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.)
Chris here. Slightly lost in all of the Cannes hullabaloo is John Cameron Mitchell's directorial return to the cinema with How to Talk to Girls at Parties (though not completely lost considering its part of Nicole Kidman's Cannes foursome). Granted, other than some tantalizing set photos ages ago, we haven't heard much on what to expect from this Neil Gaiman adaptation. But now non-festival goers have their first look at what Mitchell and co. has in store for us with three tiny teasers. They may be brief, but ooh boy are they wild:
Chris here. It's worth remembering as we head toward the clanging of the summer movie season that we will have some quieter cinematic treasures ahead to cleanse our palettes. One of my most anticipated is Sundance favorite Menashe, which Nathaniel recently reviewed.
Menashe stars Menashe Lustig (loosely portraying himself) as a newly widowered father trying to regain custody of his son in their very conservative Hasidic Jewish community. If that sounds a little maudlin, the film promises to be balanced by humor and authenticity, as it stars actual residents of the Brooklyn neighborhood it depicts. The film will be the first non-English language film for distributor A24 - good to see their Oscar triumph with Moonlight isn't making them shy away from the tough sell, not to mention their commitment to new American voices like Menashe director Joshua Z. Weinstein.
The film's first trailer just dropped, and it is delicate and charming in the best way - a familiar story told in unfamiliar voices.
Chris here. In case you missed it, the season's first precursor nominations were announced on Thursday: the Gothams! Somewhat like the New York City community's answer to the Indie Spirit Awards, the Gothams never fail to highlight some spunkier names thanks to each category being voted on by separate committees. Spotlight may have taken their big prize as well as Oscar last year, but it's the rare Gotham's win to continue on to Oscar.
The year's biggest nominee is Manchester By The Sea (which Nathaniel just reviewed) with four nominations. However, the biggest celebration is likely being had by A24: the New York-based distributor scored nominations for seven of their films, including lesser seen worthy titles like Krisha and Morris From America. This year's ceremony will also feature tributes to Amy Adams, Ethan Hawke, Arnon Milchan, and Oliver Stone.
The song “American Honey” is about a woman aching for the free spirit she was in her youth, wishing she’d had the courage to flee her circumstances. Andrea Arnold’s American Honey considers what that woman’s life might have been had she left. The sensational Sasha Lane plays Star, a young woman who steps out of her life and into a tribe of disenfranchised, disenchanted, lost youth on an odyssey across the American South.
Star is struggling. She’s living with her boyfriend and raising his children, with no help or money. Then one day at Wal-Mart she watches a troop of wild teens turn the store into their own raucous dance party...
We've been excited at The Film Experience for Barry Jenkins's Moonlight, the follow-up to his 2008 tiny but magnificent debut Medicine for Melancholy (which is available on Netflix - you're welcome).You're going to want to catch up to that film if you haven't because if the buzz is to be believed on Moonlight, the writer/director has something special coming our way.
This week the film was announced as part of the lineups of both New York Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival. In Toronto, it will compete in the Platform section meant to launch auteurs to the next stage of their career. If the just released trailer is any indication, Moonlight has the goods to do just that - take a look at this stunner:
Consider our breath offically taken. Not only does the trailer make good on the buzz we've been hearing for Naomie Harris's performance, but the images are full throttle gut-punchers running the spectrum from sexy to devastating. If the film itself is as visually arresting and emotionally investing as these short two minutes, then we are in for something special indeed. A24 also has Mike Mills's 20th Century Women coming this Oscar season, but their success with Room last year shows what they can do with a modest emotional powerhouse like this.
Moonlight opens on October 21. Which moment from the trailer took your breath away?
Friday, May 19, 2017 at 8:00AM 
