The Film Experience Blog
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Follow this blog for the passionate daily cinematic observations. "Awards, Actresses, Cinematic Musings..." that's what they serve up with a little something from all cinematic eras / genres and occasional forays theater and television.
The Film Experience Blog
2d ago
by Cláudio Alves
Exploring Hayao Miyazaki's filmography is to dive into a cinema that's often as moving as it is mysterious. Connections to the land abound, calling for ecological harmony in a place ravaged by modernity. Tradition dances with progress, teetering on the edge of oblivion, while dreams soar high above the clouds, for flight is the highest form of freedom. Even his most straightforward exercises tend to have an oneiric touch, some connection to the unknown within us and the world we inhabit. Because he taps into such (un)realities, Miyazaki's narrative work can move between genre ..read more
The Film Experience Blog
3d ago
by Cláudio Alves
One way or another, artists can't help but put some part of themselves into their work. It might not be obvious or a direct expression of character. It might not even be conscious on their part. However, it's there for those willing to see, from works by the most self-effacing hacks to world-renowned auteurs. Hayao Miyazaki is no different, though he's sometimes prone to underselling just how personal some of his pictures can be. Of course, there's no denying the introspection happening in his most recent "last films," and not even the director has tried to distance The Wind ..read more
The Film Experience Blog
5d ago
by Cláudio Alves
If you've ever seen the Never-Ending Man documentary, you'll be familiar with Hayao Miyazaki's complex relationship with new technologies, in animation and otherwise. The film's most famous quote relates to AI, which the Ghibli co-founder strongly feels is "an insult to life itself." However, there's more to it since Miyazaki has attempted and succeeded in combining the possibilities of CGI with traditional techniques. You can see this in the same non-fiction work as the director unsteadily creates Boro, the Caterpillar, one of those shorts exclusively screened at the Ghibli ..read more
The Film Experience Blog
6d ago
by Cláudio Alves
After its triumph on Oscar night, The Boy and the Heron is returning to cinemas all over the world. To commemorate this theatrical re-release and start closing my chapter of the 2023 film year, I took this opportunity to review Hayao Miyazaki's entire oeuvre. And so, we find ourselves standing before one of the greatest filmographies in the medium's history - animated or otherwise - ready to rank the master's twelve features. I'd love to share my thoughts on Miyazaki's shorts, but sadly, most of them are exclusively shown at the Ghibli Park and Museum. Maybe someday I'll be a ..read more
The Film Experience Blog
1w ago
Nick Taylor and Cláudio Alves are following and recapping RuPaul’s Drag Race season sixteen. This week, it’s time for episode eleven…
But are you, Q? Are you really?
CLÁUDIO: It gives me no pleasure to say it, but there’s no denying what’s so self-evident - this was the season’s worst episode so far. “Corporate Queens” is already a dicey proposition based on its maxi-challenge format, which tries to recapture some of that Drag Con magic from season 10 while also declaring itself the season’s stand-up show. Make up your mind! Add to that a bevy of mediocre performances and nonsensical judging l ..read more
The Film Experience Blog
1w ago
A shot from my front-row seat to the Q & A for THE FALL GUY.By Abe Friedtanzer
I had the pleasure of being back in Austin for the fourth time for the SXSW Film and TV Festival, which began on Friday, March 8th and officially concluded Sunday, March 17th. During my time there, I got to see 27 in-person films and screened 17 additional films, as well as the first two episodes of season three of Hacks, which premieres in May on Max (and is just as good as ever).
As usual, most of what I saw was really terrific. It was good to see major releases like Monkey Man and Civil War ahead of their the ..read more
The Film Experience Blog
1w ago
by Cláudio Alves
Gerwig and Greenwood discuss BARBIE in a behind-the-scenes video. | © Warner Bros.Last Sunday, Sarah Greenwood officially became the most nominated production designer without an Oscar, breaking her tie with Nathan Crowley for the "Diane Warren" distinction. This year, she was nominated for Barbie, another triumph among many in a career spanning 1980s BBC miniseries to 21st-century Hollywood blockbusters.
Though many of her best works rely on a sense of material realism, the Greta Gerwig feature aimed for a sort of "authentic artificiality" where denying reality is a sort of r ..read more
The Film Experience Blog
1w ago
by Nathaniel
Spielberg & Scorsese just keep moving up Oscar's hall of fame
Since we did this with the Actresses and Actors, why not the Directors? Martin Scorsese added to his incredible record this season and Steven Spielberg did the same just last year, nudging Billy Wilder into fourth place. The Most Hallowed Directors Quartet is far more "current" than the Actor or Actress throne rooms as a result ..read more
The Film Experience Blog
1w ago
By Abe Friedtanzer
Games like Mafia or One Night Ultimate Werewolf are fun because they give people the chance to take on roles and to use critical thinking skills to deduce who’s lying and who’s telling the truth. But they also have the potential to create very awkward moments by bringing out real emotions betrayed under the guise of playing a part, and to create divisions in friendships based on harsh truths accidentally revealed. Sundance hit It’s What’s Inside, which was acquired by Netflix ahead of its SXSW premiere, dials that up a few levels in the best possible way ..read more
The Film Experience Blog
1w ago
By Abe Friedtanzer
It’s rarely comfortable to hear the kinds of things that people say to those they hire to work in their homes. Most grin and bear it, letting a reductive comment or offensive statement go for the sake of keeping a paycheck and not starting something. The protagonist of We Strangers does something different, utilizing the gullibility of one woman whose house she cleans to make some extra money and realizing that it will only make her more valuable. It’s only a half-calculated gamble, which defines most of what this vexing main character does ..read more