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.)
Nathaniel popping in to say hi. In case you've been wondering where I've vanished to, there was a last minute London trip for a film junket. I couldn't leave town without seeing two of my favorite actresses on stage so I stayed a couple of extra days and I'll tell you all about it when I return! For those who don't want to wait you can always follow on twitter or instagram.
Yesterday I walked across Waterloo Bridge and thought of Vivien Leigh. Have you ever been to London... and if so what movies did you think of while strolling around?
Manuel here trying to keep up with exciting news about several TFE faves (and one who hasn’t quite earned that title).
- HBO’s Big Little Lies, which we’ve discussed before since it’s produced and will star the unlikely power duo of Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, has “allegedly” found a director. Jean Marc-Vallée, of Wild and (more recently) Demolition (TIFF review) fame is in talks to direct the first episode of the short television series adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s endlessly readable book about suburban secrets. Confession: I read it in one sitting and can’t wait to see how it turns out. Let’s hope they sign Vallée’s contract soon since he’s wont to keep himself busy (presumably with that long-gestating Janis Joplin pic with Amy Adams).
- Orange is the New Black breakout star Laverne Cox has been tapped to play the role of Dr. Frank N. Furter, made iconic by a fishnet-stocking-ed Tim Curry in the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, in FOX’s TV remake which unlike NBC’s attempts at television musical revivals, will not be broadcast live but be filmed in advance. Seeing as Frank N. Furter is a “sweet transvestite” the casting of Cox, an outspoken trans activist, is a fascinating case of stunt casting in it of itself though it’s already earning the “hot take” treatment in some online outlets. Needless to say, I’m curious to see Cox’s take on the role, and eagerly await who director Kenny Ortega casts as Rocky Horror. Any suggestions?
- Oh, and I couldn’t not feature the gorgeous new poster for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant.
The film, if you've followed its pre-release chatter, has already won Oscars for Leo, Chivo and potentially everyone else associated with it. (I kid! Though, not really). We were obviously impressed with the teaser trailer and so this evocative one-sheet is no surprise but by god if it’s not pretty. Perhaps a tad pretentious in that it literally defines the title for you. Though, admit it, “revenant” is not really in the vernacular. That neither Leo or Iñárritu’s name are billed anywhere in the poster is fascinating. Is it humility (“let the film speak for itself”) or hubris (“the film doesn’t need to be sold on people’s names”), or perhaps something else?
Lenny Amy Poehler interviews her teen fan, the Tony nominated Sydney Lucas who was so brilliant in Fun Home: The Musical (she just left the show *cries*) AV Club in terrifying news: Disney is fast-tracking a Cruella de Vil picture from the 50 Shades screenwriter called simpley Cruella The Guardian interviews Benicio del Toro on Sicario and music as part of his acting process
Playbill Broadway and music giants are uniting on December 3rd in NYC for a Centennial tribute to Frank Sinatra: slated to appear are Bernadette Peters, Sutton Foster, Sting, and Christina Aguilera. More names TBA Comics Alliance & Superhero Hype celebrate the best Cosplay at New York Comic Con this weekend - that Marvel Girl is something else. Straight outta the X-Men pages I tell ya. Boy Culture cuteness - Carol Channing with teddy bear Pajiba yes, Natalie Dormer is aware that people think Kermit the Frog's new pig girlfriend Denise looks like her Detroit News my hometown paper interview Tippi Hedren (The Birds, Marnie) for some reason so check that out Awards Daily Sasha on Aaron Sorkin and the art of the symbol in Steve Jobs Variety MTV's adaptation of Terry Brooks "The Shannara Chronicles" is coming in January. I read a couple of those books a million years ago and none of this even sounds/looks vaguely familiar. But maybe I just don't remember it? Variety ...and BBC is doing "The Last Kingdom" because YA fused with fantasy is hot right now after the cultural dominance of Hunger Games / Game of Thrones the past handful of years.
Eliza Dushku, Gabrielle Union, and Kiki are still sexy. And cute. and popular to boot. Okay maybe less popular (sigh) but still awesome. And to quote our friend Joe Reid:
Congratulations to Jesse Bradford, Nobel Prize winner in the field of Could Get It
Video Du Jour I'm sorry but Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman on the same couch being embarrassed about their childhood names? The Graham Norton Show is always a delight for actressexuals. Please someone gif the part w/ Meryl's glasses askew or any of Nicole's dorky grimaces.
And, because, a bonus video: Julianne Moore cracking us up doing Taylor Swift lyrics on "the Late Late Show"
Always the years. Always the love. Always The Hours Ladies.
You've heard the news by now that Nicole Kidman will make an appearance on TV's mega-smash "Empire" at some point to be determined. Apparently her guest gig was meant to have happened already but her London run in Photograph 51 prevented it (hmmm. which role was it originally we wonder - have you been watching Season 2?)
Interview magazine, smart devils that they are, hooked her back up with Lee Daniels for their latest issue (with photos by Fabien Baron) and it's clear that the two were tight as bandits on the set of The Paperboy (2012) and feel each other as kindred spirits.
LEE DANIELS: Nic! Hi, honey. I just spoke to Chris yesterday. He told me that you were having the time of your life in London.
NICOLE KIDMAN: I am. I'm having a really good time here.
DANIELS: I was disappointed to hear that because, of course, I want you on my set. [both laugh]
The interview is full of "naughty" memories like why Nicole was dancing in the rain with Zac Efron in his undies in that infamous film, and her fearless dive-in commitment and 'use everything' approach to acting.
DANIELS: Does your personal life ever bleed into the work? In other words, if something is fucked up in your personal life—family, husband, kids, parents, friends, what you're going through—does any of that ever bleed into your work?
KIDMAN: Yeah, but we're taught to bring everything—the state of being, the environment—and use it. If it's raining, or the other actor doesn't know his lines, everything has to be used. So your own emotional state comes into play, and I certainly remember that happening a lot on, say, The Hours, when I was going through an enormous amount of turmoil. And even though it was appropriate at times for the character [Virginia Woolf], at other times it wasn't. But I would just bleed it in; it would manifest in different ways. For me, the idea of having a plan, that you've got to hit this particular place, shuts down other possibilities. And that's probably why I work well with you because you're also like that. You see something, you jump on it. Jane Campion is the same. You are very similar in the sense that everything is so detailed, and everything you see, or sense intuitively, you focus on and pull out.
There's also asides to talking theater with The Lovely Laura Linney (!), and how her voracious reading habits as a child (Tolstoy at 12, hee) led her to acting.
Stage Door is taking a little trip across the Atlantic, since David is lucky enough to live in London, where TFE deity Nicole Kidman is currently treading the boards in Photograph 51.
Every article announcing Nicole Kidman’s return to the London stage made reference to the infamous review labeling her “pure theatrical Viagra” when she first played in the West End in 1998’s The Blue Room. Seventeen years on, the subject of Photograph 51 could hardly seem more antithetical: Rosalind Franklin’s passion in life is her work, the groundbreaking research into the structure of DNA, her part in which has been forgotten by mainstream history, partially due to her premature death from ovarian cancer before her male peers were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 6:39PM 
