Herewith a random collection of things that have been clogging up The Film Experience pipeline (i.e. my desktop and emails) which I never got around to writing about and no team maker volunteered to cover. In some cases I saved a photo I don't remember from what and for what!
Once you're done reading the post please imitate that "empty trash" desktop noise and feel as uncluttered as I will once I've hit publish.
We'll start with Meryl because that always gets you going...
• Did you know that Silkwood finally get the Blu-Ray treatment
• How cute was this? I dont remember where I saved that photo from but it was all over the internet for a hot second. I meant to at least tip my hat in the direction of Liev & Naomi's parenting skills (even though it's sad that they split up - really thought those two were going to make it). It's awesome when little boys idolize female characters because gender is a construct and it's STUPID that society expects little girls to root for boy heroes and gets all fussy in the other direction "well, will little boys like [list female character's movie here] with no hero to relate to in it?" Argh! Double standards must die. (Not that Harley Quinn is a "hero" but that's not the point.)
P.S. I dont' know if this is Sasha or Samuel but they're only one year apart in age so it could be either one of them.
• Cannes came and went months ago and I don't think we ever discussed Kristen Stewart's new look which was definitely worth discussing. Isn't it weird and maybe a little wonderful that she was a) once the headliner of a major franchise and b) looks like she would kick ass in an action franchise (like her Atomic Blonde let's say) despite never really doing so in her own and yet c) that is not what she's interested in doing if Personal Shopper and the like are any indication. Cinephiles and critics have come to embrace her but I'm dying to know what mainstream Hollywood thinks about her these days, aren't you?
• I saw a few movies at Tribeca I never managed to write up that I keep seeing photos for on my desktop to fill me with guilt. Two of the gay ones Tom of Finland and Saturday Church were well worth discussing so I hope they come out or go to streaming or something so we have an excuse. There was also a documentary on screen siren Hedy Lamarr called Bombshell that was so interesting I was alarmed all over again that that 40s star doesn't have a biopic yet. I assume it's because she's no longer a household name and Hollywood likes brand name recognition but lets just say that almost every biopic made in the past ten years WISHES it had a central character as surprising / fascinating. And last but not least I really liked this Czech movie called Ice Mother (pictured above). It was about a grandmother with an absolutely shitty family that disrespects her but who she bends over backwards for. Suddenly she finds her own life with a neighboring group of seniors who enjoy ice swimming in winter. That awful family suddenly feels abandoned now that she's pursuing her own thing. Character studies of old ladies? We're in!
• Canada's boy genius (who we won't be able to call that much longer since he'll be 30 in two years) Xavier Dolan makes movies so quickly that it's weird there's a whole year without one, right? Next up in 2018 is The Death and Life of John F Donovan, his first English language picture. Months ago I was going to do a post on it when images and the synopsis came out but it all felt so spoilery that I tried to forget everything I'd just seen. Anyway, we have two character posters at least. Above we have Jessica Chastain, who is the antagonist as a gossipy blogger or some such who outs the title character, an actor, and his young superfan played by Jacob Tremblay.
• Somehow we skipped mentioning the passing of John Heard. He was such a fine actor and, for a brief time like most very successful character actors, ubiquitous. I was annoyed that the online obits were all "Home Alone!" because there was so much more to his gifts. I particularly loved him as the theater director / ex-boyfriend of Bette Midler in Beaches and of course there was the acclaimed titular role in Cutter's Way (1981) with Jeff Bridges. Did you have a favorite John Heard performance?
• I don't remember why I saved this new portrait of French star Jérémie Renier but who needs a reason? I'm so eager to see François Ozon's latest, the crazy-sounding sexually risque Double Lover but haven't heard a peep about it since Cannes. Hoping it shows up at TIFF or NYFF or, better yet, in actual movie theaters here in NYC.
• Look! It's a magazine named after our feelings for Nicole Kidman. Nicole's nipples are as excited as we are about seeing her all the time lately.
• I loved this photo of Carrie Fisher with her daughter Billie Lourde, both in Star Wars: The Last Jedi costumes when it first came out but didn't share it. Methinks it's this weird resistance to talking about Star Wars 24/7 like the rest of the internet which causes us to just not talk about it at all even when we'd like to. I've been noticing a ton of online info about her last appearance in the franchise and how special her send-off in it and blah-blah-blah but I really don't want to know anything before seeing it! Some topics are so tender that they can only be addressed in the dark (of a movie theater).