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.)
Jose here. After abandoning us for what felt like years OK it was just one day Cannes jury member extraordinaire Nicole Kidman is back to show us how it's done!
Who She Wore: Calvin Klein (it was a CK party after all...) Which Director She's Trying to Lure: why Lars of course. It's no coincidence that she came out as a dominatrix the day after that gorgeous publicity shot of Nymphomaniac was unleashed on the world. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't she supposed to play the part that went to Uma? Make up your mind Nicky! What "Alice Harford" would think of this: "So, because I'm a beautiful woman, the only reason any man wants to talk to me is because he wants to fuck me? Is that what you're saying?"
Is it me or is she bringing her game back in a way she'd only been doing at the Grammys? Not only are these wider skirts a welcome refresher from her usual column gowns with feathers or studs, but she also looks SO happy to be there!
I wanted to share an epiphany I had in the momentary Kidman drought yesterday at Cannes. I finally realized why Kidman's Dior had me drooling, why it had such a physical effect on me. It reminds me of this:
Jose here. The Cannes Film Festival starts today and I think we all can agree that the most important thing about it this year is the fact that Nicole Kidman is on the jury. Right?
This year's Competition Jury, as Nathaniel has already pointed out, might very well be the real life equivalent of The Avengers, with Nicole being reigning Queen of them all I know Spielberg's the President, shut up... so during the next eleven days, we'll cover Nicole sightings, as we watch her fiercefully conquer the world of auteurship and wonder what some of her most beloved characters would think about what she's up to...
The first Nicole sighting took place Tuesday evening as she showed up to the Jury dinner.
Who She Wore: Dior (hmm is she trying to steal the spotlight from the damoiselles de Dior?) Which Director She's Trying to Lure: When I first saw this, I immediately thought David Lynch, because I thought it was blue…turns out everyone else rightfully saw it as black and now I keep thinking Wong Kar-wai because this dress screams In the Mood for Love. What Suzanne Stone-Maretto would think of this: "I'm on TV! Let me shine!"
Cannes is just three weeks away and the final jury lineup has been announced. We knew Steven Spielberg would head the jury but his team was still semi-secret. They are...
Just months after competing for an extra Oscar, they'll be discussing other people's movies
Only one thing is certain about the outcome based on the composition of the team: By May 26th, Nicki's auteur lust will devour their collective imagination and they'll surely be competing for her hand in filmmaking. Which one of these directors will she work with next? (I mean, besides Steven Spielberg who Kate Capshaw aside, isn't particularly excited by actresses.) Can her first Romanian picture be far off? I'd most love to see what Lynne Ramsay could wrangle out of Kidman but I assume that Ramsay might have difficulty getting funding for her next picture given the ugly fallout from her sudden departure from Jane Got a Gun.
Some years ago I made this visual and it still applies. But you just change the names as the years go by and Kidman recalibrates her attacks. Always plotting for legacy, that one!
Despite the media blitz that accompanies Cannes headliners, the competition jury is never the only jury at Cannes. It's just the one with all the headliners. There are multiple less glitzy but not necessarily less talented juries overseeing other prizes as well.
Short Films Jury
Maji-da Abdi (Ethiopian actress/producer)
Jane Campion (New Zealand, director) PRESIDENT OF JURY
Un Certain Regard Jury This jury decides who to spotlight in the realm of up-and-coming filmmakers (the ones Cannes isn't yet ready to include in the Competition lineup. Last year their prize went to the Mexican feature After Luciawhich Amir wrote about here.) This jury lineup has not yet been announced but Thomas Vinterberg that handsome Dane who made the dogme masterpiece Festen (A Celebration) in the late 90s and whose current feature The Hunt is winning him the best reviews he's seen since that startling debut will preside over this jury.
Can't wait to see which films they all embrace... and which auteurs win Nicole Kidman's hand.
We're getting to know the Film Experience community. Today we're talking to Joey from Pittsburgh. He's currently performing in Godspell on stage. If you're in Pittsburgh there's two more shows this weekend.
When did you start reading The Film Experience?
Around the time that Far From Heaven was released in theaters. I was realizing that Julianne Moore was my favorite actress, so your blog was mecca when I was in college. I love the site because it doesn't just celebrate movies, but it helped me realize that movies can be bad with something great in them (and vice versa).
What's your earliest movie memory? JOEY: The earliest memory I have is when my Dad took me to go see Beauty and the Beast. I remember playing around outside, and he asked if I wanted to go. I didn't actually answer his question, because I got so excited and just got into the back seat of the car and buckled myself in. The music floored me, and I wanted all of the household objects in my house to come to life.
What's your moviegoing diet like in a year?
JOEY: I see more movies in theaters than I do on demand or RedBox. My dad and I would always go on Saturdays and see at least two (the day we saw Gangs of New York, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and Two Weeks Notice was a long day) When I worked at a movie theater, we had a competition to see who could see the most movies in the theater, and I was always the biggest bitch and killed everyone else. When I was really trying to see everything just to see everything I saw 191. It's calmed down considerably, but I will see anything.
What's the last movie you watched?
Stoker. I never want to have Park Chan-wook direct the story of my life, because it was just be so terrifying. It would be gorgeous and edited nicely, but it would scare the crap out of me. Also, I didn't realize how well Nicole Kidman was aging until I saw it. I kept leaning over to my friend and whispering compliments to her, "She's gorgeous...I love her hair...she's soooo beautiful..."
La Pfeiffer was so robbed in 2002Take an Oscar away from someone. Give it to someone else.
Can I give a nomination away instead? Take Queen Latifah's nomination from Chicago and give it to Michelle Pfeiffer for White Oleander. Pfeiffer was running circles around everyone else, and she could freeze me with that icy stare any day. I get stupidly angry over a lot of Oscar winners, so if I had to pick an actual winner, I would take away Jennifer Lawrence's and give it to Emmanuelle Riva. I mean...COME...ON!!!
I understand you love musicals and you're a singer/actor. What are your favorites or favorite roles.
Sweeney Todd because, well, it's Sweeney Todd. I've had the pleasure of playing both Tobias and, more recently, Anthony. It lead to two completely different experiences, and I treasure them both. I have three dream roles at the moment (they change every time my iPod changes). I want to be Gabe in Next to Normal, because that show DESTROYS me every time I listen to it. I need to hit the gym before I even consider auditioning for it. Gordo in A New Brain is something I have wanted to play for years, but no one ever does it. I also want to be Jamie in The Last Five Years someday. His songs are so great, but his last one (where you find out he was unfaithful) is my favorite because it shatters his likability right then and there. I can imagine that is just a treat for actors to play.
Godspell commercial with Joey in the cast / NPH doing Sweeney Todd's "Tobias" role in concert
When I was a theater student in college, I was always told I could a lot with my voice, but I am really short and I look like a child. It's a weird dynamic, I guess.
I also love The Wild Party. Both versions.
There should be a movie! The Wild Party (LaChiusa version) is the only imaginary movie I ever obsessed over directing even though I'm not a director. But I interrupted you. One more favorite?
Moulin Rouge! because I'm human and that movie makes me openly weep. I could be at the most professional event of my life and if someone says "Satine dies at the end" I would just ugly cry the entire way home.
Friday, May 17, 2013 at 11:46PM 
