Happy 2014...Choose Three Cinematic Spirit Guides!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I've found in years past that it doesn't do much good to fuss over resolutions or plans for a new year... especially a long list of them. Which is not to say that self-improvement projects or, by extension in my case The Film Experience improvement projects, should not be on the agenda. The trick is to really focus so I'm only choosing three even though my nature yearns to do it differently. I have to fight the impulse to draft up a list of 2,014 life goals which would then make me miserable when I failed to accomplish them and guilty when I forgot what they were. I've already been working at upping my game behind-the-scenes since I didn't want to wait until a special date arose ("January 1st" is so arbitrary, really, and why should we be bound to Aloysius Lilius's 1582 business, you now?) to act on recent positive impulses, particularly because negative impulses are so more familiar and abundant. So in October this year I started saying "yes" to things I would normally hedge on or pass up altogether from worries of various sorts (time, money, fear). That was the entire goal, say "yes"! I did it in the hopes of breaking out of my "comfort zones" (which can also be pronounced as "ruts"). Maybe it's too soon to tell but I think it's working!

I'm not ready to share the three goals yet but for fun I thought I'd choose three spirit guides from the movies, to lean on for inspiration and spiritual support this year. And here they are...

Maria in The Sound of Music (1965)
Her image needs to be rehabilitated anyway. When I'm feeling ill equipped for whatever comes my way in 2014, I'm going to sing "I Have Confidence," the ultimate self pep-talk song. I'll do this while swinging my personal baggage around like it weighs nothing (I will do all of this internally and silently so as not to harm innocent bystanders) 

Captain America
Talk about freeing yourself from ruts: Is there a harder mold to bust out of than a 60 year old block of ice? He emerged with heroic spirit, super fitness (I so need to get back to the gym) and take charge instincts. He also knows from Classic Hollywood Movies since he saw them in first run!

Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
Because she doesn't take herself too seriously and she'll try anything and throw herself into it. She's our best cinematic illustration that happiness is a conscious choice. Life doesn't always cooperate.

You should totally play along at home - strength in numbers. Choose three cinematic spirit guides and join me in making 2014 your best year yet. 

Merry Christmas from The Film Experience!

Happy holidays to you and yours from the Nathaniel and team here at The Film Experience!

We'll be back tomorrow and you'll have way too many gifts to unwrap from December 26th through Oscar night (March 2nd) as we bring you Awards show coverage, Smackdowns (sorry for the wait), the film bitch awards (starting tomorrow!), a dozen more interviews, symposiums, podcasts, and a more detailed investigation of 2013's finest.

2014 coverage will start sooner than you're expecting, too. I want to say a big thank you to the studios advertising here this year: Disney, Paramount and the Weinstein Co. With their support and your subscription dollars (see sidebar) we have a higher budget for 2014 and Michael, Glenn and I will hit the Sundance Film Festival!  So be here daily for all the fun.

If you could have any actress hand-deliver you a gift today, who and what would it be? 

TFE's Fall Season

I feel like we need to start fresh. So let's pretend we've been off air for a few month and TFE's fall season starts Sunday October 20th, 8 PM EST. Any requests? If you love the blog please share articles on facebook or twitter. TFE has, strangely, a devout but possessive following. Don't keep things you love to yourself - share, tweet and like your favorites!

Sundays Box Office | Podcast
Mondays Monologues | Stage Door 
Tuesdays Tues Top Ten | Curio 
Wednesdays Reader Spotlight | Beauty Break
Thursdays AHS | Threads 
Fridays Posterized | Q&A 
Saturdays New Review 

The schedule will be anchored by these dependable *cough* series -- roughly two regulars a day -- and jazzed up by dramatic experiments (ooooh), news (duh), silliness (hee), trailers (yes no maybe so),  interviews  (yassss!),  oscarables (✓) and smackdowns (♥). Last but not least, we'll also mix in whatever topic we're currently focused on. For the rest of October that's the 1968 film year as we count down to the Smackdown! ... though you can help us stay regular with a "subscription" donation on the sidebar. Why? Time is literally money. I have a finite amount I can spend blogging unless rent is already paid. 

Coming Soon... Supporting Actress 1980

It's just 12 days until the next Supporting Actress Smackdown! For the rest of the month we'll be nibbling on 1980 (Year of the Month) each day at noon as buildup to Monday September 30th's big event. In the meantime, get to screening those movies!

September 30th SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN (1980 EDITION)

This time we're talking 1980. So rent Melvin & Howard (winner of 2 Oscars: Screenplay & Supporting Actress), Raging Bull (winner of 2 Oscars: Editing & Actor)  Inside Moves and Private Benjamin for maximum engagement. Resurrection (which was nominated for two acting Oscars) doesn't seem to be available anywhere but for a bootleg on YouTube -- oh the humanity that an Oscar nomination doesn't grant a film preservation and studio-funded accessibility from then on! We now include reader voting in the outcome, as you saw last month, so send in your ballots by September 28th with 1980 as subject line ranking only those performances you've seen.

As per your earlier voting we'll also revisit a few other non-supporting actress titles for context

NEXT MONTH: On October 30th, StinkyLulu's Smackdown will head to 1968 for a discussion of the supporting actresses from Funny Girl, Rosemary's Baby, Faces, Rachel Rachel and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter which is a really exciting quintet of movies, as diverse as the 1952 smackdown. Since you have a headstart you have no excuse not to watch them all, you Actress/Oscar obsessives! 

TIFF 2014 Vow

I will do this better next year. I will do this better next year. Steep learning curve I experienced schedule-wise at the Toronto International Film Festival. One must build in travel from theater-to-theater time, doublecheck "types" of screenings, have plan "B"s for screenings at the ready, interview time for some glitz, writing time for some sanity, reign-handing to people to cover non-festival news while you're abroad, queueing time for your limited public screenings. And that's just the obvious ones learned through trial by error. TIFF 2014 here I come. 

But I did eventually write up each and every film save one. Herewith links to all of my TIFF 13 adventures

Podcast a group discussion of TIFF 13: Oscar buzz, our favorite films, and more
Ambition & Self Sabotage on Gravity and Eleanor Rigby: Him & Her
Mano-a-Mano Hallucinations Norway's Pioneer & Jake Gyllenhaal² in Enemy
Quickies Honeymoon, Young & Beautiful, Belle
Labor Day in a freeze-frame nutshell
Jessica Chastain at the Eleanor Rigby Premiere
August Osage County reactions Plus Best Picture Nonsense
Rush Ron Howard's crowd pleaser
The Past from Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi & Cannes Best Actress Berenice Bejo
Queer Double Feature: Tom at the Farm and Stranger by the Lake
Boogie Nights Live Read with Jason Reitman and Friends
First 3 Screenings: Child's Pose, Unbeatable and Isabelle Huppert in Abuse of Weakness 
TIFF Arrival: Touchdown in Toronto. Two unsightly Oscars

Post Festival Additions:
Amir interviewed Asghar Farhadi on The Past
Amir on the David Cronenberg Exhibition - Long Live the New Flesh!
Amir's Fest Roundup - Pt 2
Amir's Fest Roundup - Pt 1 
August Osage County - an exceedingly rough draft months in the making