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.)
This week on Blueprints, Jorge Molina takes a drive to the pride of the inland empire to talk about musical numbers in screenplays, only two hours from the beach.
Fundamentally, scripts serve as a blueprint for what has to appear on screen, hence the name of this series. A blueprint that some people choose to follow more closely than others. However, there are instances where following a script meticulously is vital not only for the benefit of the story, but for the costs and efficiency of an entire production. There are times when a script is a literal choreographed dance, gigantic pretzel and all.
So let’s take a look into the idyllic suburban fantasy of the The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, where if every location, note, and twirl hadn’t been precisely mentioned in the script, there may have never been a show...
And now for a silly celeb-filled distraction from the awful real world (I threw my back out yesterday somehow and can't be with the marches against hate and on Trump Tower which is my real answer to what I'd rather be doing. But let's play anyway.
Would you rather...
• shower with Salma Hayek? • night shoot with Rachel Bloom and Vincent Rodriguez? • cockpit train with Mahershala? • call Reese on her shell phone? • share a moment with Luke Evans and his friend Lakshmi? • play with Josh Brolin's snake? • have some ice cream with Tony Shalhoub?
Must See EW has new images from Mary Poppins Returns. Oh please let this be good. Please let it be good.
Linkage Decider the 50 most important LGBT characters in tv history - they'll be doing essays on the top 10. Two of our contributors were included in their polling. The Guardian thinks Tom Cruise should ditch the heroics and play an unsavory character again. We heartily agree. He seemed to lose all his artistic ambition (if not his general ambition) right around the time of the Kidman divorce. It's been almost a two decade stretch of franchise heroes only now with rare exceptions like Rock of Ages and Collateral. Deadline Donald Glover talks Atlanta and taking on the famous role of Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise Guardian Remember Blue is the Warmest Color? Director Abdellatif Kechiche is auctioning off his Palme d'Or and other memorabilia to pay for his next movie Variety on the common thread that unites the shows that Netflix has recently cancelled. Guys, I'm so sad about Sense8. It wasn't perfect in any way but it was so earnest and original and sexually inclusive (sigh)
Coming Soon Ryan Coogler and Michael B Jordan are fast becoming a fiercely committed director/muse duo. They're going to make a school cheating drama Wrong Answer after Black Panther. It will already be their fourth movie together and they only made their first one, Fruitvale Station, four years ago. MNPP Jason uncovers a mystery about the naked hustler in Six Degrees of Separation (1993) Interview Matthew McConaughey interviews his screen son from Interstellar Timothée Chalamet, reportedly about to breakthrough to the big leagues with Call Me By Your Name
She's a Wonder... Wonder Woman VarietyWonder Woman banned or delayed in a few countries The New Yorker an intriguing review of Wonder Woman focusing on its restraint and the style of "no style" as well as the claim that it's not just a superhero movie but "an entry in the genre of wisdom literature" THR Patty Jenkins not yet signed on for Wonder Woman 2. The internet at large seems convinced WB/DC will throw money at her. Was the internet not paying attention when other female directors were dumped after launching big grossing franchises (think 50 Shades of Grey and The Twilight Saga)? I'm not saying this will happen again. There's more pressure and scrutiny now on this topic. I'm just saying it's more of a possibility than people are admitting given Hollywood's history of treating female directors much differently than their male counterparts.
Theater Season Time Out NY Tony Award predictions including potential surprises Playbill Molly Pope is starring in a new one person musical Second to Nun -readers near Virginia Beach should definitely seek this out. She is an amazing talent Variety looks at how an Oregon theater in a small town has become a major player in prestigious American theater
Exit Video Rachel Bloom won't be campaigning for an Emmy *wink wink*
on this day in history as it relates to showbiz...
1882 The titular event in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) happened on this very day in Missouri 1893 Leading man of the 1930s Leslie Howard (Gone With the Wind, Of Human Bondage) born in London 1921 Jan Sterling born in NYC. (We recently discussed her Oscar nominated performance in The High and the Mighty) 1922 After years of "which year is it?" it's finally settled... Doris Day was born on this day 1922. So happy 95th birthday to the icon, still with us, today. 1924 Another cinematic icon, Marlon Brando, born in Omaha