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.)
82 women walked the red carpet today at Cannes protesting the lack of female filmmakers represented at the festival over the years. The number 82 is the number of films directed by women that have been in the main competition lineup since Cannes began 71 years ago (3 of which are this year). All the famous talented women from this year's jury led by Cate Blanchett were there along with the Godmother of the French New Wave, recent Honorary Oscar recipient AND nominee Agnes Varda. Blanchett and Varda gave the speech in English and French which went like so:
If you hear a sliver of Margo Channing's famous warning echoing across All About Nina you should know it's not just because the title's a riff on that Bette Davis classic. It is indeed going to be a bumpy night, a series of them actually, for Nina (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and for everybody that comes into contact with her. Although there are interstitial daylight-breaks, Nina's life revolves around nights and the things that bump them. She's a comedian, and we know well by now how those lives are structured. Bump, bump, POW. Fasten them seat-belts, baby...
• The Undefeated an amazing longread about the careers of several non-household name black actors from 1990s television series • Coming Soon Ansel Elgort in talks to play fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen in an original screen musical composed by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked). The huge success of La La Land and Greatest Showman is already taking effect which is nice because we were worried it wouldn't. • /Film Kristen Wiig in talks to play the villain Cheetah in Wonder Woman 2. Looooove this idea
• MNPP Armie Hammer getting his chest waxed. Nooooo • The Guardian Casting for Quentin Tarantino's Charles Manson movie has begun. Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio are officially returning to the director's filmography. Margot Robbie might be joining them. • Coming Soon Have any of you read the Witchers series of fantasy books? It's being adapted to Netflix series with several characters confirmed • NPR profiles the three awesome Octogenarians up for Oscar this year: James Ivory, Agnes Varda, and Christopher Plummer • TFE ...and in case you missed it, we just interviewed James Ivory • Variety Chris Hemsworth may star in a Men in Black spinoff because no franchises die anymore • Into Film inspired by Lady Bird, a list of 10 other great debut films by female directors.
Stage (Pssst. Tony Season is almost upon us) • W Magazine Lee Pace sorta comes out... in that tortured 'I won't say it, but I'm saying it' Jodie Foster kinda way in this interview about taking on the Joe Pitt role in the revival of Angels in America • Theater Mania Harry Connick Jr is now in rehearsals for the debut of a new musical based on Best Picture winner The Sting. It's going to premiere at New Jersey's Papermill Playhouse (which is a great place to see shows) • Show-Score A list of all the current NYC stage shows offering lottery tickets (i.e. cheap seats for lucky winners) not that I want to give myself competition as I'm already losing Angels in America and Frozen daily. But these lotteries do actually send people to shows every single day who couldn't afford it otherwise. I only ever enter sporadically (if I remember / am dying to see a show / friends visiting NYC etc) and I've won thrice over the years and seen West Side Story, Wicked, and Kinky Boots quite cheaply. Though I suspect it's harder to win now that all the lotteries are online instead of in person (i.e. less commitment to enter so way more competition).
Exit Video Christine Baranski talks about filming Mamma Mia 2 and does a really bad Cher impression!
Each day a different year in review party. Here's Nathaniel...
It's time for a special box office report. Though the year was dire for most studios (at least until the final quarter) with moviegoing down, especially in the summer, there are always hits. The question is only how large and what motivates people to buy a ticket. For all the griping you hear about "everything is superheroes" or "another sequel?" the biggest hits are nearly always sequels or superhero films so the audiences only have themselves to blame in a way.
We've already looked at the top grossing foreign language titles of 2017 so now to the wider releases as well as other categories. We'll break it down into multiple top tens so that it's more interesting than sequels and superheroes. (All grosses are US domestic)...
• Vanity Fair Carrie Fisher's best lines in The Last Jedi come from the actress/writer herself • Rolling Stone David Fear's 25 reasons to love the movies in 2017 • Variety a "tsunami" of change in Hollywood. Netflix, MoviePass, sexual harrassment scandals, low box office. What's next? • Vanity Fair Annette Bening, Whisper campaigns, The Last Jedi and more • AV "TV Club" a lengthy but always engaging 17 part lookback at the year in culture and the small screen
Much more after the jump including more "best of the year" lists, Strictly Ballroom, Hamilton, and female directors...
Saturday, May 12, 2018 at 4:11PM 
