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.)
On this day in history as it relates to the movies...
1461 Edward IV is crowned King of England. Over a dozen actors will play him from silent film to TV miniseries including Roy Dotrice (The Wars of the Roses), John Wood (Richard III), and Max Irons (The White Queen) but despite awards-voters fetish for royalty porn this role has never resulted in an Oscar, Tony or Emmy nomination. 1838 Queen Victoria is crowned. Emily Blunt reenacts the ascenscion for Young Victoria (2009) receiving her third of five Golden Globe nominations (she's won once). Oscar, though, has yet to notice her gifts. When Oscar, when? What do you require?...
On this day in history as it relates to the movies...
Dr Duran Duran and the Orgasmatron
1835 P.T. Barnum and his circus begin their first tour of the US. Wasn't Hugh Jackman supposed to play him in an original movie musical? Is that still on or did the endless Wolverine show derail it? (sigh) 1840 Novelist Thomas Hardy is born. Movies adapted from his work include multiple versions of Jude, Tess, and Far From the Madding Crowd 1904 Johnny Weissmuller is born. We just wrote about Tarzan and His Mate (1934) which you should definitely see 1926 Character actor Milo O'Shea, aka Dr Duran Duran who tried to kill Jane Fonda by excessive pleasure in Barbarella, is born. 1937 Sally Kellerman, the original " 'Hot Lips' O'Houlihan" is born
1944 EGOT composing legend Marvin Hamlisch (of "A Chorus Line") fame is born...or as Cher calls him "Marvin Hamilsmisch". Classic songs include the Oscar winning "The Way We Were" and Oscar nominated gems like "Nobody Does it Better," and "Through the Eyes of Love." Get this: He is the only person other than a director or screenwriter to win more than two Oscars on a single night. At the '73 Oscars he took Song and Original Score for The Way We Were and also Adapted Score (back when they had that) for Best Picture winner The Sting. 1953 The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, aka Helen Mirren's signature role. Did you know that Queen Elizabeth II is now the longest running monarch in British history? 1989Dead Poet's Society opens in theaters. Goes on to 4 Oscar nominations including Best Picture in one of the all time least satisfying Oscar years. I mean that Best Picture lineup is atrocious given that sex lies and videotape, The Little Mermaid, Fabulous Baker Boys and Do the Right Thing (all nominated for something) were right there for the taking.
No, don't take my picture.
1995Bridges of Madison County opens in theaters and audiences start loudly demanding Meryl Streep's third Oscar. The conversation lasts for 16 whole years thereafter. (Demands for #4 have not yet begun but it's only a matter of time.) 2006 Peyton Reed's The Break-Up opens in theaters with Jennifer Aniston & Vince Vaughn
And one year from today... 2017Wonder Woman will open in theaters. Somehow it only took them 75 years to get her on the big screen.
The New Yorker pays tribute to Garry Shandling who passed away suddenly on Thursday Salon remembers the polarizing response to David Lynch's Blue Velvet 30 years ago Lee Pace Network they did a "posterized" of sorts on Lee Pace's filmography only with gifs - how many have you seen? I've only seen 7 but he sure is nice to look at Washington Post fascinating story on Hollywood's latest beauty trend: expensive post-production digital retouching Vulture interviews RuPaul /Film so sad but HBO's Togetherness starring Mark Duplass and Melanie Lynskey has been cancelled. Playbill awwww. Hairspray and Smash composer and 5 time Oscar nominee Marc Shaiman got married. Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane, Bette Midler, and Whoopi were guests!
Meta Humans MTV Teo remembers Batman Returns "There is only one true Batman movie, one Batmovie to rule them all." Amen. Comics Alliance Marvel & Disney join other companies planning to boycott business with the state of Georgia if the governor doesn't veto the recently passed anti-gay law Vulture asks celebrities to pick Batman or Superman in a fight. Michael Shannon's, the former general Zod, answer is the greatest Film Freak Central amazing free associative depressive review of BvS by Walter Chaw Terry's Fabrics suggests you decorate your room w/ Batman or Superman accoutrements (to make sure you have nightmares about the movie lasting even longer?) Comics Alliance thinks Wonder Woman's MVP status in the new film is not enough to justify the treatment of the other female characters i09 you can explore Batman's lair using Google Street View. YouTube LOL. Sad Affleck hearing about the Batman v Superman reviews EW Warner Bros DC universe movies schedule through 2020
Today's Watch Batman v Terminator from Captain McKay. A fun little stop motion short using actual action figures. And it fits with Easter's ressurection theme, kinda, too.
ICYMI The Oscars channel on YouTube added a ton of clips and speeches from last month's ceremony a couple of days ago
Lady Gaga may have understandably hogged the media's coverage of this year's Best Original Song category but she's not the only Grammy winning composer in the mix. Diane Warren (the main writer of "Til It Happens to You") and The Weeknd "Earned It" are also Grammy winners. So is David Lang, an eclectic composer best known for his classical work. He's nominated for "Simple Song No. 3" from Youth, the lynchpin song of the whole movie. Like Jane Fonda's movie star in the same film, his song is hyped consistently by the story and characters before we fatefully cross paths with it.
Lang hasn't worked in movies too often, though he did contribute to the incredibly memorable music in Requiem for a Dream (2000). After his elevating and Oscar nominated work on Youth, we're hoping he spends more time composing for our screens.
When David Lang sat down to talk to The Film Experience I warned him that I know next to nothing about music. The good humored composer joked, absurdly, that he barely knows anything either. Lang is one of very few Oscar nominees in the Academy's history to have won a Pulitzer Prize before their Oscar honors. (Here's our talk edited slightly for length and clarity.)
NATHANIEL: Famously you wrote "Simple Song No. 3" before Sorrentino's screenplay was complete. How quickly did you write it? Did Sorrentino ask for several iterations?
DAVID LANG: I work pretty fast. The way this worked was I made a version of the song and I would get a singer to sing it and send the demo to Paolo. I basically sent him three versions of the song. I probably spent much more time having these philosophical conversations with him and reading the script and having dark neurotic nightmares about it than actually doing the work!
Carter Burwell gives great soundtrack. The proof is all around us. His scores are everywhere right now, in movie theaters with Charlie Kaufman's Anomalisa and the Coen brothers Hail, Caesar! and in the Oscar mix; his work on Carol brought him his long long overdue first nomination for Best Original Score.
The 60 year-old composer started his music career in the punk scene but after that fateful first collaboration with the the Coens on Blood Simple (1984) he quickly become a film regular. He's composed every Coen brothers score since then with the exception of Inside Llewyn Davis. They aren't the only filmmakers who steadily rely on his gift. He's worked frequently for Bill Condon, Michael Caton-Jones, Spike Jonze, John Lee Hancock, and Todd Haynes among others.
I asked him how he keeps his work fresh with so many projects and how he approached the recent challenges of the "ridiculous" comedy of Hail, Caesar! and the restrained drama of Carol.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016 at 7:15AM 
On this day in history as it relates to the movies...
