Happy 50th to Julia Roberts!

by Nathaniel R

The biggest female movie star of the 1990s hit the half-century mark today. Happy 50th pretty woman. Herewith my personal votes as to her ten best screen performances. Yours? How will you celebrate this milestone?

1. Erin Brockovich (2000)
2. My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
3. Closer (2004)
4. Pretty Woman (1990)
5. The Normal Heart (2014)
6. August: Osage County (2013)
7. Notting Hill (1999)
8. Duplicity (2009)
9. The Pelican Brief (1993)
10. Mystic Pizza (1988)

More thinkin' on that '100 Best Comedies' list...

by Nathaniel R

Since I haven't been able to stop thinking about the BBC top 100 comedies list (previously discussed) the only way to exorcize it is to make my own. These are presented in rough order and extremely subject to change since I basically made the list in 30 minutes and argued with myself about whether or not certain films (not on this) were comedies or not and whether or not one should list as "funniest" or "best" which are two very different things, even with comedies...

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The Top 100 Comedies: Screwball Dames and Male Auteurs

by Seán McGovern

The limit of list culture is the absolute bias of the person compiling it (except of course the Dewey Decimal System which is without imperfection). To compile theirs, the BBC polled 253 film critics - 118 women and 135 men -  from 52 countries to determine what exactly are the "100 Greatest Comedies".

It's good to look at these lists to remind ourselves that since the majority of films are made by men, so too is the work that's considered both the funniest and the best. Right-on caveat aside, some great, female-centred comedies make the list: 2016's Toni Erdmann at 59; Mean Girls, which we can now call a modern classic, at 57; and Clueless (iconic) at a very healthy 34...

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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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