality

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversation in the comments won't you?

Brooklyn, Spotlight, Room

Wednesday
Nov182015

Top Dozen List: Saoirse Ronan & The Youngest Best Actress Nominees

Saoirse Ronan, who does such a beautiful job carrying Brooklyn, the film about falling in love with and in a new world, is only 21 years old. Should she be Oscar-nominated in two months time she'll be among the 10 youngest ever so honored in that category. She's the same age now as Marlee Matlin was when she competed for Children of a Lesser God; Matlin won and still holds the title of Youngest Best Actress Winner of all time.

Most 21 year-old Oscar nominees are newbies but not Saoirse. She was nominated at 13 for her role as the tattle-tale sister in Atonement. "I saw it with my own eyes!" But should Saoirse be nominated again, she won't break a record of first to two nominations. That record has belonged to Angela Lansbury for over 70 years when she accomplished it by the age of 20. 

For fun and movie-history purposes let's look at the...

YOUNGEST BEST ACTRESS NOMINEES OF ALL TIME

The immediate reveal of note is that 70% of the top ten have emerged in just the past twenty years. How much younger can this list get? 

01 Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) was 9 (though years younger than that when she filmed it)


02 Keisha Castle Hughes, Whale Rider (2003) was 13.

Several more young starlets after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Nov172015

Special Report: Spirit Awards Preview/Predictions

?????The Spirit Award nominations are announced a week from today. Here's special guest and our podcast cohort Joe Reid to preview/predict the nominations.

The 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards will announce their nominations next Tuesday, the earliest full slate of nominations (the Gothams can call me when they get supporting categories) and for many the clearest opening bell for awards season. After them, the critics awards start rolling in, then the Golden Globe nominations, and by then we're off to the races. I have always found the Spirits to be the most difficult to predict and the most fun. Partly because they happen so early in the season but also partly because the qualifications are always just a bit mysterious.

A reminder, per the Spirits' rules and regs: to qualify, a film must be an American film made for under $20 million, and have either been released in theaters in 2015 or played one of six major U.S. festivals (Sundance, Los Angeles, New Directors/New Films, New York, Telluride, Toronto). Of course, even with those rules, there are splittable hairs. 

predictions after the jump

Click to read more ...