This Film Year, I'm Thankful for...

by Cláudio Alves

Happy Thanksgiving!

The world is burning and everything sucks, principled people are few and far between, with depression and bad news always waiting 'round the corner. And yet, even now, there are things to be thankful for. As a cinephile, I've found that films often represent a reprieve from doom, including when they catalyze one's anger and throw it back at the audience. Indeed, it's difficult to imagine life without those moving pictures. From a personal perspective, it's impossible to conceive of the past months without these screen-bound pleasures. So far, 2023 has been a fantastic year for my journey as a film fanatic, from stellar pictures to unprecedented opportunities.

It only seems fair to share some of that joy in a day that, for my American friends, is all about celebrating gratitude. Sure, I'm Portuguese, but the sentiment persists beyond borders. Without further ado, this film year, I'm thankful for…

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Cláudio gives thanks, 2020

by Cláudio Alves

2020 has been a rollercoaster of a year, as full of dismay as of jubilation. I started it sick, feverish, and bone-tired, a fitting first chapter to an annus horribilis fated to forever be remembered for worldwide disease. As the months unfurled, much happened, including cinematic triumphs whose wonder I couldn't believe, universal despairs I hoped would always be enclosed in my nightmares, loss, and life. 

Thanksgiving isn't a holiday we have in Portugal, but I admire the idea of celebrating gratitude, of giving thanks to what makes our existence happy or at least tolerable. With that in mind, I'd like to express my gratitude for some wonders of cinema, TV, and pop culture, that made living through 2020 just a tiny bit easier…

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Salim Gives Thanks

Team Experience members were invited to give thanks this week so you'll be hearing from a few of us. Here's Salim Garami...

What's good?

2018 has proven to be a very busy year for yours truly, hence my radio silence here in The Film Experience (I didn't have much time to write on my own personal blog Motorbreath). But it has also proven to be a surprisingly rewarding year for me, both in my personal life after much hassle earlier in the year and run-around later in the year (I have been going back-and-forth between not two but THREE U.S. cities for professional reasons) and in cinema

I think 2018 has been one of the best moviegoing years I've experienced in my whole life. So many surprises and experiments, so many crowdpleasers where I am proudly on that bandwagon, a couple of Oscar contenders that I actually enjoyed. And there's no shortage of music, television, or literature from this year amusing me in some way or another as well so let's dig in...

• Comedic songwriter/teleplay writer/critical writer extraordinaire Demi Adeyugibe has blessed us with not one but TWO funny "fake" credit songs for the nerdiest tentpoles of the summer: Future imitation "Snap" for Avengers: Infinity War and the compulsively catchy Childish Gambino imitation in "L-A-N-D-O" for Solo: A Star Wars Story.

• Tom Cruise trying to figure out where the "payload" is at and finding a giant switch saying "payload" in the helicopter chase climax of Mission: Impossible - Fallout...

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