Film Experience Blog

Remember when I shared those 80s scrapbook pages on "Before Websites Pt 1 and Pt 2"?

Well inbetween scrapbooking two decades back and the total new digital world of the Aughts, there was the long transitional period of the 1990s. Remember when the internet was just text (Anyone? Anyone?). The last two issues of my 90s zine (that pre-website relic mentioned in the Julianne Moore interview) were published in 2000.

<-- "90s character collage" Oil on canvas. I'm confused why I included The Phantom Menace because I hated the movie. I think I wanted something "up to the minute" Ha!

I had just moved to NYC and was in the process of chucking Quark for Dreamweaver. The first version of the site was already up and rapidly taking over my life so I'm not sure why I was trying to do both web & print. It was transitional hedging maybe. Plus html was way confusing at first before apps starting doing all the coding for you. Different era.

Interior "Ten Best" pages --- >

I thought I'd share these ancient lists on "Best of the 90s" for fun. I can't really stand by half the choices now 10 years later but can you stand by all your choices from Spring 2000?

Best Supporting Actor
[Top Ten Chronological Order, Winner in Red. Original text with the names listed. The very first one surprises me like you don't even know but we'll get to that in a minute.]

• Tommy Lee Jones, JFK (1991)
  Tommy back when he was exciting to watch onscreen.
  
• Michael Lerner, Barton Fink (1991)
  The funniest supporting turn of the decade
  
• Leonardo DiCaprio, What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
  The breaking point of Hollywood's It Boy.
  
• Ralph Fiennes, Schindlers List (1993)
  Astoundingly frightening American debut.

• Samuel L Jackson, Pulp Fiction (1994)
  Much celebrated bible quoting hitman. Great.
  
• Martin Landau, Ed Wood (1994)
  Great character actor doing comic justice to a legend.
  
• Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects (1995)
  Kevin's much lauded Keyzer Soze role.
  
• William H Macy, Fargo (1996)
  Almost as great as McDormand. High praise.
• Rupert Everett, My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
  Wasn't even nominated. What?!?!
  
• Ed Harris, The Truman Show (1998)
  Terrific work from the ever magnetic actor.

That's what I said then. As you can see I wasn't yet a frothing at the mouth "Category Fraud!" crusader since there's at least two "leads" in there. In fact, for '99 I chose Haley Joel Osment (ru: Jude Law) who is obviously the lead of The Sixth Sense and in my runners up I list Rupert Graves in Where Angels Fear to Tread and how is that anything but the lead role? The weirdest nominee in this best of decade top ten is Tommy Lee Jones. I barely remember that performance -- I think he had white hair and that there was some rabidly anti-gay tone to his scenes? -- and what I do remember I don't like. I'm so confused that it's listed but that's what the pages say. The other thing that sticks out at me is that I was apparently on a first name basis with Kevin Spacey (unhh....) and I excluded Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights (very odd).

So yeah, I'm not happy with this list at all. I'd probably only keep half of it. But I'd need to watch a few movies again.

Best Supporting Actress
[Top Ten Chronological Order, Winner in Red. Original text with the names listed]

• Annette Bening, The Grifters (1990)
  As the delicious decadent Myra Langtree she was radiant.
• Uma Thurman, Henry & June (1990)
  Seduced Henry, Anaïs and the world as June Miller.
• Juliette Lewis, Cape Fear (1991)
  At just 18, stole the show from Lange, Nolte and DeNiro.
• Judy Davis, Husbands and Wives (1992)
  Gave Allen's neurosis a whole new energy level.
• Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction (1994)
  The hip film's central female role. Uma nailed it.
• Dianne Wiest, Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
  Dianne is always a treat. Against type, she soared.
• Joan Allen, The Crucible (1996)
  Breathtaking. One of the great screen presences.
• Julianne Moore, Boogie Nights (1997)
  Should've won the Oscar. What were they thinking?
• Christina Ricci, The Ice Storm (1997)
  Smart sad work. Confirmed her best-of-generation status.
• Patricia Clarkson, High Art (1998)
  How did this marvelous turn go so unnoticed?

That's what I said then. Obviously Catherine Keener would've made the list for Being John Malkovich had I waited a year to compile this. (I'm always so hesistant about brand new movies. A weird tic. And apparently I did the same thing here declaring 1999 movies ineligible for these top tens. Weirdness.) But nothing much surprises me about these supporting actresses. Love them all and the next ten would be almost as wondrous.

Best Actor
[Top Ten Chronological Order, Winner in Red. Original text with the names listed. I've recreated the illustration here just because I thought it was funny and I remember being super angry that Anthony Hopkins started going hammy and/or phoning it in starting about the mid 90s.


I no longer have any strong feelings about him. The quality dropoff was so severe that even know 15 years later I see his name in casting items and I feel nothing more than "Why'd they go with him? Laziness in thinking about their options?". Like, what was he doing in The Wolf Man? I feel like you give that same part to some hungry actor his age who never got inundated with huge offers and they're going to reward you with something special even if the movie bites. I don't mean to sound cruel about Sir Hopkins and I did name him Best Lead Actor of the Decade and that's saying something. He'll always have 1991-1993 when every performance was an event!]

• Anthony Hopkins, Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  Perhaps overcelebrated but it's a juicy star turn.
• River Phoenix, My Own Private Idaho (1991)
  A transformation that made him an icon.
• Denzel Washington, Malcolm X (1992)
  Should have easily bagged him the Oscar.
• Daniel Day-Lewis, In the Name of the Father (1993)
  Does anyone else miss this guy? Great actor.
• Anthony Hopkins, Remains of the Day (1993)
  Unquestionably fine. Does repression like no one else.
• Nicolas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
  His last great performance before big budgets beckoned.
• Sean Penn, Dead Man Walking (1995)
  Completely believeable difficult turn as a repentant killer.
• Ian Holm, The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
  A performance as complex as the film. That's high praise.
• Ian McKellen, Gods and Monsters (1998)
  Should have won the Oscar. What were they thinking?
• Edward Norton, American History X (1998)
  Fierce work that confirmed his best-of-generation status.

That's what I said then. And said rather repetitively, too. I used some of those exact same lines for Best Supporting Actress. Where was my editor? Oh, yeah. That was me. Elsewhere in the magazine I proclaim Kevin Spacey in American Beauty Best Actor of 1999 and now I would definitely rewrite history to pretend that I chose Jim Broadbent in Topsy Turvy (who I at least nominated. Yay, me). I had also forgotten that DDL made so few movies in the 90s (only 5) despite becoming a big star with the first of those (The Last of the Mohicans). And then he made even less in the Aughts (4) ! Does this mean we can only expect 3 movies from him from 2010-2019? And if so, does one of them really have to be a Sherlock Holmes sequel since he works so infrequently?

I'm also a bit surprised that I didn't give the top prize to River Phoenix as I was quite obsessed with My Own Private Idaho in the 90s. River Phoenix would've turned 40 last week. One has to wonder what would be different in the movies had he lived. Which star would never have risen up instead. Which roles we're familiar with would he have ended up playing?

I'm disappointed looking back that I didn't list Christopher Guest whose "Corky St. Clair" in Waiting for Guffman is arguably the finest comedic character creation of the 1990s. He should've made the list.


You know what to do in the comments. Your lists please... and how have they changed over the past ten years. What did you love or hate then that you've changed your mind about now? And let's say you were born in the late 80s or in the 1990s. Which of these movies have you always meant to see but just haven't got around to yet?

p.s. If you're new to the blog and want to see more recent "best ofs" you can check out Best of the Aughts or my awards for 2009.
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Be safe out there!
The Film Experience will be back tomorrow. Enjoy your festivities whatever they may be.
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Jose here to celebrate one of the greatest acting duets of all time, who today also happen to share a birthday.



In Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence Michelle Pfeiffer (52 today) and Daniel Day-Lewis (53 today) play doomed lovers in 1870's New York City. She's the Countess Olenska, an outcast returning to American society where she's met with quiet hostility and he plays the reserved Newland Archer, who happens to be engaged to the Countess' cousin (Winona Ryder).

Marty fills the movie with nuances that had been uncharacteristic of his work at the time but works his visionary camera moves and Thelma Schoonmaker's vibrant editing seamlessly into a plot that usually would've been done in a less "flashy" style. What we get with this technique is a perfect embodiment of Edith Wharton's tale of repression in contrast with the modern NYC Marty eventually captured in his earlier films.

Never is this repression and stylistic wonder more perfect than in a scene where Newland finally declares his love for Olenska.



After a jealous fit, worthy of a lover, Newland confronts Olenska. As she turns around he begins to kiss her neck.



Soon they embrace, as Olenska sobs and Newland unleashes the "revolutionary" he thinks he is.
Any skeptical people who thought Pfeiffer and Day-Lewis had no spark, would have to eat their words during this moment.



It's only a few seconds later that Marty introduces one of his dazzling stylistic methods. The mood changes from fiery passion to forbidden romance as the camera and cuts become smoother and we only listen to Olenska's words while the images show us the context.



As if we were reading from the book; our imagination providing the images with the aid of narration not limited by the mouth movements of the characters, we listen as Olenska says

You couldn't be happy if it meant being cruel.

If we act any other way I'll be making you act against what I love in you the most and I can't go back to that way of thinking.

Don't you see I can't love you unless I give you up.

The camera then zooms out to reveal them in the kind of embrace Wharton probably dreamt of while writing this scene. Like the ornaments in the Countess' house, this image of them remains frozen in time, a souvenir of the love they never come to fulfill.

Today might be their birthday but The Age of Innocence sure feels like a present made for me.

Do you think Michelle and Daniel are as flawless as I think? What's your favorite thing they've done?

In lieu of a traditional review of Rob Marshall's Nine, which opens Friday in limited release and then expands a week later for the Christmas box office rush, I've opted for random thoughts, nine of them, strung together. This is a survival tactic. I've spent so long obsessing on the movie prior to its release (prior to even its casting given my enthusiasm for the mid-Aughts Broadway revival) that a review proper couldn't contain me. It would kill me. I got no choreography, I'll just have to spit out my words however they come out. Picture them flying from the blog like sand from Fergie's fingers

Hey, MattCanada here with this weeks queer cinema post. I finally got around to watching Another Country. It was not what I expected at all and this did affect how much I liked the film. My expectations going into the movie were of a spy thriller with a hefty dose of gay sex, not PG fondling. What I was confronted with was a drama which explores the British class system through the study of Guy Bennett's (fictionalised Guy Burgess) disenfranchisement from his class because of his homosexuality at an unnamed Boys Public School (read: super posh). The film is beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, and intelligently written - a Merchant Ivory film in everything but name.

Obviously my early September Oscar predictions went the way of vinyl and VHS once Toronto and Venice and the flurry of shifting distribution fates hit. This happens at the end of September and in early October every year but it's always disorienting... at least for me. Maybe you're less driven mad by it than I. 'You mean this brand new movie that got incredible raves and dream buzz is going to wait 10 more months for release and this other movie that everyone had given up on and isn't all that excited about is now opening in two weeks. okaaayyyy, crazy distributor people. You do what you gotta do.'


In Best Actor, I'm still holding on to my gamble that Oscar voters don't want to get mushy or frisky with Daniel Day-Lewis in Nine (he never gets nominated for his "soft" movies) but it's starting to feel like a lose-the-house bet with so little in the way of Best Actor heavyweights. Damn it! I really thought I was going to look brilliant when Oscar nomination rolled around and they skipped DDL. But maybe not. Oopsie. Anyway, could Colin Firth in A Single Man really be the frontrunner, now that he's emerged from festival season so super-charged? It was so sudden and so... unexpected. Or maybe it's George Clooney for Up in the Air though a second Oscar in four years seems overly kind.

Over in Best Supporting Actor there's less drama. I hate when you think you've found the lineup as early as October. Something of note needs to happen soon. The only dramatic question is "who could win?" because that does seem like a question with five answers (for now).

We discussed Best Supporting Actress last week. Since then I'm aware that the talk about putting Marion Cotillard into lead for Nine is gaining momentum. If the studio actually does go through with this once the FYC drum-beating begins I think it a huge mistake. One, the Best Actress category is super competitive this year (wheee!) and Two, even if you give Cotillard a few more songs in Nine it's still a story with one lead, being about a man and his intense relationships to women, plural. They'd be sacrificing one potential nod for another. Doesn't make much sense... unless Cotillard's handlers are greedy/delusional and actually think they can win her two nominations for Nine (lead) and Public Enemies (supporting). And, well, I guess she has beaten considerable odds before.


Each of these updated acting pages has adjusted text and predictions, though a few things haven't changed. I still insist that Best Actress is only a Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia) vs. Carey Mulligan (An Education) duel... and the other three nominations will be hard fought. More categories to come tomorrow or over the next couple of days depending on how the time flies.

ACTOR | ACTRESS | SUPPORTING ACTOR | SUPPORTING ACTRESS | DIRECTOR | BEST PICTURE | FOREIGN FILM

Return and report: What do you think we already know? Which category do you proclaim a total mystery?
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Daily Telegraph OHMYGOD. Did Russell Crowe finally get a sense of humor about himself? [hat tip to Sheriff George]
Mind of a Suspicious Kind "an image" in honor of Daniel Day Lewis
The Post-Game Show one of the best pieces I've read on the Disney buying Marvel deal
Risky Biz will Jason Reitman go three-for-three with Up in the Air?
The Cut thinks the Project Runway spinoff is awful. My take: It could use work but it's not without its moments
Urlesque claims that 09/09/09 will be "a day without cats" on the internet. If this catches on I'll just have to go offline in protest!
ioncinema first look beautiful pictures of Julianne Moore and Colin Firth in A Single Man


Nick's Flick Picks a 2009 Progress Report. Big props for The Hurt Locker and Julia among others
A Blog Next Door Nic and Eva: twin terrors and floating heads
Bright Lights is ruining my desire to stop thinking of Inglourious Basterds with this "anima & animus" article
Tractor Facts "Ghana is the New Poland" (on movie posters)

Madge Madness!
Movies Kick Ass TFE contributor Jose on Madonna's new video "Celebration"
Boy Culture how adorable! Madonna gets her kids Rocco and Lola onstage and dancing at her concert in Tel Aviv. Lola even knows the "Give it 2 Me" choreography. Rocco's dad is a filmmaker, Lourdes's dad is an actor and their mom is a global icon. Think these two will be performers when they grow up? Maybe Lourdes is the next Liza Minnelli? Not that there'll ever be another Liza Minnelli but you know what I mean...

I've been withholding. Not purposefully or vindicatively but all the same...

I've heard from two readers who saw Nine (the musical!) at two different test screenings and I thought it was time to share their reactions.


The first to write me (test screener #1) saw what might have been an earlier cut in the summer. The second (test screener #2), whom I've met and who looooves musicals, saw it this past Monday. I didn't ask them to do this but they both divided their thoughts by actor, so let's take it that way. Neither of them gave many details about the songs that have been cut and added but I've been alarmed to read elsewhere about the multiple changes, including switching characters on key songs and the removal of "Nine". It's the title song, people! How can you go without? But the movie doesn't open until November 25th so perhaps they're still tinkering.

The lucky bastards disagree on Daniel Day-Lewis in the lead role of the blocked film director

Test Screener #1: Great in this film. He can sing, he can dance, and he brings out nuances in Guido Contini I didn't know existed from the stageplay.
Test Screener #2: DDL is typically good, but it's certainly one of his weaker efforts. He'll likely be in the hunt since he's the lead and I imagine the film to go over well with AMPAS, so I'd keep him in the top 10 tier for now, but I'm sure that you've been right all along - he won't be nominated.

But what about the glamourous actresses swirling around him? Both readers jump to Judi Dench next and here they also disagree.

TS #1: She's terrific. Her "Follies Bergeres" is well sung with style, presence, wit, and a gleam in her eye. She looks killer in a bodice, too. It's her sass-mouthed wry Queen Elizabeth from Shakespeare in Love blessed with magical sewing fingers and a 1960s bob. Consider her a contender in Supporting Actress if the film breaks out in a big way.
TS#2: Dench is fine but nothing remarkable. I know she has been nominated for unremarkable work in the past, but her character and screen time are too limited to warrant a nomination. I'd take her out of the top 10, or at least keep her near the bottom.

Split decisions again.

Rob Marshall directing two of the best screen actors on the planet --->

Both movie mad guys shrug off TFE favorite Nicole Kidman as the visiting movie star Claudia. I knew that the role wouldn't be large having seen both Fellini's masterpiece and the stage musical it inspired but I always spark to the possibilities of any Kidman appearance. Hopefully I'll feel differently when I see the film.

TS #1: Gets to look pretty in a dress. And not move her forehead.
TS#2: They build up to her character's appearance, and once she finally appears, they give her a boring musical number that's oddly patched together. It's a small role, and not a great use of her talents.

In the stage play Claudia sings the best song "In a Very Unusual Way" (previous post) but perhaps Kidman has the same problem here that I pointed to when writing about her ballad in Moulin Rouge! In short, she isn't a born/trained singer and slow emotionally intricate numbers only come off spectacularly if the performer is a musical professional. It's the danger of casting for stardom rather than musical ability though Claudia is a role that requires true A list mystique so perhaps Kidman was the only choice that would have worked.

The rest of the cast? Looks like Kate Hudson will be a polarizing part of Nine.

TS#1: Hudson is fantastic in a very limited role. Her one number (new for the film?) is the absolute highlight. It's slick, stylish, well sung, well choreographed, and catchy. This early cut of the film used it as the ending credits song, so I'm assuming it's brand new. I can see a Globe nod for Hudson (and an Original Song win if it is new), but I think her character isn't meaty enough to breakthrough elsewhere.

No, Fergie Ferg cannot act to save her life. Rob Marshall actually shot her solo song around her physical placement in the scene, never coming close to zooming in on her doing anything other then pouting her lips and tossing sand in the air.

Sophia Loren is the biggest victim of the changes to the script and score but she's great in the smallest role.

TS#2: The consensus of the people I went with was that Hudson was awful. Loren doesn't do much. Fergie just has the one scene (the song in the trailer), but it's quite a scene and she undoubtedly has the best voice in the film.

In keeping with the other buzz you might have been reading or hearing, Penélope Cruz and Marion Cotillard were both big hits with the test screeners and Oscar nominations might be coming

TS #1: Curse Cruz for winning the Oscar for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. This is easily her best performance and she steals every single scene she's in. She has the meatiest role of anyone in the film and milks it for all its worth. Think Catherine Zeta Jones in Chicago - Cruz juices this orange down to the pith and drains it of every delicious, sexy drop. "A Call From the Vatican" is probably the single sexiest moment I've ever seen in a filmed musical, even with more clothes on than I expected. The only reason I wouldn't consider her a lock in Supporting Actress is her recent win.

Marion Cotillard is the safest bet for a Supporting Actress nomination. With so much of the music eliminated from the film, Cotillard is the only one to benefit from clear additional screentime. She gets to show the most range in her vocals, from soft and vulnerable to raunchy and wild. It's pure Oscar Bait suffering wife, only with singing and dancing and sexy costumes.

TS#2: The two best performances were definitely Cruz and Cotillard. As a Penélope fanatic, I'd give the edge to her. She KILLS in her musical number and is quite funny and sexy throughout her entire performance. However, her musical sequence is the second in the film and the film forgets about her early on... I wouldn't bet on a nomination.

If anyone gets Oscar-nominated, it's likely to be Marion Cotillard. She has the most sympathetic role, and she pulls it off. Her first musical number is fairly low-key but it's generally moving and she pulls off a great second musical sequence. Ultimately, she's the character you care about and the one people will likely remember.

Neither of them consider the movie an unqualified success though they both obviously enjoyed it. Some final thoughts:

TS #1: Rob Marshall's direction is near-perfection. The difficult integration of fantasy/reality brought on by Guido's crisis is genius. The problems mostly come from the screenplay's adaptation choices. What could be a strong examination of deep emotional issues is whitewashed. For all the sexuality in the movie, the film has been turned into a sanitized version of a very engrossing and original musical eliminating any psychological complexity beyond "my husband doesn't love me" or "I'm very stressed". All the elements are there that a fan of the show would know, just not in a recognizable form. It pulls its cues from the lighter Broadway revival, down to a slightly more optimistic ending in a single staging decision. The screenplay pulls every punch, reducing what could be a knock-out climax to a slap on the wrist.

TS#2: I can tell you that it's a very good film that will likely go over very well with the Academy. It's made in the same style as Chicago -- the musical numbers are fantasies -- and I think it works. I don't think it's a GREAT film, but it was entertaining and handsomely made.

So there you have it. Or two of it. Moviegoing is a personal thing, even when the theater is sold out. Your reaction may well differ and maybe these two voices won't be 'on consensus' but if they are, Oscar will bite in several categories (as most expected) and Marion Cotillard is the one to watch for Oscar... again.

my current Oscar predictions
For more on the film or any of its actors, click on the labels below.
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...the starry The Age of Innocence team celebrated at the Venice Film Festival: Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, Michelle Pfeiffer and Martin Scorsese. Expected to be a major Oscar contender it came up short in the big six categories with only Winona Ryder snagging a nomination.

Which early festival success this year isn't going to go the distance?

...over the formalism of There Will Be Blood." says Quentin Tarantino when raving about Paul Thomas Anderson's auteurial genius.



On this we can agree though we love both films passionately.
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Hello, all. Kieran here (aka the Know nothing Know it All) filling in for Nathaniel with another edition of Hump Day Hotties. Okay...so I have a problem with Nine. I'm a little obsessed, but I'm trying to be guarded about my excitement. We've heard the famous “The Musical is Back!” tune many times (and to no avail) over the aughts, that one has must be guarded. For every Chicago and Moulin Rouge!, there are several Rents, Producers, Dreamgirls, Hairsprays and Sweeney Todds (in ascending order of achievement), failing to land that elusive best picture nod. A plus: Nine is helmed by the man who last took a musical all the way to the win, and is sometimes credited for bringing the musical back (even though he didn't). Regardless of how the film fares, you can't deny that the talent has talent...and hotness in spades.

Marion Cotillard

That Oscar still burns a big question mark in my brain. I'm more forgiving than some of her turn in La Vie en Rose. The movie is undeniably (and often unbelievably) awful, but I haven't decided how much of that is her fault. Still...cute as a button!

Penelope Cruz

She's on a career roll, recently capped off with a very well-deserved Oscar win. Even the trailer seems aware of how sexy she is, showing mere glimpses of her lingerie clad legs, building up to her full awesomeness, as if knowing we can't handle her all at once.

Daniel Day-Lewis

Fun fact: Didyou know that all four of Day-Lewis's Oscar nominated performances came with accompanying best picture nominations? And...he's obviously no slouch either.

Dame Judi Dench

I don't discriminate based on age. Poise, grace and style are sexy, damn it, and Dame Judi has it all. She's always delightful, even when phoning it in. I would love to see anyone try to tell Judi that she isn't sexy, and get met with a fierce “You're not young! I say this to help you.”

Nicole Kidman

I ALWAYS rush to Kidman's defense. Her celebrity often overshadows the talent. People miss what a daring risk-taker she is in her acting choices, fixating on financial flops, rather than taking notice of how bewitching she was in her non-Oscar-nominated performances such as (wait for it) Birth, Dogville, Margot at the Wedding, The Others, To Die For, The Portrait of a Lady, Eyes Wide Shut, Fur, etc. etc. etc. And I can't wait to hear her sing again

Sophia Loren

One of the few international symbols of sexiness. She is legendary and has herself said that “Sex appeal is 50% what you've got and 50% what people think you've got.” Amen, sister.

And thus concludes my rundown of the cast members of Nine who happen to be sexy. Happy Hump Day!

We have a sinner here who wishes for salvation.
Daniel, are you a sinner?

The first official trailer (not that blurry ET preview) has arrived for Nine the musical.

Nine Trailer from Daniel Shannon on Vimeo.

Naturally as a musical and actress nut, I'm beyond excited. It's a doubled whammy. My excitement is slightly tempered by the instant recall of that 2005 migraine known as Memoirs of a Geisha (Rob Marshall's got some atoning to do).

But it sure do look purty, don't it?