Next Tuesday... a Ball

We're multi-tasking again. Cinderella week has already kicked off here at TFE but don't forget to watch Paris is Burning on Netflix Instant Watch (or Amazon instant rental) this weekend so you can maximize the fun of Hit Me With Your Best Shot Tuesday night. Let Jenny Livingston's classic documentary school you on Ball culture. It's only like 70 minutes long so you'll have time. You might even wish it were 700 minutes long when the credits roll.

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Links. And Not *Just* Oscar Post-Mortems

The Playlist Jessica Chastain joins the increasingly star-studded cast of The Huntsman - pretty soon no one will remember this started as a Snow White franchise (which is probably why they keep adding big stars).
Vanity Fair Katey wonders if Netflix can stay in the original programming business when its obsessed with nostalgia 
Empire Calista Flockhart and Laura Benanti join TV's Supergirl for the fall as boss and mom respectively (sigh). Benanti is so mega-talented and freaking hilarious. Doesn't anyone want to build a series around her?
US Weekly AHS's "Meep" actor Ben Woolf has died after being hit by a car 
My New Plaid Pants you're probably giving Bryan Singer some side eye for casting yet another super twink beauty in X-Men: Apocalypse. Meet Ben Hardy.
i09 looks at the troubled comics history of Aquaman and the challenges Warner Bros faces in resurrecting him
i09 Something hilarious you've never thought of. The designers on Guardians of the Galaxy spent a lot of time worrying about Groot's crotch. 

Oscar Oscar
Slate on Graham Moore's problematic but well intentioned acceptance speech for Best Adapted Screenplay
IndieWire why the Spirit Awards need to stop mimicking the Oscars 
LA Times was Boyhood, an unusually quiet unfolding drama, undone by the usual outsize Oscar campaigning? 
The Carpetbagger bids the season "adieu" 
Awards Daily I'm with Sasha on this one. Patricia Arquette has been treated horribly after her speech with people willfully misunderstanding. Our outrage culture is doing no one, least of all the progressives (who are so easily outraged and willing to turn on their own) any good. A real pity since Patty has been a wonderful activist over the years. The people leading the hate brigade would do well to step back for a little perspective: guarantee you she was fighting for trans awareness and other social causes before they were.  
In Contention sings the praises of Fox Searchlight and New Regency. They've got two back to back Best Picture winners now. And that aint easy to do.  
The Dissolve just two days after the Oscars, the American Sniper trial ended with a guilty verdict for the man who killed Chris Kyle  
Vulture Michael Keaton stashing his acceptance speech when his name isn't called *sniffle*  
Variety Iñárritu on his own Oscar wins 

And this just in...
The stunt-casting veers away from Oscar winning/nominated beauties of a certain age to...

Make your reservation now. #GagaAHSHotel https://t.co/o9ixi5TaFy

— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) February 25, 2015

Apparently they are promising a major renovation to the American Horror Story brand this October. I hope said renovation is giving up that infinitely tired and kinda misogynistic in its relentlessness storyline about the faded vain beauty who wishes she was still in her prime. Is this Gaga peak, Is that enough for you to make reservations after this season's expected downward spiral?  

Netflix Sneak: "Bloodline" with Kyle Chandler & Sissy Spacek

Last week here in Manhattan The Film Experience was invited to attend a very exclusive special screening and dinner for Netflix's new series Bloodline. How did they know we had a thing for Kyle Chandler and Sissy Spacek? Even more mysterious: How did they know about our deep abiding love for Norbert Leo Butz and Katie Finneran, two Tony-winning Broadway musical comedy sensations who are surprising but great choices to play husband & wife in a swampy thriller / family drama / murder mystery fusion. 

The storyline concerns the Raeburn family, a rich Southern Florida clan who own and run a very lucrative beachfront hotel. In the premiere episode the parents (Sam Shephard and Sissy Spacek) are celebrating an anniversary and home come there four adult children played by Kyle Chandler, Linda Cardellini, Norbert Leo Butz, and their eldest and most troubled prodigal son Ben Mendelsohn. (Mendelsohn's management team might want to look into a curveball next time he takes a role because seeing his face is now already shorthand for TROUBLE!)

More...

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Interview: "Virunga" Producer Joanna Natasegara

 Here's Jose with an interview with a PGA nominee on her Oscar finalist in Documentary

Virunga chronicles the battle being fought in the beautiful Virunga National Park in Congo, where a British oil corporation is putting in peril the lives of the world’s last mountain gorillas. The gorillas are defended only by a group of brave rangers, led by Prince Emmanuel de Merode, who dedicate their whole lives to defending the cause. Shot with urgency by first time feature filmmaker Orlando von Einsiedel, few other films last year felt as alive as this, as it combined thriller elements with an important call to action. It's available on Netflix.

The film continues earning mentions in non-fiction categories this awards season. First it was shortlisted among the documentary films that made it to the last round before Oscar nominations are announced, and now it has also earned a Producers Guild of America award nomination. We spoke to one of its producers, Joanna Natasegara, about working in the jungle, the role of a producer and why it’s essential for us to help Virunga National Park.

JOSE: How did you get involved in the project?

JOANNA NATASEGARA: Originally Orlando had been working on the film for about a year with Emmanuel, and based on their discussions they realized that their ambitions around the objectives of the film, meant they had to bring someone on board who could make sure all their goals could be achieved and I have a history of working in social impact films, so we were introduced at an event in the UK, and at the time we talked about it and Orlando realized he wanted me to be the producer, because the scale of the film meant he needed an extra pair of hands.

JOSE: I’m sure this was one of those projects that made you go “I have to do this”...

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Top Ten Movies from 2014 You Should Catch Up With on Streaming

Margaret here, reporting from the warmth of the family home. In between gift-exchanging and major cooking projects, I'm going to be trying to catch up on as many 2014 movies as possible. For those of us without much time to run to the multiplex, there are plenty of options among recent acquisitions on streaming services. While most of the showiest would-be awards contenders are either still in theaters or holding off on their DVD releases, there are plenty of buzzy (and possibly even soon to be Oscar-nominated) movies available for the couch-bound.

Honorable Mention: Slow-burn crime drama Night Moves (Peter Sarsgaard, Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning) and Baltimore dirt-biker documentary 12 O'Clock Boys, both on Amazon Prime; Mind-bending relationship dramedy The One I Love (Elisabeth Moss, Mark Duplass) and low-key Swanberg indie Happy Christmas (Anna Kendrick, TFE favorite Melanie Lynskey), both on Netflix Instant.

10. Stranger By The Lake (Netflix Instant) This French erotic thriller had critics raving at the beginning of the year, though it hasn't been in much of the end-of-year conversation.

9. Nymphomaniac, parts 1 and 2 (Netflix Instant) Lars von Trier's latest provocation, served in two parts, is not for the faint of heart but is for anyone who wants to see Uma Thurman rip a scene apart in part 1.

8. Enemy (Amazon Prime) Celebrate our Year of Gyllenhaal with double the Jake in his second collaboration with Prisoners director Denis Villeneuve. It's been called "what might happen if someone let Terrence Malick make a "Twilight Zone" episode, with a quick rewrite by David Cronenberg." 

7. Blue Ruin (Netflix Instant) This grim, ultra-budget indie thriller is up for the Independent Spirit's John Cassavetes Award, given to an outstanding picture made for under 500K. Come for the revenge story, stay for the unsettlingly realistic gore.

6. We Are The Best! (Netflix Instant) This early-80s-Stockholm-set dramedy about three middle-grade girls who form a punk band irrespective of actual musical gifts has been cropping up on many a top-ten list, and has been widely praised for its infectious joyful spirit.

5. Locke (Amazon Prime) A tense one-man show, this claustrophobic thriller hangs completely on a star turn from Tom Hardy, who's earned TFE raves and even has Brad Pitt stumping for him at industry screenings.

4. The Immigrant (Netflix Instant) The fact that the Weinsteins are giving this sweeping period the redheaded stepchild treatment and dropping it from their campaign slate shouldn't keep you from checking it out. You, too, can join in the mass internet grumble over its being overlooked at the Oscars for Best Actress, Best Score, and Best Cinematography prizes. (It may yet take home some Independent Spirit Awards!)

3. Snowpiercer (Netflix Instant) Critics have been all over the brutal, absurd, and entirely original dystopian action film. It's a dark horse for Supporting Actress with Tilda Swinton's bonkers performance, and full to the brim with memorable setpieces. Don't be a shoe; watch it!

2. Under the Skin (Amazon Prime) The atmospheric alien fever dream has a legion of ardent fans, and is the hip moviegoer's choice for a top-ten-list entry guaranteed not to repeat at the Oscars. Guaranteed to be among the most visually memorable movies you see all year.

1. Ida (Amazon Prime and Netflix Instant) This little movie has been an awards magnet, and may well make a smooth trip to the Best Foreign film Oscar come February. Since it's present on two major streaming services and clocks in at a mere 80 minutes, there's no excuse not to catch up with this starkly beautiful and poignant Polish drama. 

Which movies are you planning to catch up with from home? Have any additional streaming recommendations?