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.)
Everyone has their “thing,” and some interests are a bit more niche than others. Take Philippa Langley, a writer inspired by her attendance at a staging of Shakespeare’s Richard III to clear the name of the ruler cast as a villain, going so far as to commission a dig that she hopes will reveal his final resting place. Sally Hawkins plays Langley in Stephen Frears’ entertaining and involving The Lost King…
Stan & Ollie had its world premiere in London today and we caught a sneak peek at the Middleburg Festival...
by Nathaniel R
The original odd couple of screen comedy, Laurel & Hardy, had several familiar gestures that delighted audiences in the 1930s. Thin Brit Stan Laurel's main move was to scratch his head comically from the top, his hand like a curious clawed hat. Rotund American Oliver Hardy's sometimes did a fey little wave, hand tight against the body, the fingers doing all the wiggling work. Why these were funny to audiences at the time will possibly be a mystery to contemporary audiences.
Stan & Ollie, starring Steve Coogan and John C Reilly, is a brisk well-paced movie about the legendary early-cinema comedy act in their waning days. It doesn't attempt to explain their appeal to us in 2018 but merely exists in the space between then and now...
This week Nick, Nathaniel, Katey, and Joe discuss the blockbuster Philomena and that little arthouse indie TheHunger Games: Catching Fire. Spoilers you might want to avoid for Philomena are here (32:00-32:20 / 35:00-35:30).
Some questions that need your answers in the comments: Is Jennifer Lawrence better as Katniss than in her Oscar roles? Would The Hunger Games be better as a TV series? What is going on in the Hemsworth family gene pool? Is Philomena at 98 minutes too padded or too short or, paradoxically, both? And how many nominations can it hope for having conquered the auntie demographic?
abstew here. Dame Judi Dench returned to theaters this weekend with the Oscar-buzzing Philomena. (She gets Oscar buzz for nearly everything she's in. She even makes it happen with James Bond films!)
I had a teacher that used to say
Ask me my three favorite actresses and the answer is: Judi Dench, Judi Dench, Judi Dench.
And as great as Dame Judi is in the film, Steve Coogan (who also adapted the screenplay) is equally strong as the investigative reporter helping Philomena, Martin Sixsmith. The two play off each other well in a salty, sweet relationship.
There's a scene in the film which is bound to catch the attention of cinephiles...
They enter the convent where Philomena's son was taken from her ('The Sisters of No Mercy,' as Sixsmith snarkly calls it) to investigate what happened. On the wall in the waiting room is an autographed photo of actress Jane Russell. Coogan stares at the picture and when the Sister he's meeting with comes in, he asks, "What's Jayne Mansfield doing here?"
"I think you mean Jane Russell," the Sister corrects him.
They then have an exchange where Sixsmith tries to remember which one is which and ultimately remembers that Jayne Mansfield (not on the wall) is the one who got her head chopped off in a car accident. Which seems to be the only thing people seem to remember about poor Jayne.
But it all made me wonder: How well do you, TFE readers, know your Jane Russells from your Jayne Mansfields? Below are 10 factoids. Try to guess which fact is about Jane Russell and which is about Jayne Mansfield. After guessing, click on the read more at the bottom for the answers!
MANSFIELD or RUSSELL? TEN FACTOIDS Try to guess which fact is about Russell and which is about Mansfield. After guessing, click on the 'read more' at the bottom for the answers!
1. Born in Bryn Mawr, PA with the name Vera Palmer.
2. Was a Playboy Centerfold in the early years of the magazine and appeared in every February issue of the magazine for 4 consecutive years
3. A censorship debate with the production code about the amount of cleavage displayed in the film delayed the release of her film debut 2 years after it was filmed. It didn't get a wide release until 5 years after it was filmed!
4. Won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer - Female
5. Known for her curvy figure, Bob Hope once joked, "Culture is the ability to describe <this actress> without moving your hands."
The look of disdain on Sophia Loren's face is priceless!
6. Starred in television commercials for the Playtex Cross Your Heart Bra and the 18 hour bra line "For us full-figured gals".
7. Both actresses were each married 3 times and mothers to multiple children, but she is the mother of the Emmy award nominated star of TV's Law and Order: SVU, Mariska Hargitay.
8. Formed a gospel singing quartet called The Hollywood Christian Group. Their song, "Do Lord" reached 27 on the Billboard charts.
9. Her signature color was pink. Her Beverly Hills mansion was painted the color and named "The Pink Palace". And long before Mary Kay representatives were doing it, she drove around in a pink Cadillac.
10. Has her feet and hands immortalized in cement in front of the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
And now, a musical break before the answers. It'll be the gayest thing you'll see all day:
After a quiet six or seven months on the Best Actress front we have two real contenders (Cate Blanchett & Brie Larson) and in the fall and winter the usual glut of heavy hitters. We've already seen trailers for Meryl's 4th Oscar plea, Emma's comeback and Sandra's tease. And now... Dame Judi Dench as Philomena, a woman whose son was given up for adoption when she was a young girl fifty years earlier.
I did not abandon my child."
My quick reaction to the trailer...
YES - Dench doesn't carry films as often as we'd like so we're there. The tears will undoubtedly flow given that people struggling to reconcile their lives and lost children demand kleenex. Philomena's matter-of-fact loopiness (the portion control joke, her "Ann Boleyn" comment) might provide good laughs.
NO - The trailer suggests that we are as interested in Steve Coogan's career trouble journey as in her life. This would not be the case.
MAYBE SO - The light comic tone suggests a different film than we were expecting given the overall concept. Perhaps this is another Mrs Henderson Presents (which barely challenges Dench) rather than a Her Majesty Mrs Brown in terms of depth and potency. It seems unlikely, at least in this tiny sample, to impress like her tour de force in Notes on a Scandal.
THE TRAILER
Are you a Yes, No, Maybe So? And which Judi Dench film does the trailer most remind you of?
Monday, September 19, 2022 at 9:33AM 
