Contest: Evita ♪ Evita ♪ Evita ♪

Raise your arms together in unison and sing it with me. Go on, raise 'em -- you know how she do.

What are we singing about exactly? Evita, kids. To celebrate the film's recent 15th anniversary they've rereleased the movie musical adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's megahit on DVD & Blu Ray. From the press release:

Join two of the world’s greatest and most enduring superstars, Madonna and Antonio Banderas, in the epic musical event that is Evita. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Alan Parker, Evita is the riveting true-life story of Eva Peron (Madonna), who rose above childhood poverty and a scandalous past to achieve unimaginable fortune and fame. Despite widespread controversy, her passion changed a nation forever... 

Now, with a new state-of-the-art digital restoration, you can experience every astonishing scene and unforgettable song like never before!

Awards obsessives will remember that Evita correctly won Best Original Song at the Oscars ("You Must Love Me") as well as three Golden Globe Awards including Best Actress for Madonna. Yes, she's an award-winning actress. Shush!

I've got three copies of the rerelease to give away to musically inclined readers.  Anyone can enter but you'll have to e-mail me by Friday, June 29th with the following:

1. "EVITA" in the subject line
2. Name and Shipping Address (I'll have to share it with Walt Disney if you win but otherwise it's private)
3. A short note about your Evita experience -- even if you haven't seen the movie -- whether its Madonna-related, musically inclined, political or stage focused. I may quote you on the site so be forewarned.
4. BONUS POINTS: if you send a photo of yourself for publication in the famous Evita pose up top, I'll double your entry though the winners will be drawn at random.

I'll give you an example. Here's me singing about my love for Madonna as Evita.

I look slightly possessed but it's appropriate because that's how I get with Madonna. True story: I practically knocked over an old lady to get to my middle-middle seat on the sold out opening night at my favorite Salt Lake City movie theater. I'm not proud of the old lady part but that opening night was sacred and she was in my way! 

Yes, that's a Breathless Mahoney doll in my cleavage. What of it?

West Side Story Contest Winners

Whenever awards season starts coming at us full throttle it's sometimes hard to remember that what's truly important in life is not who got snubbed at the BFCAs or who might be looking at a 6th place finish in Oscar balloting.  

No, no.... What's most important in life is West Side Story and who won The Film Experience's West Side Story Blu-Ray contest. I enjoyed reading your entries so much! Honestly I wish more people had entered so I could keep on reading them. In the end I had to go all eenie meenie minie moe because there's no way I could choose by stories. So many personal memories and so much love for this film.

I wish I had 10 copies to give away. Alas, there can be only two... THE WINNERS ARE...

LEON in Texas who writes:

 My West Side Story fandom began a half a lifetime ago. After watching Titanic tying Ben-Hur's record, I became enamored with the Oscars, and made it my goal to watch all of the Best Picture winners, and decided to start with West Side Story, which was the oldest Best Picture winner my parents owned. I had seen the film once when I was two, but my memory of it was incredibly distorted. (My memory told me that the final stirring speech was delivered by the tomboy Anybodys.) I was initially a little bit hesitant about watching the film, because at the time I was not a fan of musicals at all. I had made up my mind that musicals were a drab, unrealistic experience full of boring song and dance numbers. 

That notion flew out the window when I finally saw the dazzling Prologue sequence. I was drawn into the finger-snapping music of Leonard Bernstein and the dynamic choreography of Jerome Robbins. The film gripped me in those opening scenes, and never let me go until well after the final somber chords in the credits sequence. I was so blown away that I watched the film again...and again...and again. By the end of the calendar year I had seen the movie 10 times. Even today, it remains my absolute favorite American film. 

The other winner is ANDREW in Washington who writes...

In my freshman English course when I was 14, we had spent a few weeks reading and discussing Romeo & Juliet. My English teacher decided to show us West Side Story as a class as a fun way to cap the subject. Many of the kids groaned when they found out it was a musical, but I was ecstatic since I loved musicals and had never seen West Side Story. I only knew the song "I Feel Pretty" was from it.

My best friend and I were in the corner and we absolutely loved it, especially Rita Moreno. Every time she was on screen we were captivated by her, and couldn't breathe during the scene where Anita is nearly raped. We quietly cried together in the corner during the ending and immediately both got the soundtrack when we got home. From then on we spent many times together breaking out into the songs, especially "America" and "Tonight". We still do so to this day!  What I think I remember best, was how quiet the class was when it ended. And numerous kids were whispering "That was actually pretty good!", many of the same ones that were dreading having to actually watch a musical!  It just goes to show you, that people who stay away from things deemed "uncool" can miss out on so many great things.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The studio tells me your BluRays are in the mail today. Thanks to everyone who entered and who loves West Side Story. Fans of WSS are my kind of people. 

More on the 1961 Oscar Winner will come...

Win a 50th Anniversary Blu-Ray of "West Side Story"

I've been meaning to celebrate the 50th anniversary of West Side Story (1961) for two months now. I've shirked my duties as a fan.

When you're a fan, you're a fan all the way, from your first sing-along to your last dying day. ♫

But no more! In addition to December being the kick off for our year in review festivities let's celebrate the greatest musical ever written here and there with posts about the 1961 multiple Oscar winner. 

I have two copies of the 50th anniversary Blu-Ray to give away. To enter simply send me an e-mail [filmexperience(at)gmail(dot)com] with "WSS" in the subject line by Sunday night, December 4th with the following information.

1. Your full name and mailing address 
(this will be kept private unless you win in which case the studio gets your info to send you the prize!)

2. An anecdote about your personal relationship to this movie, be it a favorite song, first time you saw it, moment you love, favorite character, line from a song you have used in public or WHATEVER...  (This second part may not be kept private. I might quote you in a future post!)

Enter the contest TONIGHT!

tonight, tonight
the world is wild and bright
going mad
shooting sparks into space

Contest Winner: "I Know Where I'm Going"

Eeep! I forgot to announce the contest winners for this new Katharine Hepburn "I Know Where I'm Going" bio from Charlotte Chandler. I asked participants to name their favorite performance from "Kate the Great" and I just now pulled the winners randomly from those contest entries.

Which Hepburn performances are favored by our three winners? Read on!

Annie in New York. She writes...

My favorite Katharine Hepburn performance is in Bringing Up Baby (1938). Reasons: The improvised line, "I was born on the side of a hill" when the heel on her shoe broke; the glorious close-up of her smiling face that brings the film to a complete halt just to luxuriate in it; "Did we get to the other side?".  It's her full commitment to every aspect of the funniest movie ever made that makes this my favorite Hepburn performance.

Seisgrados in Spain. He writes...

Leonor of Aquitania in The Lion in Winter (1968). Her character is talked about like a bigger than life figure, strong, conniving, powerful, long before she enters the movie.



It's so hard for an actor to live up to those expectations in any film but when Hepburn shows up in this, she manages to be all that. An irresistible force.

Kimberly in Massachussetts. She writes..

Growing up Katharine Hepburn was the first real "actress" I knew of save my fathers obsession with Vivien Leigh (and all things Gone With The Wind). Living in New England she's considered a treasure. I could easily rattle off a specific reason, scene, or line that make each of these performances my favorite: Stage Door - I long to have a real life dialogue where I can use a few of the gems her and Ginger Rogers spout at one another; Bringing Up Baby for the early scene in the restaurant when her dress is ripped; The Philadephia Story drunk in Jimmy Stewarts arms...

But, my favorite would be in Desk Set (1957). Besides being the most often quoted film between my father & I, the performances are pitch perfect. It makes me sad that so many people haven't seen this film. As a woman this film has always stood out to me because Bunny Watson never tried to dumb herself down for Richard Sumner - he came to love her because she was smart. Hepburn also plays off of Joan Blondell in a fantastic way - Kate was rarely given girlfriends in her films - she was tough and always sparred with the boys, so it's fantastic to see her be a girls girl. This is one of my all time favorite films and I watch it every single time it's on. 

Congratulations to the winners! Your books will be in the mail soon.

Was your favorite Hepburn performance duly noted?

Pssst. Mine is Bringing Up Baby with Alice Adams as runner up but I am far from a completist.

Contest: Win a Katharine Hepburn Bio

My reading habits are very schizophrenic. I won't read anything but blogs for a long time and then suddenly I'm a voracious reader. I blame "What You See in the Dark" which got me back into a fiction mood. I just finished "The World of Normal Boys" today (total page turner) and I may start the newest Katharine Hepburn bio. Who knows. I have so many actress bios that are sitting here unread. As many of you know (and are perplexed by) Hepburn is far from my favorite actress but I am as ever willing to try. 

I can't vouch for the book as I have not read it. Apparently Charlotte Chandler, known for writing bios about deceased celebs, sometimes gets flak for quotes that are contradictory of previous quotes from other biographies, auto and otherwise. But what can you do about celebrity:What life, in the telling, is not a mix of fiction and truth, even if the person doing the telling is the subject!?

Anyway, I have two copies to give away. To enter the contest, email me before Thursday night at filmexperience (at) gmail (dot) com with "Hepburn" as the subject line and include the following.

• your name and address
• your favorite Katharine Hepburn performance and why*

* I might quote you on this last part so be forewarned