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 complete jury for the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival has been announced. As previously noted, Pedro Almodóvar will preside over the jury. To celebrate, The Film Experience will have "Almodóvar Week" from May 9th through the 15th so catch up with a few of his movies you've always wanted to see. We are currently planning to hit the following pictures in some capacity: Pepi Luci Bom, Dark Habits, What Have I Done to Deserve This?, All About My Mother, Volver, All About My Mother, and The Skin I Live In... though there might be alterations in that schedule or additions.
Much of the praise for Park Chan-Wook's The Handmaiden has favored the director's twisted vision, the sumptuous design elements, or its grinning audacity. Sure the film is as immaculately crafted as all that talk has promised, but there one thrilling puzzle inside the film worthy of equal regard is the lead performance by Min-hee Kim.
For a film as plotty and opulent as The Handmaiden, you can understand how any performance might not be the first takeaway. But believability of the narrative's many twists falls largely on Kim's coolly dexterous shoulders...
We're back to weekly podcasts! This week Nick and Nathaniel revisit a summer favorite that's now on DVD and have divergent feelings about The Handmaiden despite their mutual Park Chan-wook history.
Index (41 minutes) 00:01 A Heavenly Creatures revisit 05:10 The Handmaiden andthat time Nathaniel and Nick watched a Park Chan-wook together 25:00 Almodóvar's Julieta and Farhadi's The Salesman 34:00 Doctor Strangé & Captain Fantastic briefly to wrap-up
You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you?
Randomness Film School Rejects it's all about talking animals who sound just like celebrities this year Towleroad ABC rejects a TV ad for Carol because (GASP) naked lesbian shoulders John August shares depressing box office stats on why we get so many sequels Guardian picks 5 best moment of Jane Fonda in the movies - bizarre choices beyond her Oscar winning roles Guardian investigation of why movie posters are so terrible in comparison to their aged counterparts The Wrap TV adaptation of American Gods (a must read from Neil Gaiman) has cast Ricky Whittle (the 100) in the leading role MNPP ...goes all out with an endless gratuitous post celebrating Whittle Awards Daily Awesome crusading Senator Elizabeth Warren loves The Big Short
New Projects Tracking Board Chan-wook Park to direct the adapation of sci-fi novel Genocidal Organ about homemade nuclear devices Coming Soon Oscar winning director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) are reteaming for a film about the 1967 Detroit Riots. Shooting to start this summer Variety Ruh-roh Jennifer Aniston is doing a true life sports drama called The Fixer -- she's got her eyes on The Blind Side's surprise prize if you know what I mean Coming Soon(sigh) Dear Toni Collette's Agent, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? I know we ask this all the time but you have not answered. (Toni is now signed to do a bureaucrat role in xXx: The Return of Xander Cage because Hollywood weirdly believes we want every Vin Diesel franchise revived) /Film Stretch Armstrong series (yes, the boys doll with stretchy arms) is going to Netflix. For kids. Variety Meg Ryann behind the camera. Her first film Ithaca did not yet find distribution which is weird (all star cast) but she's signed to direct a second, a romantic comedy even, called The Book
Theatre People Playbill Zachary Quinto, about to reprise his Spock role on the big screen, on why he prefers theater to film or television Playbill Dominic Cooper returning to the stage for a new production of The Libertine about the hedonistic Earl of Rochester in 1670s London. Did any of you ever see that Johnny Depp film version of the play?
Today's Watch A well timed brief history of white actors playing ethnic roles from Screen Crush. (Minor Quibble: Technically some consider Russian born Yul Brynner as Asian -- he claimed Mongolian heritage but others denied it was true)
Awards Update Everyone's making their final moves -- Oscar ballots out on Feb 12th. Jennifer Jason Leigh is getting a tribute at the American Cinematheque. They'll be screening Hateful Eight, Georgia (the closest she ever came to a nom' previously), her divisive Mrs Parker and the Vicious Circle (she's excellent), Single White Female and breakout hit Fast Times at Ridgmont High.
Finally, the ACE Eddie Awards were handed out last night. The winners:
Greetings, Dear Readers. Michael C. here. Since Nathaniel is on record as being emphatically NOT a fan of Chan-wook Park's original Cannes prize winner, I thought it fitting I, an enthusiastic Oldboy lover, would step in to review Spike Lee's hotly anticipated English language remake.
One of the smallest changes to Spike Lee’s American remake of Oldboy is the most revealing. A subplot involving hypnosis has been excised from the film. No doubt the filmmakers decided mass audiences wouldn’t accept such an outlandish plot device, but therein lies the fatal error. An Oldboy that comes anywhere near plausible reality is no Oldboy at all.
Park Chan-wook’s original version pulsed with bonkers confidence, dancing on the edges of sanity, and, when need be, careening right over the cliff. In dragging the remake closer to the director’s realism comfort zone, this version has drained the story of the operatic pitch it requires.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 5:00PM 
The complete jury for the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival has been announced. As previously noted, Pedro Almodóvar will preside over the jury. To celebrate, The Film Experience will have "Almodóvar Week" from May 9th through the 15th so catch up with a few of his movies you've always wanted to see. We are currently planning to hit the following pictures in some capacity: Pepi Luci Bom, Dark Habits, What Have I Done to Deserve This?, All About My Mother, Volver, All About My Mother, and The Skin I Live In... though there might be alterations in that schedule or additions. 
