Jane Fonda and Friend

There is no audio on this photo but you know they were both purring. 

Can Frozen's "Olaf" Melt Monty's Heart?

This weekend on the podcast Katey asked if Monty, the web's original feline Oscar pundit, had met Olaf the scene-stealing snowman from Disney's impending Frozen. Generally speaking, Monty HATES stuffed animals and has even attacked them while they sat immobile, innocent and helpless, on a bed or couch.  I decided to risk the swag anyway and placed Olaf on the couch.  Some hours later our furry friend was caught sleeping right next to him rather than attacking him. Notice how the paw DOES NOT touch the snowman, a crucial distinction separating 'sure, ok' indifference from 'yes please' affection.  

I pushed my luck and moved Olaf nose to nose with Monty...

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Coven: Bell Book And Candle

Team Experience is assembling our own coven of preferred witches for Halloween. Here's Anne Marie on Kim Novak and her kitty.

 

How does a studio follow up one of the most iconic thrillers ever made? With a supernatural rom-com, of course! Bell Book And Candle was released in 1958 a few months after Vertigo. Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak once again play a bewitched man and the woman who desperately loves him, but this time Kim Novak wields magic and doesn't die twice.

As Gillian Holroyd, Kim Novak is the sexiest sorceress to ever sling a spell. By day, Gil sells "primitive art" from her chic New York art gallery. By night, she weaves powerful enchantments to ensare her rival's fiance and exact her revenge. One thing that never changes is her sense of style: Gil pulls off this double life in some stunning (Academy Award nominated) ensembles.

Broom - Who needs cumbersome transportation in New York City? A true Greenwich girl can walk most anywhere she wants. (Preferably barefoot.)

Favored Spell - Love potions with a tendency to backfire.

Pointy Hat - Instead of a drab dull hat, why not this gorgeous backless gown?

Familiar - A communicative siamese cat named Pyewacket. Bonus - he matches her eyes.

"Only Bad Witches Are Ugly" - If Glinda is right, then Gil must be the Queen of the Good Witches. Never mind that she ruined an engagement through her witchcraft - she looks fabulous! Besides, she gets her comeuppancce: Gil falls in love and loses her powers as a result. Karma can be a real witch.

Monty & The Seasons First Oscar Screeners

Monty, my beloved gray furball, is the web's original cat Oscar pundit. So once again we beg his feline proclamations. They are usually mysterious and non-committal but there are also the unambiguous dismissals,  100% prescient predictions and dumb blunders... just like any pundit might make.

The first screeners of the season arrived last night: indie hit Mud and Sarah Polley's documentary hopeful Stories We Tell. I presented them to him. Which would Monty favor?

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FYC Best Supporting Actor: Ulysses

I have seen the greatest performance by a supporting actor in 2013.  All hail "ULYSSES". Here he is in a key moment from his star-making role in the Coen Bros Inside Llewyn Davis.

What a face! But he doesn't coast on it. He acts with his whole body. If there's any justice in the world, a BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR campaign will rev right up.

Okay okay. I realize this is a silly argument and I know exactly what you're thinking...

You're thinking:

"But Nathaniel, a nomination for Ulysses will never happen. I mean, hello, Oscar Trivia! The Coen Bros filmography, which is chalk full of excellent supporting turns never produces nominations in the supporting category that aren't arguably leads (William H Macy in Fargo and Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men are both in the driver's seat of their film's narrative even if they aren't the protagonists). It's only happened once: Michael Lerner in Barton Fink. And complete unknowns rarely get traction... especially when the film they're in doesn't even feature them in the press notes"

To this I say "But you haven't seen this awesome performance yet and Ulysses DOES drive the plot along -- sometimes in soft footed silence and other times with a sprint. Plus, where's your faith? No supporting actor in a Coen Bros film has ever given a performance this pure of heart or this instinctual. I don't mean to be disrespectful to John Goodman, John Turturro, and the entire Coen repertory company but none of them have ever purred or kneaded their leading men on cue so maybe they just didn't deserve one. 

I consider it an indignity that Ulysses will be left out of the film's SAG ensemble nomination (if it gets one) since he goes uncredited. He has way more screen time than Garrett Hedlund and better close-ups than Justin Timberlake.

Don't hate on gingers. Root for Ulysses.