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.)
If you haven't yet caught the latest essay from Angelica Jade Bastién (who has written here a few times) check it out at the Atlantic. It's called "Hollywood Ruined Method Acting" and it goes at the increasingly torturous PR campaigns that surround modern "accomplishments" of screen acting. As as usual Angelica is quite insightful about acting and sexism. Bless her for citing Montgomery Clift's contribution to acting, non-method styles that are just as valuable (see Brad Pitt) and the various incredible female actors (like Gena Rowlands) who are pushed aside due to the obsession with masculinity. Marlon Brando gets all the credit and don't think it's not because of the machismo and swagger.
I'd quote the article but instead I'll quote Jason's reaction which made me giggle:
I was nodding my head in agreement so furiously I was spitting out vertebrae by its end
Will Smith is a big movie star and has been one for a very long time. What would he choose to wear to promote his new superhero movie at fancy premieres in New York and London?
Why brown and blue suits, as if he's going to the latest formal after work function...
Well, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. But it wasn't very good, either.
by Lynn Lee
Suicide Squad was supposed to be DC Comics’ answer to Marvel’s big-screen dominance. It had even more pressure riding on it to make up for the underwhelming Batman vs. Superman. Unfortunately for DC, there’s nothing here to challenge Marvel’s crown.
It’s not that it’s unwatchable, it’s that everything about it is either unfocused or uninspired: the plotting, the fight scenes, the visual aesthetic, and most damning of all, the character development. Let’s face it, most superhero movies are variations on the same handful of basic plot arcs and themes; their rhythms are so familiar to us that they rarely pack true surprises. What makes some more compelling than others is the characterization of the heroes (and, less frequently, their villains)...
It's that time again. But before we get to the tweets of the week, let's all be reminded that Lifetime will be remaking the movie Beaches. I keep forgetting this because why would anyone do this? And yet I love this casting pair idea...
Ariana Grande softly purrs "yaaas" at the suggestion that Kristin Chenoweth star w/ Idina Menzel in new #Beaches.
The Matinee on the trouble with "classics" and drawing timelines in the sand Kenneth in the (212) the Mommie Dearest mansion is on the market The Stake on why blockbuster franchises are all boring now. Even the good ones National Post pop culture power rankings best and worst in method acting from Daniel Day Lewis to Jared Leto Uproxx movies have sucked this summer - well, the big ones have. Lots of goodies in limited release
MNPP * NSFW* Orlando Bloom made the internet all sweaty with his nude paddleboarding adventure MNPP I love the "Siri Says" series Jason does. She picks a number, he delivers his favorite films from that year. Variety Maya Rudolph to co-star in Melissa McCarthy's Life of the Party (2018) The Tracking Board Hollywood is planning to remake Mexico's Miss Bala (sigh). Good luck finding a lead to match Stephanie Sigman in the 2011 original Coming Soon Angelina Jolie has opted not to take the lead role in Murder on the Orient Express. Charlize Theron is the new possibility. And ICYMI... TFE... we held a Cast This about the other roles in that remake recently. Film Stage new Antonio Banderas movie is coming called Finding Altamira. I hadn't heard of this but it's directed by Hugh Hudson who I've suddenly realized is still alive. He hasn't made a movie in 16 years. I was just watching his Greystoke movie the other day AV Club Antonio Sabato Jr hilarious thinks his career is over because of his support of Trump. Oh babe, it's been over for a long time. That's like blaming Obama for the death of Captain Khan who died four years before he was in offic-- oh wait. Esquire In case you had forgotten that Clint Eastwood is an old guard conservative/misogynist, they have a new interview he does in tandem with his son Scott in which he uses "pussy" as a pejorative, disses Hillary and Obama, and tries that old chestnust "both sides" argument about Trump's behavior. Nope. Sorry Clint. Only one party tries to motivate voters with bigotry. (He also talks movies and at least he loves Sunset Blvd so he's not 100% a terrible person.) Women and Hollywood Ava Duvernay to become the first black woman to helm a $100 million budgeted film with A Wrinkle in Time - this is news because she's quite successful already and men with a lot less success have been handed blockbuster budgets often. Crossing our fingers that it's a financial and artistic success!
Dunkirk Teaser Here's the very quick new tease for Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk which seems certain to net him that Best Director nomination that's eluded him so long if it's any good at all, it being a WW II movie and him being "overdue" and such. And he knows how to direct spectacle films after all.
Off Cinema Buzz Feed "every time President Obama lost his chill around kids" if you need something adorable to look at The Guardian Leonardo DiCaprio is "with her". He's hosting a $33,400 a plate fundraiser The Daily Good Yes the media does play favorites in politics, but as this study shows, it isn't the people complaining about it who are getting the unfavorable treatment