My Helen Mirren Top Ten

by Cláudio Alves

It's hard to believe Helen Mirren hasn't been nominated for an Oscar since The Last Station, way back in 2009. The shock comes not from her fate's unfairness, mind you. Instead, it stems from how Mirren seems to be actively chasing gold, nabbing essential precursor support for projects like Hitchcock, The Hundred-Foot Journey, Woman in Gold, Trumbo, and The Leisure Seeker. This year, the actress may be going down the same road with Golda, the recently released biopic about Golda Meier, "the Iron Lady of Israel.". To mark the occasion, let's look away from the failed Oscar buzz and consider the peak of Helen Mirren's work as a big-screen legend.

As with Angela Bassett, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sigourney Weaver, Marilyn Monroe, and Maggie Smith, TV performances will be set aside for another day, and so will her Academy-anointed turns. Caveats out of the way, this is my Mirren top ten…

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Review: Come on, "Barbie," let's go party!

by Cláudio Alves

What does it mean to sell out? Some would decry Greta Gerwig's move from mid-budget indies to big studio fare as a modern example. This line of thought posits the director's fourth film, Barbie, as capitulation to the tyranny of big bucks, no more than a glorified toy commercial for "vacuous, hypersexualized dolls." But when you're actually watching Gerwig's movie, it's difficult to take the pink oddity as proof evident of any sacrifice of vision or integrity for the sake of profit. Barbie's too ambitious a creation - in terms of text, tone, performance, audiovisual stylings galore - to support such dismissive readings.

From beginning to end, the summer's biggest comedy bursts at the seams with ideas, saturated with the clear intent of a creative mind given free rein. It glows with the kind of resources seldomly bestowed upon women directors. That doesn't mean the picture's perfect, exempt from criticism, or its enthusiasm is without drawbacks. But, even if Gerwig can't quite have her cake and eat it too, she manages to share a personal, goofy, deeply idiosyncratic proto-existentialist dream with her audience. Better yet, she does it with the attitude of a kid, their favorite toy in hand, eyes widening at the playtime possibilities before them…

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The Gay Fantasia of the 'Fast' Series

Christopher James has taken over The Film Experience. Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy day (hopefully Nathaniel's flight from Venice is less bumpy)

Is this a Sean Cody video you'd like to watch? Good news, there are nine (technically ten) of these movies.By: Christopher James

The men race cars because they can’t kiss.

They also sleep with the other’s sister, because that’s the only way they can be family (in their minds).

In 2001, The Fast and the Furious had a big climax where a group of street racers heisted DVD players. Twenty years later, Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson go to space IN A CAR and wax on about invincibility. This is punctuated with a joke about their makeshift spacesuits making them look like minions. No franchise has morphed and changed more than the Fast & Furious franchise. Also, no other franchise has been as homoerotic. This isn't a new observation, but it still needs to be shouted from the rooftops. Now that Fast 9 is available to buy - buckle up, grab a bucket of Corona, and have the binge of your life!

Simply put, the Fast & Furious has something for everyone… as long as you are up for the insanity. It is pure drag machismo, and all most are in on the joke. Spoilers ahead, though really they should just make you want to watch them all.

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Doc Corner: 'On Broadway'

By Glenn Dunks

They say the neon lights are bright,
on Broadway.
They say there’s always magic in the air…

Let's be thankful that On Broadway doesn’t open with those famous lyrics from the song of the same name. Bob Fosse already did that, using George Benson’s funk-inspired 1978 rendition to launch All That Jazz over images of a throng of auditioning theatre wannabes. It’s showtime, folks, and that song is a hell of an introduction, but it's been done.

The release of Oren Jacoby’s doc feels perfectly timed, having been completed and screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival back in 2019 but delayed for general release until now as the city is on the verge of re-opening to crowds...

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74th Cannes: Red Carpet Opening Night

by Nathaniel R

Who gets your vote as Best Dressed at Cannes today? More photos are after the jump...

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