Happy 'International Owl Awareness Day'

by Nathaniel R

Yes, International Owl Awareness Day is a real thing. For our purposes at The Film Experience owl awareness would be how those nocturnal birds are portrayed onscreen. They're hit-and-miss on celluloid and television. For example, we always needed more personality from Hedwig in the Harry Potter series, that damn mechanical owl in Clash of the Titans is an anachronistic disaster, and is it sacrilege to say that 'Owl' in Winnie and the Pooh is the least engaging Hundred Acre Wood denizen?

The following list is dedicated to the Twin Peaks owl(s) and Archimedes in The Sword and the Stone (1963) who didn't quite make it but we love them. TFE's five favorite screen owls are after the jump

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Happy 10th Anniversary to Mad Men

by Nathaniel R

Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the only series I've ever watched twice all the way through. I know I will eventually follow suit with my other favorite series of all time: Matthew Weiner's Mad Men. But the time is not yet. I still miss it terribly, especially on Sunday nights. The very first episode, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" premiered on this day 10 years ago... 

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Q&A: Who needs their own "Big Little Lies"?

Hello dear readers. I didn't forget about your questions. I just ran away for two weeks to beautiful southern Connecticut and the National Critics Institute. It was grand. But, now, back to work. Here are seven questions you asked (more to come) answered...

MARK G: Word in the UK from a respected critic is that Kate Winslet is on top/peak/Blue Jasmine form in Woody's Wonder Wheel and the film has a chance as breakout hit. What do you think of Winslet's chances of winning a 2nd - you always say the ladies win a 2nd within the first 10 years.

NATHANIEL: Until the Steve Jobs year I thought it highly improbable but that year reminded me that it was possible if she lucks out and runs with a great performance in a weak year. She was clearly in the runner-up position and only category frauding from Vikander denied her her second. Winslet's hurdle will be that people who win an "overdue" Oscar don't tend to win again thereafter. Overdue Oscars carry a whiff of 'thanks for the career -- NEXT!' as if everyone knows it has to happen but wants to swiftly move on. Note that Pacino and Sarandon were never nominated again after winning. (As for Wonder Wheel who knows. Woody's output is so uneven.)

TYLER: What is your absolute favorite Audrey Hepburn performance? 

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So Link We All

EW reunites the cast of Battlestar Galactica for a panel
Variety Ava DuVernay to deliver the UCLA Commencement address
Awards Daily Jazz interviews RuPaul about the phenomenon of Drag Race 
Towleroad Colton Haynes dishes about his management team in Hollywood who tried to keep him in the closet 

Film School Rejects this needed to be written -- an article on the terrible but now familiar and horrifically disingenuous Hollywood excuse "we didn't make it for the critics but the fans!"
Criterion Closet Barry Levinson (Wizards of Lies, Rain Man) picks some classics from those famous shelves including Jules et Jim and Spartacus and also fantasizes about Orson Welles
MNPP sound advice for Tom Hardy on that Jafar in Aladdin rumor - DON'T DO IT. 
i09 the costumes for Black Panther could be a godsend for the black cosplay community
Variety releases a list of 10 comics to watch including John Early (yay), Bollywood star Vir Das, and The Daily Show's Hasan Minhaj 
Coming Soon Michelle Monaghan reprising her character for the sixth installment of Mission: Impossible 

Finally...
TFE remember when we shared our "best 25 list" because of that random NYT best of new century list. Everyone is doing it including...
The New Yorker with Richard Brody's list. I like Brody so much and the list is quite eclectic but I will never ever understand the mass fascination with Scorsese's Wolf of Wall Street. It's such an obnoxious self indulgent movie. Scorsese has made much better films... even within this new century! 

25 Best Films of the 21st Century Thus Far?

THERE WILL BE LIST

It seems frightfully early to be discussing this post's title. Especially in the random time of early June 2017. What possessed the New York Times to do this beyond clickbait? OOPS, it worked. We immediately clicked on the link. There's not specific criteria or info on how the list was composed. We just know Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott were involved and that they also asked a few directors and a couple of actors (very randomly Robert Pattinson and Michelle Williams) to speak up as well. The list is composed of 10 foreign language films, 2 documentaries, and 12 proposed new additions to the American canon including two Best Picture winners Moonlight  and Million Dollar Baby. You can see their full write-ups here.

Just the lists for fun after the jump, mine included as it only shares 4 titles with the New York Times...

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Tuesday Top Twenty: Ranking Nicole Kidman's Work

By Nathaniel R

Nicole at the ACM Awards this weekAs mentioned in our piece on the finale of Big Little Lies the internet is finally accepting that Nicole Kidman is a genius. Why they haven't noticed that she's been a regularly gripping actor since Dead Calm (1989) with her ascent into intermittent genius happening as early as 1995 (twenty-two years ago!) with her sly breakthrough as fame-obsessed Suzanne Stone in Gus Van Sant's To Die For (Golden Globe win, Best Actress in a Comedy) we will never understand.

But it is what it is. Actresses not named Meryl Streep have to go through this from time to time with people doubting their talent. One imagines if Michelle Pfeiffer is brilliant in any of her comeback roles this year we will get a raft of "who knew this 80s sex symbol, Catwoman herself, was also a great actor?!" articles and we will have to roll our eyes with a "anyone who was paying any attention at all!" answer and a weary shrug.

But it's fun to do quick rankings, so herewith...

Nicole Kidman's 20 Best Performances

The order would vary if the list were composed on a different day though the top eight would remain the top eight, give or take the exact numbers...

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