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.)
Over Thanksgiving weekend in 2019, Knives Out became a sleeper hit, delivering a perfectly fun and witty whodunnit perfect for all generations. The Netflix sequel, Glass Onion, ups the ante in every way possible. The set is bigger, the cast is starrier, the cameos are plentiful. Despite the excess on screen, none of the magic of the original is lost. In fact, Glass Onion improves on the original, taking a character we know and love and thrusting him into a funnier and more zany mystery. The heart is still there so sign me up for plenty more chapters of Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) solving elaborate mysteries.
For those concerned, never fear. No major spoilers are ahead. The latest Benoit Blanc tale, which just opened in cinemas, deserves to be seen with as fresh of eyes as possible...
Kate Hudson is the standout in "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery"
The day had finally come. My most anticipated film of the whole festival. The one we’ve all been waiting for. A veteran star on the comeback trail. A critical darling steering the ship. There’s talk of awards but will the public and pundits be on board? I for one couldn't wait to find out, but The Return of Tanya Tucker featuring Brandi Carlisle was in the evening. I had other movies to see first.
And it started early. To my horror the screening of Glass Onion started at 9am. NINE AM!!! What was I thinking? It was worth the effort, though...
I wasn’t a big fan of the first Knives Out. Too convoluted by far. Too pleased with its own cleverness. Having been totally confused on first watch I saw it again earlier this year and still came away just as befuddled. Glass Onion, though,is a meticulously plotted and a huge improvement. The all-star cast are uniformly great. The relentless Elon Musk/Joe Rogan ribbing is a bonus delight. Great start to the day. It certainly woke me up.
Brian Tyree Henry & Jennifer Lawrence in "Causeway"
Next up was Causeway, JLaw’s return to serious acting after three years off and some dud of a comedy from last year I’ve done my best to forget (did you?). She’s pretty great in this small-scale character study but ironically it may be that her star power unbalances the tiny, understated indie. Very smart career move even if it seems unlikely to garner her another Oscar nod. Then again she got in for Joy so anything’s possible.
From there I went straight into Living a very subtle, quiet period drama with the great Bill Nighy making a serious bid for awards. To be honest I nodded off for a while in the middle and think I may have missed some crucial plot points. This is no reflection on the film, I was just tired (9am remember!). I suspect Academy voters may be taking more notice than I.
Now we come to the main event. As a Black man from London, I don’t think I’m her usual audience, but I adore Tanya Tucker. Although she’s barely known in the UK for soe reason I’ve been obsessed with her for decades. Many years ago, when Iived with my twin brother Jompy and best friend Kitty Supreme we played her songs to death. We loved every tale of revenge and heartbreak all being sung by a teenager who sounded like she smoked 40 a day.
In 2019 I flew straight from Toronto to NYC to see her in concert and then crashed the Meet and Greet (There was no way I was leaving without getting a photo with my heroine). Kitty Supreme was well jel. I can’t be objective about this doc. I loved every minute of it. My face hurt from smiling. It’s a behind the scenes look at her triumphant comeback after 17 years away from the recording studio. Shepherded by current Country superstar it’s beautiful to watch her coaxing a clearly nervous Tucker back to doing what she does best, with sensational results.
A notorious 70’s wild child who acquired drink and drug problems to go along with her forty Top 10 country hits. A pioneer who’s never received the respect she deserves is finally getting her due.
A lot of people are talking abou The Whale but I'm waiting to see it at the London Film Festival in a few weeks. The last time I saw a Darren Aronofsky film at TIFF it gave the man sitting next to me a nosebleed.
Film of The Day: My girl Tanya wins this one to go along with her 2 overdue Grammys!
Oscar Buzz: Academy Award nominee Bill Nighy has a nice ring to it, but will voters take to a very subtle performance in the very quiet film that is Living? Glass Onion could definitely repeat its predecessor and score a Screenplay nomination. It would be wonderful to see the stand-out Kate Hudson back in the Supporting Actress race after 22 years away from that party. Meanwhile Academy Award nominee Bill Nighy has a nice ring to it, but will voters take to a very subtle performance in a very quiet film?
Star Spot: The entire cast of Glass Onion was in attendance this morning with Daniel Craig’s horrendous hangover causing much hilarity. I also randomly saw Jordan Peele getting out of a car and most importantly I was able to apologise to Tanya for crashing her Meet & Greet three years back. I offered to pay the $50 she was owed but she graciously declined.
• The Guardian ranks the best "Vs" movies after the success of Godzilla vs Kong. Really fun list • /Film You've probably heard by now that Rian Johnson scored a massive deal for his Knives Out sequels. They'll be going to Netflix for um... $400 million. Daniel Craig will be reprising his role for new mysteries. • AV Club Edward James Olmos talks about his "random roles" in this always engaging series
More after the jump including Lil Nas X, Olivia Colman, Kung Fu, Thandiwe Newton, and new projects from Sam Mendes and Alex Garland...
• The Onion "'Frozen 2' Creators Confirm That Elsa Is Gay But Also Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist" teehee. The Onion nails it sometimes, with those headlines, don't they? • AV Club Keegan Michael Kay loved art films in high school and college. Sees Titanic for the first time in quarantine, and reenacts it in 61 seconds. • Awards Circuit Damien Chazelle's first miniseries The Eddy has a trailer. So excited about this cast: Joanna Kulig (Cold War) with Andre Holland (Moonlight). Yes please
After the jump more record-breaking for Parasite, Mark Ruffalo's future, Cate Blanchett in Mrs America, a new Tom Hardy movie and more...
Do any of you buy Blu-Rays or DVDs anymore? The release dates of such used to be a big deal for film fans but now it's but another random date and everyone is on their own timetable. Nevertheless we should probably check in once in a while, shouldn't we? (New to streaming titles are also listed after the jump)
New to DVD/ Blu-Ray (Feb 3rd-25th) If we've written about the film it's linked up...
• 21 Bridges - the Russo brothers attempt to step away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (albeit with Black Panther himself in tow) • A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - the misunderstood and underrated Mr Rogers hosted drama • Color Out of Space - Nicolas Cage again...
Thursday, November 24, 2022 at 11:38AM 
