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.)
To celebrate the 55th birthday of the one and only I thought we'd resurrect an old post about her Catwoman performance. If she's got nine lives so should this post. Please to enjoy...
Tim Burton's Batman Returns, the best Batman film (you heard me... throw down!) is now 15 21 years old and still one of the best comic book films. The movie didn't change cinema or its genre or significantly alter any careers. But it did send yours truly and millions of other Pfeiffer inclined moviegoers into a pfrenzy, arguably marking the apex of La Pfeiffer's cinematic reign. She was still in Oscar chasing mode (Love Field) and the full fledged move from heavy dramatic lifting into light mainstream fare (One Fine Day) and then blink and you'll miss her erratic appearances (Dark Shadows) was years away.
Ten Best Catwoman Line Deliveries All the dialogue rocks but these are my favorite Pfeifferian readings
10 "Life's a bitch. Now, so am I" Blockbusters love to shove quips on the public, in the hopes of catchphrase afterlife. This one’s pretty basic but Michelle sells it with true believer zeal.
Erik Lundegaard "find the future movie star". This was really fun and hard... I briefly thought I saw James Cagney but that wasn't it... (here's the answer if you can't figure it out) Los Angeles Times Lincoln Center honored the one and only Barbra Streisand this week. I was not invited though I sought an invitation which I have to admit depressed me. In related news: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARBRA! i09 the new After Earth trailer proves M Night Shyamalan doesn't know how evolution works Salon YouTube's eighth birthday brings classic time-wasters Gawker Ben Affleck to spend only $1.50 a day for five days in honor of movie blogge... oh I'm sorry, as part of the "Live Below the Line" challenge meant to draw attention to Global Poverty.
Speaking of Affleck...
i09 Marvel got the rights to Daredevil back from Fox. Will they use them. And how soon? I really wish they'd consider a TV series for at least one of their characters. Lawyers belong on TV. Surely they got the industry mandate on that? Slash ...and speaking of Marvel Studios. Lee Pace, whom we love here at TFE, is in final talks to play the villain in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. I don't know that series but this is terrible news since his perfect perfect mug will undoubtedly be buried in some weird unrecognizably villainous makeup. Stop making beautiful people ugly, Hollywood! Ugly actors need jobs too.
and more non-Marvel links In ContentionDallas Buyers Club goes to Focus. Will it be their prime Oscar contender for 2013? Towleroad Downton Abbey: The Musical Welcome to Twin Peaks amazingly creepy mashup of Twin Peaks and The Shining Empire Chloe Moretz, uncontent to haunt me in every Hollywood picture is considering working with one of my favorite European auteurs Olivier Assayas for a film called Sils Maria. I have to admit the plot sounds super interesting (especially since the Irma Vep auteur is behind it) with Moretz possibly playing an actress currently playing one of another actresses (Binoche) defining roles. Cinema Blend Entertainment giant and sort of retired director Mike Nichols returning with One Last Thing Before I Go. Ugh. why didn't he just say yes to August: Osage County then?!?
and look!
Anna Kendrick made a music video. The song will be familiar if you saw Pitch Perfect. There's a funny reaction to this on Videogum.
I have to believe that the superhero subgenre of action flicks reached its populist peak last summer (it'd be tough to have MORE of a glut than a summer season where The Avengers, Batman and Spider-Man were the three most popular releases). Though I grew up loving comic books and superheroes, too much of the same thing is bad for any artform, and the movies need a wee break from all the mutated testosterone... at the very least throw us a curveball with a female superhero.
But it's hard to resist this mutton-chopped mug. Hugh Jackman returns for his sixth stint as an atypically rage-filled Canadian... aka Logan, The Wolverine.
What they did to me - what I am - can't be undone."
That's one of the many DRAMATIC lines in the trailer but I sincerely hope he's not talking about X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Undo, undo! The Yes No and Maybe So breakdown is after the jump...
Film.com Excellent piece on the online coverage of Lynne Ramsay's no-show on Jane Got a Gun. There's just so much default anti-woman rhetoric online. Crazy that this rarely ever improves. Slant Magazine Our friend Kurt recently visited Las Vegas and its glorious gawdy movie memories came with AV Club Might HBO let people buy HBO Go without a cable subscription? That's such a good idea. A ton of people I know have dropped cable (too expensive) altogether since they use their computers more than their TVs. I would if I could, too. Film.com strong list of 50 best opening sequences in movies ever. Love the inclusion of Cabaret, La Dolce Vita, and Manhattan. Bonus points: you don't have to click 50 times or even 5 to see the whole list.
MovieLine the opening credits of Oz: The Great and Powerful. I knew these would show up soon. Best part of the movie, easily showcasing charm, creativity, and wit. CHUD "Hey girl... NO GIRL, PUT DOWN THE GUN!" Ryan Gosling is quitting acting for awhile Empire Robert Redford could join the Marvel Universe starting with Captain America 2. (He would'a made such a great Captain America back in the 60s) Timothy Brayton adss another toughtful thumbs up review to No's increasingly large critical pile. Seriously, what are you waiting for? Best movie of 2013 thus far. Coming Soon Wentworth Miller conitnues on as a screenwriter post Stoker. He'll adapt the thriller novel Scare Me.
Art & Toons Wimp.com a really amazing video about early animation process at Fleischer Studios. It's so crazy how much factory like manpower and technical innovation went in to things that are so computerized now. i09 a neat very short animated cartoon on Marvel iconography from X-Men to Captain America
And... How webcomix make money, illustrated with 8 bit animation - thanks to Drawn for pointing it out
Grantland "look, you didn't hear this from George Lucas..." on the upcoming Star Wars Han/Luke/Leia Reunion i09 Bad Lip Readings take on The Amazing Spider-Man. And things get skanky Hollywood January Jones not one of the cool girls but the Zeéeeee is? My world is crumbling. Comic Book Resources shows mashup illustrations: superhero album covers
Movie|Line ranks the indispensability of the actors in The Avengers for sequels but weirdly states that Scarlett Johansson's part in The Avengers left a lot to be desired. I think that's just Iron Man 2 talking. You can trust Whedon with your female heroes and he gave her a lot to do. DListed Bradley Cooper didn't want that stupid Oscar anyway Vine Naomi Watts does an excellent David Lynch impersonation Boy Culture Jonathan Groff & Zachary Quinto wedding rumors (we live in a whole new better world now - gossip rags now sharing gay marriage rumors instead of "who is secretly gay?!" stupidity) Guardian "bottled by Jolie-Pitt and Perrin" Ultra Culture advertising Disney isn't doing for Oz: The Great and Powerful
Today's Must Watch A home-made Iron Man 3 trailer (no computer fx) alongside the actual one...
I love when creative people meet endless free time on their hands. [via Core 77 and Cinefix]