Podcast: Past (first Oscar nights), Present (Oscar aftermath), and Future

Nathaniel welcomes back Nick Davis to talk about making peace with Oscar night such as it was. It's the only Oscar podcast you'll hear that doesn't discuss The Incident! Instead we talk about our first Oscar nights as children as well as what we liked about Sunday's show (yes, there were a few things) and then the conversation drifts towards what's next. What do we hope to see from some of the actors and directors in the future?

You can listen to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify or download the attachment below. 

Oscar Aftermath

What did you see this week?

by Nathaniel R

Batman continues to be pop culture's second-most popular solo superhero. Matt Reeves' take on the dark knight, titled simply The Batman, grossed an impressive $128.5 million on its opening weekend and will likely make a lot more still since Hollywood is barely releasing any big movies these days. In fact there's no big wide release competition coming until Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum arrive in three weeks with the adventure comedy The Lost City and no comic book competition for a full month until Morbius opens...

Weekend Box Office Estimates March 4th-6th 🔺 = new or expanding
OVER 800 SCREENS	UNDER 800 SCREENS
THE BATMAN	CYRANO

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'Shortbus' restored... just in time for our sexphobic era!

by Nathaniel R

Dearest readers, January kills me. I feel overwhelmed for 31 days in a row from the moment I wake up to the moment I fitfully sleep and I never even get to have sex (that's on topic, sorry!). There are always too many things: Oscar campaigns, best of lists, numerous deadlines, transcribing interviews, Sundance. Each year in January (why January?) there are also cool revivals and restorations that emerge at the same exact time everything else is happening (including the re-emergence of those "qualifying" Oscar releases). This is a long and navel-gazing way to say that one of the most singular movies of the the Aughts, John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus (2006), has been restored and is in theaters again right where it was born in New York City. Unfortunately we haven't made it to the theater yet.

I loved it so much in 2006. It meant a lot to me for numerous reasons back then, the simplest being that I needed it, being a newish gay New Yorker who had years of sexual repression to unpack (Hello Mormonism!). So for a quick fun reminiscence, let's talk about its history right here at the site's own Film Bitch Awards...

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What are you watching this weekend?

What have you been watching? Chez moi we're eagerly awaiting the Yellowjackets finale but other than that it's been a movie cramming 'things i missed' kind of week. I hope to have my top ten up list up Tuesday and then the subsequent film bitch awards begin. Recent screenings have included The Harder They Fall, Lunana A Yak in the Classroom, Test Pattern, The Tender Bar, and Annette. From the chatter online it looks like 5cream (read Glenn's spoiler-free review) and The Tragedy of Macbeth (read my NYFF review ) are the most common viewing choices this weekend. Is that true for you or you seeking out vintage titles? Do tell in the comments. 

Christmas today and Christmas back then...(at the movies)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.

This picture has nothing to do with the post but it's Nicole Kidman three Christmases ago. Cheers!

Years ago it was decided that we couldn't be celebrating movie anniversaries with utter randomness at the Film Experience so we committed to 10th, 25th, 50th, and 75th, and 100th parties. We stray often, especially if we're busy on "projects" like a Smackdown or what not, so this decision was useless and we'll probably drop it next year. Broader movie culture wouldn't play along anyway, celebrating all sorts of odd anniveraries (17th! 36th!) in order to just keep celebrating the same things over and over again. This is all a long way of getting around to the conceit of this post (GET ON WITH IT) which is

On this Christmas day in showbiz history, what was going on...

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