Halfway: All Hail Alicia Vikander!

½way mark - part 4 of ?
Here's Lynn Lee on 2015's Most Ubiquitous Actress

In the act(ress)ing world, there are rising stars and then there are rockets – the ones whose careers lift off so high so fast it leaves us all blinking a little.  Think Jessica Chastain in 2011, or Jennifer Lawrence in 2012.  2015 looks to be a rocket year for young Swedish actress Alicia Vikander, who’s attracted favorable notice here at TFE and by critics and directors on both sides of the Atlantic, though she’s yet to achieve mainstream moviegoer recognition.  

If she keeps going as she’s begun, she may soon have that, too.

I first took note of Vikander in 2012, the year of her breakthrough role in the historical drama and Oscar best foreign film nominee A Royal Affair, as a young queen who helps bring the Enlightenment to 18th century Denmark, and a supporting turn in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina.  Nathaniel nominated her for a Film Bitch Award that year and she’s worth watching in both films, especially the former. But it wasn’t until I saw her back to back in this year’s Ex Machina and Testament to Youth that I really got what the fuss was about. 

And what is it about, exactly?...

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Halfway: Best Leading Performances of 2015 Thus Far

½way mark - part 2 of ? You can't see everything but you should see as much as possible if you're in the awardage business, or business of watching awardage, or business of watching awardage watchers and... well you get the picture. SEE MORE MOVIES. I know I need to and I see plenty.

Let's take stock of what's come out in theaters thus far (Jan 1st - Jul 1st for our purposes here). Even if conversations suggest otherwise in November through January each year we always pray that Academy members are regular moviegoers and don't just wait until their screeners arrive.

10 best lead performances from the year's first half...

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June. It's a Wrap

We're about to start a week long "halfway mark" review of 2015. But first let's wrap up June itself. My birthday month is over *sniffle* so if you've been offline and out in the sun this summer, here are a baker's dozen highlights from the month that was, in case you missed 'em.

Kate, Corseted - Winslet's best period piece performances
The Many Tears of Pixar - Inside Out is here to remind us that the great studio loves to make us cry
The Red Shoes - A theatrically audacious masterpiece
Bold Giddy Pop Art - Dick Tracy's 25th Anniversary
The Gleaners and I - Anne Marie looked back at one of the greatest and most personal films of Agnes Varda's fascinating career. I hope you all will seek it out.
'Gobbledygook' - Michael had words for Cameron Crowe's ill conceived Aloha. Loved this bit:

Bradley Cooper is escorted on his mission by Emma Stone. The pairing generates all the romantic sparks of a guy babysitting his rambunctious younger cousin on a weekend road trip.

1979 Discussion - Discussing the most hand-wringing battle of the sexes movie year
Gia - Revisiting Angelina Jolie's white hot HBO breakthrough
Sense8 - Tim reviewed this odd Wachowski Siblings experiment in global trans sci-fi psychic cluster connection
Best of TV in 2015 (Series) - We shared our favorites and discussed well over a dozen series 
Sing Along - Best movie songs of the 1990s - this list got you talking!
Rising Like a Phoenix - Glenn checked out the recently reedited and reonfigured flop '54 and found it a much better film 17 tears later (I concur. I was able to see it recently and it's so much more focused and enjoyable than it was back then with studio-mandated reshoots lopped off and original material reinserted.)

P.S. And one more round of applause for this month's very special in-house guests!
Cara Seymour talked The Knick, American Psycho and her favorite films 
Ann Dowd talked The Leftovers and how she fell for acting  

COMING IN JULY
Tangerine, Trainwreck, Ant-Man, the films of Kathryn Bigelow in Anne Marie's "Women's Pictures", and looks back at Angels in America and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Reminder: 1995 is our "year of the month" as we prep for another Smackdown on July 26th.

Ask Nathaniel... Plus Next Week's Festivities

It's time for another round of reader questions, so, ask yours in the comments. There's no particular theme for the questions this week but we need a new banner so the "question of the week" recipient will get to choose our next theme. I'll answer a handful or so of your questions on Tuesday.

P.S. On Tuesday or Wednesday we'll start a few days of "Halfway Mark - Year Thus Far" festivities. If you'd like a teaser check out my new piece at Towleroad where I look at the year through the lens of Inside Out's emotions (and no, as you may have guessed, I didn't much like Jurassic World). Naturally we'll go into more cinema nerd detail here by naming Best Performances and the like.

ICYMI: Cara Seymour and More and More

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves into Halfway Mark Festivities and Emmy Nomination Balloting Week (that's next week!) I want to take this time to thank Cara Seymour ("The Knick") for her guest-blogging. She shared a great portrait her acclaimed photographer husband shot of her on the set of An Education, she let us into her research process on one of her most indelible characters yet (Sister Harriett on "The Knick"), shared a few movie and music recommendations, and she even interviewed her American Psycho director Mary Harron! Thanks again to a wildly underrated actress for taking a small break between filming The Knick's second season and a new movie, to visit us.

Other June Highlights...
Tony Award Fashions bold colors + giddy showoffs
1979 Smackdown Kramer vs Kramer holds up beautifully but how about Breaking Away and Manhattan?
Best Original Songs of the 1990s - a movie list whim 
Silence / Silencio - two new movies from top auteurs
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama - your most competitive Emmy race 
MacBeth - the new trailer

Coming in the Second Half of June
Kate Winslet Corseted, Pixar's Inside Out, A 1948 Retrospective including Hamlet, Key Largo, I Remember Mama, The Red Shoes and the next Supporting Smackdown, the Halfway Mark "Best of" 2015 (thus far) lists, and Oscar Chart Updates...

And our next Fabulous Actress Guest!

The awesomely gifted Ann Dowd (Compliance, Garden State, Masters of Sex, True Detective) who malevolently stared Justin Theroux down so memorably as The Guilty Remnant's leader on The Leftovers this past year. She'll be taking over the reins of The Film Experience for one day next week - one day only! It'll be Tuesday or Wednesday so don't miss it.