As Oscar fever dies down, we return, here at The Film Experience, to the John Waters retrospective in celebration of the director's 75th birthday. I'm immensely grateful for Nathaniel, who invited us each to choose a movie, since it gave me a grand opportunity to dive deep into the filmography of this auteur. Before this month, I had only seen three of Waters' movies, but now I've watched most of his features, including five of the projects he did with legendary drag queen Divine. The picture I'm here to explore is fundamental in the legacy of both artists. Hairspray was to be Divine's last movie before a tragic death at the age of 42…
Just when we thought the sting of Amy Adams missing an Oscar nomination last year for Arrivalhad gone away, the actress give us another immersive performance, this time in photo form...
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Chris rings in 2018 by looking back at the 80s via the 90s with 200 Cigarettes!
Remember theme parties? Well, 200 Cigarettes is a film version of an 80s theme party, set over New Year’s Eve as several lovelorn folks slowly make their way to Martha Plimpton’s house. Sounds like a party we would all want to go to, so you would think that the film would have had a longer shelf life than it did. The film is as forgotten as the old acquaintances "Auld Lang Syne" talked about, and shouldn’t be considering its easy charms, famous cast, and relentless gifability. But while parties are meant to be replaced by other parties, the music stays the same.
1934 Metro Goldwyn Mayer releases their first animated short, The Discontented Canary. It wasn't Oscar nominated but they soon begin to crash Walt Disney's stranglehold on that particular category back then, with nearly annual nominations (for a time) beginning in 1939 (Peace on Earth) and regular wins in the 1940s thanks largely to the Tom & Jerry series.
1952 Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea is first published. It wins the Pulitzer and gets adapted to the movies twice, the first time as a feature in 1958 with Spencer Tracy and the second time as an Oscar winning Russian animated short in 1999 which was painted on glass.
1977 Blondie signed their first major record company contract. Whatever happened to that Debbie Harry biopic we were supposed to get? Wasn't it going to star Kiki Dunst or was that just our TFE fantasy?
2004 Mike Leigh's marvelously humane and potent Vera Drake wins the Golden Lion in Venice. The film is nominated for 3 Oscars including a surprise Best Director bid. Imelda Staunton goes on to lose the Oscar to a far inferior performance. We've been demanding a recount ever since.
Happy Birthday to Them Oscar Nominees: Lily Tomlin (Nashville), Rachid Bouchareb (Foreign Film nominations for Algeria: Outside the Law and Days of Glory) In Demand: Zendaya (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Boyd Holbrook (Logan, Narcos) Other Famous Types: Gloria Estefan Foreign Stars: Fengyi Zhang (Chinese movie star), Lhumnita Gheorghiu (brilliant Romanian actress), Mohammed Assaf (Palestinian pop star)
• Did you know that Debbie Harry was up for the part of "Pris" in Blade Runner? [Kenneth in the (212)] • Will the general public love Crimson Peak as much as Stephen King does? [Cinemablend] • Which SXSW movie buzz got you excited. I'm partial to the response to this Tab Hunter Confidential documentary, mostly because he starred with Natalie Wood so many times [The Playlist] • Have you seen the list of SXSW winners? [SXSW] • Have you heard Stephen Sondheim's comments on Lady Gaga's Sound of Music Oscars performance? [THR]
• Do you think Disney will just put down permanent roots in mid March for Princess movies? Next up: Beauty & the Beast [Variety] • Are you excited that Sarah Polley will be doing the next remake of the oft remade Little Women? [Guardian] • Have you been keeping up with all things Madonna this publicity round for Rebel Heart. So many stars, interviews, appearances, plus Ellen DeGeneres all week. Exhausting [Boy Culture] • Isn't it weird how cinema is so much less horny than it was decades ago, 1976 to be precise? [NSFW -Deep Dish] • Did you know that The Sound of Music is coming back to movie theaters a month from now? That 50th Anniversary celebration just keeps on chugging along [Playbill] • Which of Netflix's arrivals and departure's this next month have you cheering and weeping? Maybe we should do A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night for HMWYBS? [Dissolve] • Were you aware that Timothy, one of the very best online film critics (this is why we recruited him!) is offering to review any movie of your choosing for a donation to the American Cancer Society? I just requested mine. [Antagony & Ecstasy]
• Finally, have you seen this supercut of actors waking up from nightmares? [Hat Tip: John August]
It's such a movie trope but does it happen this way in real life. I've woken up like "noooo!" from an upsetting dream but generally more mumbled lethargically than the bolt upright wail. You?
Thursday, April 29, 2021 at 3:01PM 
