Tuesday, November 22, 2016 at 7:00AM The Film Experience has two posters to give away for Elle, signed by both provocateurs responsible: the Dutch auteur Paul Verhoeven & French icon Isabelle Huppert. Information on how to enter is after the jump...
Wednesday, February 19, 2014 at 12:20PM I have a special surprise for you NYC-area readers whose actressexuality extends beyond the silver screen to the stage. I have one pair of tickets for the March 12th dress rehearsal of the new Broadway play The Realistic Joneses to give away. It stars Toni Collette, Michael C Hall, and Marisa Tomei. I've seen all of them perform live and they're every bit as good on stage as they are onscreen (not something that can be said of all film actors!).
"How well do you know your neighbors?" THE REALISTIC JONESES asks.
...a new play about love and life, friends and neighbors.
Written by Pulitzer Prize finalist WILL ENO and directed by SAM GOLD (Fun Home, Seminar), it's an outrageous, inside look at the people who live next door, the truths we think we know and the secrets we never imagined we all might share. Hailed by The New York Times as "a tender, funny and terrific new play with the spring's most enticing new cast," THE REALISTIC JONESES moves into Broadway's Lyceum Theatre on March 13.
Marisa Tomei at a Golden Globes party recentlyTickets are not on sale for this event. This is an invite only performance so you'd be with the very first audience to see it! The show begins previews the following day.
The play also stars Tracy Letts, the playwright, of Killer Joe, Bug, and August: Osage County fame (you've seen him act on Homeland and he won the Tony recently for yet another revival of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"). I spoke to him at the Critics Choice Awards and he told me that he'd be in rehearsals for this very thing on Oscar night when Meryl & Julia are competing for statues in his August: Osage County.
TO ENTER THE CONTEST: Email The Film Experience by Sunday February 23rd with the following information:
1. "Joneses" in the subject line
2. Your full name and email
3. And a sentence or two naming your favorite Toni Collette & Marisa Tomei performances or your favorite neighbor-to-neighbor relationship from a movie (so many to choose from)
Good luck!
Wednesday, November 27, 2013 at 5:33PM In the reader spotlight series we celebrate YOU, the reason The Film Experience keeps chugging along. Today we're talking to Michael Bina who just produced a well received short film! Let's meet him.
Nathaniel R: We met a couple years back at a guild screening for Coriolanus's tiny Oscar-qualifying run I believe?
MICHAEL BINA: Yes, that’s right! I remember you... loved it?
Well, Vanessa Redgrave in it! Otherwise not so much. How long have you been reading the site?
I’ve probably been reading The Film Experience for a little less than a decade. I was a huge fan of the Academy Awards growing up, so I began reading Oscar blogs. I stumbled upon yours and loved your insight on films, and just the way you wrote about them. The site's great at showcasing all aspects of the industry (film, theatre, television).
I understand you recently produced a film that was honored by the Producers Guild ? I'm fuzzy on details. Fill us in!
Every year the Producers Guild of America has a Weekend Short Competition. So over the course of one weekend you have to write, shoot, edit, compose and complete a film no longer than 5-minutes. This year the theme was Romantic Comedy in honor of Laura Ziskin. The film I made was called ‘The Squeeze’, inspired by my little cousin who has a Lemonade stand every summer.
That sounds fun. Let's watch it!
MICHAEL BINA: I used my cousin in the film, and made him a mafia-loving kingpin who runs all these lemonade stands in Beverly Hills. One day, this cute little girl opens an opposing stand, basically killing his business. So he tries to take her down, but falls in love with her. We ended up as one of the Top 10 Finalists, winning Honorable Mention. James Franco and Tom Cruise’s producing partner Paula Wager were two of the judges, so it was surreal knowing that they watched a film I wrote and produced.
Nathaniel: Congratulations so much. Okay, name 3 movies you've seen a bajillion times.
MICHAEL Movies are always playing in the background while I write, so this is easy.
X2:X-Men United
Moulin Rouge!
... and lastly (I know it’s cheating) but the four Disney Renaissance films: The Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King.
Take an Oscar away. Regift it.
I want to say The Artist’s Best Picture win to A Separation, which is my favorite movie of all time. But, instead I’m going to make one choice that affects three outcomes. Take Hilary Swank’s 2nd Oscar and give it to Kate Winslet for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. This way Kate would lose for her work in The Reader, meaning the Oscar would have gone to Streep. Thus, Streep would have lost for The Iron Lady, meaning Viola Davis wouldn’t be Oscar-less! (And even if Streep didn’t win, it probably would have gone to a very, very, very deserving Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married).
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. So to wrap up, do like we did on sunday's podcast. Name your favorite turkey, succulent ham, and something you're sweet on for dessert.
Turkey: Independence Day
Ham: Jim Carrey
Dessert: Emma Watson
Thanks, Michael, Happy Thanksgiving!
P.S. If you'd like to be a reader spotlight, stay engaged! Like us on facebook and follow Nathaniel on Twitter. Don't be shy.
Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 1:30PM TFE's Vivien Leigh Centennial Celebration (November 2-6)
Here's David with an interview and book giveaway
Vivien Leigh was only nominated for two Oscars, but she won both of them. More impressively, both of her winning performances are still frequently said to be among the finest of all-time. If she’d done nothing else in her career, that would be a legacy to be proud of. It’s even more extraordinary when you consider the personal struggles that the actress went through: constantly striving to feel worthy of acting alongside the love of her life, Sir Laurence Olivier, and an undiagnosed and mistreated bipolar disorder that increasingly overtook her. In Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait, Leigh scholar Kendra Bean digs into the actress’ dramatic life story, using a myriad of photographs both legendary and rare to imbue Vivien’s life with the vulnerability of her delicate beauty.
book contest and interview after the jump
Thursday, July 4, 2013 at 7:49AM 
Congratulations to the winners of The Heat (reviewed) poster contest though sadly none of you took up my offer to recreate the poster for your entry. I know TFE readers are creative from previous contests people. Don't pretend otherwise and let me down next time ;)
The winners are:
Your prize packs* are on the way from the studio!
(*Sandra & Melissa sold separately but currently flying off the shelves)
