Tweet the Season

Tweet of the Year incoming!

time to check twitter pic.twitter.com/DEljkvkb9R

— what are you ᑐᑌᑎᑕ (@clumsyghost_) December 20, 2021

Hahahaha. But seriously Twitter is good for somethings. Unexpected moments of frivolity, silly memes, amusing notes about movies and television, mutual lust appreciation societies for celebrities, tweet threads that can become great movies (like Zola) and so on. So, anywhere, here are some tweets we enjoyed this holiday week...

Click to read more ...

Thoughts I had... while staring at the "Black Widow" posters

by Nathaniel R

You can hear that, right? It's a little bit like a loud whisper rather than the standard deafening shouts of mid May but summer movie season is calling. What that will mean this year is anyone's guess with the pandemic having wreaked havoc on viewing habits, moviegoing, and theatrical releases. But we've been inundated with new trailers and now we're getting the usual promotions of character posters. Hollywood hopes you'll go back to the movies. (Or do they, since they're so obsessed with building their streaming services). So let's talk the long delayed not-quite-upon-us Black Widow which hits in July by way of its character posters. 

Whenever we're short on time we like to do these 'thoughts i had' and present them unedited as they come though these posters are kind of plain so it's not giving us much to think about...

Click to read more ...

Smackdown '05: Amy, Catherine, Frances, Michelle, and Rachel Weisz

The Supporting Actress Smackdown series picks an Oscar vintage -- 2005 this time -- and explores. 

THE NOMINEES 
A pregnant meercat obsessive, a gaslit housewife, a reckless activist, a tough union rep, and the perceptive companion to a famous writer.  For the Best Supporting Actress slate of 2005, the Academy went with two then fresh faces (Amy Adams in Junebug, Michelle Williams in Brokeback Mountain), and one mid-career actress stepping up her game (Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener). They filled out the remainder of the field with familiar players, an Oscar regular (Frances McDormand in North Country) and a previous nominee (Catherine Keener in Capote)

THE PANEL  
Here to discuss these actresses and films of 2005 are from left to right: cinephile and actress obsessive Ali Benzekri, Los Angeles Times' Justin Chang, Awards Daily's Joey Moser, the actress Kerry O'Malley (Snowpiercer, Boardwalk Empire, Strange Angel) and your host at the The Film Experience, Nathaniel R. Let's begin...

2005
SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN + PODCAST  
The companion podcast can be downloaded at the bottom of this article or by visiting the iTunes page...

Click to read more ...

2005: Ralph Fiennes in The Constant Gardener

by Lynn Lee

Our first glimpse of Justin Quayle is in darkened silhouette.  The second is a medium-long shot of him tending his garden.  The camera only comes in for a closeup as he’s hit with the worst news of his life—and even then, we see the impact register only gradually.  That slow burn reveal, that deceptive quietness masking layers of anguish, sums up not only The Constant Gardener as a whole but Ralph Fiennes as Justin. It's one of the finest performances of 2005 and among the best of the esteemed actor's career...

Click to read more ...

Appreciating Rachel Weisz

by Eric Blume

One of our most resourceful and intelligent actresses, Rachel Weisz, turned 50 this past weekend. At her half century mark she's currently at the height of her powers as an actor.

Weisz appeared in several smaller movies before making a big splash opposite the then-on-fire Brendan Fraser in 1999's The Mummy.  The role didn't demand much of her, but her feisty spirit brought a great deal to a stock character, and from there she was on her way.  She gave a particularly fine performance in the 2001 film versoin of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things (I miss Neil LaBute...anyone else?).

Weisz then of course won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2005 for her fascinating performance in Fernando Mereilles' The Constant Gardner...

Click to read more ...