The MET Gala meets the Movies

by Cláudio Alves

MIDSOMMAR (2018) Ari AsterThis Spring, the Costume Institute at the MET is putting on an exhibition titled "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion." It's all about garments that, through the passage of time, have degraded or become too fragile to wear and exhibit by traditional means. They are slumbering, but through technological wizardry and museum magic, one hopes to breathe new life into them. From pepper ghosts to glass coffins, replicas, and immersive soundscapes, the MET will deliver visions of the fashioned ephemeral cataloged through an appeal to nature. The exhibit has three elemental parts– earth, air, and water –underlining the connective tissue between the pieces and the natural world, where decay is an essential part of existence. In some ways, it's a look at notions of impermanence through fashion.

Fittingly, this year's MET Gala has a dress code defined as "The Garden of Time," a novel by J.G. Ballard that considers similar themes. However, because stylists and celebrities are literal to a fault, this has resulted in florals and flowers as far as the eye can see – the red carpet turned into a Midsommar cosplay convention. If you're dissatisfied with the offer, why not scratch that sartorial itch through cinema? Here are some possibilities…

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Top unheralded performances in PTA's filmography

by Cláudio Alves

Across the years, Paul Thomas Anderson's films have earned nine acting Oscar nominations, including a win for Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. It's fair to say that actors love the director. Why shouldn't they? While these movies' leading players earn prizes, every part, no matter how small, is written with complexity, directed, and framed with attention. Indeed, some of the best performances come from those bit players, sometimes glorified cameos, sometimes supporting roles within a sprawling cast. If you've seen his latest, you'll know that, beyond Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, Licorice Pizza is almost entirely made up of such actorly turns.

With that in mind, a list of favorite unheralded performances from PTA's filmography. These are thespians who earned no accolades for their work, beyond ensemble prizes, and whose roles tend towards the diminutive. But, of course, as these ten master artists make evident, there are no small parts, only small actors… 

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Phantom Thread: When bad fashion is good costume design

by Cláudio Alves

There are many ways to talk about Phantom Thread. My favorite Paul Thomas Anderson production is, among other things, one of the best films about romantic love I've ever seen, looking at the way that loving another person is to willingly become vulnerable to them. To love is, in essence, to open ourselves up to the possibility of mutually assured destruction. The picture is also a canny dissection of the muse/artist relationship, one that illuminates matters of obsession, dynamics between the sexes, the luxuriant pleasure of touching silk, and gazing upon that which is beautiful. It's all that and much more, a multifaceted jewel of cinema about which I could write endless rhapsodies of passionate praise.

Still, for this piece, let's look at the aspect of the movie that earned one of its makers an Oscar (and a jet ski). I invite you all to peruse the costumes Mark Bridges created for Phantom Thread, a film which proves that lackluster fashion can be masterful costume design…

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The New Classics and the return of Michael C

The Film Experience is very pleased to announce that one of our long-lost contributors, Michael Cusumano, is returning to the fold. After a few years off, he has a new weekly column launching Tuesday and new readers are in for a treat because Michael is a fine and insightful writer. We asked him about where he's been and what we can expect. Please welcome him back with open arms! - Nathaniel R.

Michael, where the hell have you been? We haven't seen you around these parts in 4 (gulp) years! We hope you've been having film experiences without us at least.

I’ve been living in New York doing my own creative writing. I needed to take a step back from online film culture and clear some mental space. I had tried to write a first draft of a screenplay and I ended up with a ranked list of all the meaningful glances in Carol.  

You’ll be relieved to learn I still have plenty of film experiences, although I no longer feel the pressure to stay up to date with everything playing...

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Film Bitch Awards Finale - The Medal Ceremony

by Nathaniel R 

Cue trumpets and confetti!  The 18th annual Film Bitch Awards have finally reached their conclusion with the "best scene" page fully up and complete with nominations and medals for BEST KISS, BEST ACTION SCENE, and BEST MUSICAL SEQUENCE and the like.

64 movies were honored over our 40 regular categories for the 2017 film year. Lady Bird and Get Out led this past year's crop with 13 nominations each and 10 and 9 medal wins respectively. Other top ten entries that scored multiple medals were Call Me By Your Name, Baby Driver, and Atomic Blonde. The films that made the strongest showing without scoring in headline categories or the top ten list were: Phantom Thread, The Greatest Showman, and Blade Runner 2049.

Some curiousities: The Florida Project won only gold medals, never a silver or bronze. Oscar's best picture winner The Shape of Water was nominated in six categories but only took home one medal (gold for Production Design). And the film that Oscar completely ignored that performed strongest here was --  no surprise I suppose -- France's Oscar submission BPM with 8 nominations, 1 gold, 1 silver, and 4 bronze medals.

Part 1 - Film, Director, Picture
Part 2 - Acting Categories 
Part 3 - Visuals
Part 4 - Music and Sound 
Part 5 - Non-Traditional Acting Categories
Part 6 - Character Prizes
Part 7 - Best Scene Work *NEWLY COMPLETED*

...and in case you missed it, the top ten list write-up. We hope you enjoyed all our 2017 coverage. Now on to 2018 as Spring begins!