'Oscar Symposium' at The Film Experience

I was absolutely thrilled to take part in Nathaniel Rogers's Oscar Symposium this year. What a treat! I chatted with Nat, Mark Harris, Nick Davis, and Ali Arikan -- distinguished and hugely insightful gentlemen all.

The chat went on for three days, and you can get each installment over at The Film Experience:

DAY ONE
DAY TWO
DAY THREE

Meryl Streep Essay: Acting, Politics with Oscar's Queen

For Fandor's Keyframe blog, I was happy to write a piece on none other than Meryl Streep, and two films that give you a rare glimpse into her actorly process: "The Iron Lady," coming soon to theaters, and "Theater of War," a 2008 doc about Meryl's role in the NYC production of "Mother Courage."

To read the article, now online at Fandor's Keyframe, CLICK HERE.

'War Horse,' Film vs. Play

For Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience, I whipped up a post about "War Horse," comparing the film and the play, both of which I saw two weeks back (the play was breathtaking!).

To take a look at the article, which weighs the plus and minuses of Steven Spielberg's take on the material, CLICK HERE.

A Muppet Farewell to November

For Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience, I joined in on an ongoing Muppet celebration by offering a short piece on "The Muppet Christmas Carol," a fine holiday movie to get y'all in the spirit.

Let it be a farewell piece with which to bid adieu to November 2011. You can read it RIGHT HERE.

Happy Halloween: Talking 'Death Becomes Her' Effects

I know, I know...I'm a couple of days late. But there's never a wrong time to enjoy Robert Zemeckis's "Death Becomes Her," the many special effects of which I recently discussed for Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience.

Part of TFE's "Oscar Horrors" series, the article was a pleasure to write. To read it, CLICK HERE.

Chatting About Nicole Beharie

Over at The Film Experience, I wrote up a piece on Nicole Beharie, an underworked, underrated actress who'll thankfully be gaining deserved attention with her supporting work in "Shame." I've adored Beharie since I saw her in "American Violet," a film that rightfully slipped through the cracks, but boasts and Oscar-worthy lead turn from its starlet. My piece is now available. Thanks to Nathaniel Rogers for the idea/initiative. CLICK HERE to read it.

NYFF Coverage of 'Goodbye First Love'

My final NYFF review for Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience was of Mia Hansen Love's deeply felt, if flawed, "Goodbye First Love." I had a hard time settling on a star rating for this one. It inspires both admiration and ambivalence.

Read my review, online now. CLICK HERE!

NYFF Coverage of "The Kid with a Bike"

Continuing my guest coverage of The New York Film Festival for Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience, I offered a write-up on The Dardenne Brothers "The Kid with a Bike," a wonderful film that reaches toward the uppermost region of my 2011 list.

To check out my review of the film, CLICK HERE. And while you're there, you may want to give my latest Cinema de Gym column a read. It takes a look at the Spanish version of Tony Scott's "Man on Fire," which just hapens to be one of Taylor Lautner's five favorite movies. Aww, snap.

Links: 'Sleeping' and 'Waiting'

Amidst settling into my new New York digs (yay!), I finally found some time to post links to my most recent Cinema de Gym columns at Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience. Both focusing on romantic comedies, they cover Sandra Bullock's 1990s career-booster "While You Were Sleeping," and the little-seen 2011(?) throwaway "Waiting for Forever."

For the "While You Were Sleeping" article, CLICK HERE.

For the "Waiting for Forever" article, CLICK HERE. 

Cinema de Gym Roundup: 'Gump,' 'Knocks,' 'Juno'

Rounding up on my most recent 'Cinema de Gym' postings at Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience, I've offered links below to write-ups on "Forrest Gump," "Juno" and "Opportunity Knocks." As you can well imagine, these three very different movies prompted all-over-the-map responses from TFE readers. Always fun to hear what those fine folks have to say.

Follow the links, good reader:

For "Gump," CLICK HERE.
For "Juno," CLICK HERE.
For "Knocks," CLICK HERE.

Sickening!

So the guesting gigs keep on keepin' on at Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience, with the regular column and other goodies as well. Continuing with my weekly series Cinema de Gym, I offered a post on "Outbreak," the 1995 sickness flick that Hollywoodized Ebola. I explained my fear of global pandemics as the ultimate film villain (which, as it happens, is perfectly timed with the "Contagion" trailer release). Check out the post HERE.


Pick your poison: Ripley, J.Lo, "Outbreak"

In addition, Nathaniel and I chatted with fellow film and fashion junkie Jose Solis Mayen about the latest in red carpet loveliness (or not-so-loveliness, if your name starts with J. and ends with Lo). Done very on-the-fly, in chat form, these discussions always start to go to my head, making me giddy and giggly like a fool. This one made me lose my motor functions, apparently. READ IT!

Finally I offered a very personal, very offbeat essay on "Aliens" to coincide with Nathaniel's celebration of the action masterpiece's 25th anniversary. It was a super fun piece to whip up, and I was pleased it got a sweet response (kisses and facehuggers to all you lovely TFE readers who had nice things to say about it). Read it for yourself, RIGHT HERE.

Linking Tony, Mary and Woody

Nathaniel from The Film Experience has generously invited me to take part in a whole host of recent guesting gigs at his site, and I'm lumping them together here in one linky package.

- First, I joined Nathaniel and the great Guy Lodge for a red carpet chat regarding the good, the bad and the...Frances McDormand of Tony Awards fashion. Fun stuff. READ IT HERE.

- Then came my third installment of Cinema de Gym, which took on the sticky subject of "There's Something About Mary," aka The "Hangover" of the 90s. GET IT HERE.

- Finally, I took part in my second Film Experience podcast, talking "Midnight in Paris," Woody Allen and Oscar rule changes with Nathaniel and the talented Mark Blankenship. HAVE A LISTEN.

Link-a-thon: 'Hours,' Parties, Von Trier, Gaga

We don't often do the whole link roundup thing here at YMB, so let's give it a whirl.

Over at TheFilmExperience, I offer a post on "The Hours" for Nathaniel's "May Flowers" series. I looove this movie, and I was pleased with this piece, so I'm glad for the positive reaction from all those lovely TFE readers.

New friends Jason Bellamy and Shelia O'Malley both write up deeply felt articles on a particularly inspiring movie convo had at the home of other new friends, Keith Uhlich and Dan Callahan. I'm very happy to say I was there for the chat, and I'm flattered to have gotten fond mentions in both pieces.

Vulture has a list of the Top 10 Most Controversial Things the never-boring Lars von Trier siad at the Cannes press conference for "Melancholia." And the Huffington Post reports how his statements got him banned from Cannes and lost him a distributor. If this affects my seeing his film I'm going to be plenty pissed.

Lady Gaga releases two new tracks from "Born This Way" -- "Marry the Night" and another sax-infused tune, "Hair." Apparently there are more to come via Farmville? I don't mess around with such things, but I can't stop thinking: Does "Born This Way" have the power to outsell "Thriller?" It seems totally conceivable.

Finally, in an apparent quest to out-garbage Brendan Fraser, the ever-loathsome Kevin James will be starring in this summer's "Zookeeper," a comedy that may well elicit suicidal thoughts. I was just griping about how, given the choice, I won't be wasting my time with clearly-awful dreck, but I may just make an exception here. After all, guy's gotta fill his 10-Worst List.

Podcast: 'Meek's Cutoff,' 'Water for Elepants' and more

This is craziness. With my mad schedule sucking up every nanosecond of my time, and Blogger being down for extensive repairs (wasn't that awful?), I haven't even bothered to post a link to my first-ever podcast!

Last week, I had a fun conference call with Nathaniel Rogers of The Film Experience, Michael Cusumano of Serious Film, and Robert, who does the excellent "Distant Relatives" series at Nathaniel's site. This was a new and terrific experience, and I'm itching to do it again. The four of us chatted about growing up movie-obsessed, sharing film love with our loved ones and two movies I loved and loathed with equal vigor: "Meek's Cutoff" and "Water for Elephants."

The conversation is posted over at The Film Experience. CLICK HERE to give it a listen.

Dishing on 'Savage Beauty'

This was so fun. Yesterday, Nathaniel Rogers (of The Film Experience) and yours truly chatted about the MANY red carpet looks that dazzled papparazzos at the 2011 Costume Institute Gala. Nat grabbed a handful (18) of the abundant stars and unleashed them for critique. Amusement ensued.

<--An emerald-clad Ginnifer Goodwin (see also, below) was among my best-dressed.

Our whole rambling convo is posted over at The Film Experience. CLICK HERE to read it -- the first lengthy red carpet commentary from YMB!

'Scream,' Then and Now

Following the poor performance of "Scream 4," a film I truly and unexpectedly enjoyed, my fond memories of the first installment cut deeper. Over at Slant Magazine's The House Next Door, I share an essay that outlines my personal history with the series, the jolt of the fourquel's shoulder-shrug reception, and how watching it made me feel more than a little -- gulp -- old. I'm especially proud of this piece, and I hope you'll give it a read. CLICK HERE.

Linking 'Batman' and 'Tomb Raider'

I did double duty over at The Film Experience last Friday, offering both an "April Showers" post and a circus-themed post, the latter to mark the arrival of "Water for Elephants" (which, ahem, we'll get to later this week). The "April Showers" article brought us into the private washroom of Ms. Lara Croft, whom Angelina Jolie so fully embodied in "Tomb Raider." The piece points out the delicious excess of Croft's post-training shower scene, complete with visual aides to highlight its best assets. TAKE A LOOK.

Then came the big-top Batman piece, which dissects the gaudy, Robin-birthing circus scene in "Batman Forever," Joel Schumacher's beginning-of-the-end comic book threequel. A major movie of my youth (for better of worse), "Forever" proved quite generous in terms of screen grabs, serving sideshow and close-up realness (okay, "realness" is nowhere in sight, but shut up -- I'm in a "Drag Race" state of mind). For all the Bat-trapeze action, CLICK HERE.

'Crimes of the Heart' in Three Acts

It's been nearly two weeks since I offered a post at The Film Experience on Bruce Beresford's 1986 adaptation of Beth Henley's "Crimes of the Heart." But no worries -- if the terrible taste of this film's setting can still enthrall after all these years, there's certainly no risk of my little article going out of style.

"Crimes of the Heart" turns 25 this December. I was turned on to it after seeing a rendition of the play at Princeton's McCarter Theatre. A Google search revealed I could watch the entire movie for free on YouTube. Ergo, I took in the stage interpretation, the screen interpretation, then offered an interpretation of my own -- in three acts, I spent a good chunk of time with this work.

Head on over to The Film Experience to read the article, a wee celebration of actresses and tackiness. CLICK HERE.

Musing over Thomas Dekker

I'm super pleased to share a new piece I've written about Thomas Dekker, the dreamy rising star of Gregg Araki's "Kaboom" and HBO's upcoming "Cinema Verite." I look at Dekker's offbeat career path, but mainly how he falls in with the rest of Araki's angsty dark-haired muses.

The article is now posted over at The House Next Door, the official blog of Slant Magazine (hooray!).

I hope you'll give it a read. CLICK HERE.

February Rewind: Linking Valentines and Afterglow

Last month I continued my exciting contributions to Nathaniel Rogers' The Film Experience. (Not a regular reader of that site? GET ON IT!)

For Valentine's Day, I offered a post I was only too happy to whip up: a lovestruck tribute to Jane Campion's splendid 2009 offering "Bright Star."

Beyond addressing the film's unforgivable snubbing throughout awards season, I gave my screen-capture program a workout by including a lovely handful of the movie's frameworthy stills. CHECK IT OUT.

Later in February, I penned a last-minute, pre-Oscar post about the plusses and minuses of that ever-growing trend: Oscar afterglow. You know you're familiar with it. It's become nearly as common as poor Oscarcast ratings. GET MY TAKE.