Box Office Blather: Jeff Bridges Double Dips

A weekly box office series, in beta, to see if we like. To remind you that you're here and not elsewhere and we can't just do things normally, we'll come at it from weird angles when we can.Jeff Bridges stars in TRON GRITLittle Fockers $30 NEW True Grit $24.8 NEWTron Legacy $19.5 (cumulative: $87.3)The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader $9.4 (cumulative: $62.5)Yogi Bear $7.8 (

Toy Story 3's Brilliant Oscar Campaign

[COME SEE THE NEW BLOG]Let's talk about the best FYC campaign of the year. The one where Pixar tries to build a case for Toy Story 3 as the Best Picture of the year, not just a nominee. Pixar won't be happy to just get the annual ghetto Oscar for Animated Feature, they want the big one. Do you believe this is possible? I can't say that I do...Or, rather, it's possible but not bloody likely. A

There Are 41 Songs (& Vids). There Is Only 1 CHER.

41 Songs were declared eligible for Oscar's least cinematically relevant prize a short while ago. Wheeee!We only didn't share them yesterday because every single damn thing happens in the same week. I'd be more excited about this category if recent years hadn't seen the big show trending away from original performers singing their original songs. If I can't see Cher doing her Burlesque number(s)

Link Catches Us (As We Catch Up)

The FighterIn Contention Sports Illustrated names The Fighter "the best sports movie of the decade." I guess they're using that 2001-2010 definition. Hate that. I like to end with the 9s.Low Resolution Speaking of The Fighter. Check out Joe Reid's awesome post "The Art of the Skank"CartoonsMilo oh, this is lovely. Toy Story 3 by the numbers. Tons of infographic pleasure... if thinking about how

The Assassination of Yogi Bear By The Coward Boo Boo

!!!I expect this won't stay on YouTube for long so watch it now. [hat tip]

Links. Episode #∞

Noupe interesting overview of current movie poster design trends.Black Book interviews the lovely Farran of 'Self Styled Siren' on classic movie blogging.Go Fug Yourself "Unfug or Fab" catches up with Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban-Kidman.Cinema Blend Emma Stone gone blonde for Spider-Man's "Gwen Stacy".Back Stage Blog Stage Rob Reiner wants to make the stage musical Next to Normal into a movie. He

Oscar to Choose 3 to 5 of Ten Animated Short Finalists

"Let's Pollute"The Academy have revealed the finalist list for Oscar's Best Animated Short category. Depending on how voting goes we'll see anywhere from three to five nominees. But the lucky names will be drawn from this entertaining list.The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger (Bill Plympton Studio)Coyote Falls (Warner Bros)Day & Night (Pixar)The Gruffalo (Magic Light Pictures)Let's Pollute (

"Tangled" as 50th. A Disney List

At some point in the chronology of me dealing with Tangled, a complicated psychological rollercoaster for this lifelong Rapunzel lover, I had completely forgotten (or maybe never known?) that it was to be the 50th Disney animated feature.I think I wasn't counting the compilation films but Disney does. Here's a helpful reminder from Disney of that rich history (which I saw courtesy of All Things

Unsung Heroes: Vladimir Tytla for Dumbo

Michael C here from Serious Film. It's going to be tough not to get carried away this week since the subject of this episode is one I feel very strongly about. If I had only been given the opportunity to write one episode of Unsung Heroes it probably would have been about this man.Even the most casual moviegoer can pinpoint a favorite animated moment, but I'd be surprised to find that one in a

Who Toons

JA from MNPP here. While Nat's been away there's been a sad dearth of Oscar news reported on here at TFE and so when I saw this news earlier today I knew it might be a nice enough sized scrap to toss down until he's back and such things can be discussed proper-like. The Academy announced the fifteen candidates that are eligible for the Animated Feature prize this morning, and they are as follows:

No Exit Through The Simpsons Shop

Did you catch this frankly amazing Banksy-adjusted opening to The Simpsons? Here it is in all its subversive glory.This makes me think two things.I probably should have seen this year's buzzy Banksy street art doc Exit Through the Gift Shop. Of the three documentaries at Sundance that garnered the most "you must see this!" buzz -- the others being Catfish (loved) and Waiting for Superman (did not

Donna Murphy is "Mother Gothel"

If you don't just skip the occasional theater post on The Film Experience you may know of my love of Tony winner Donna Murphy. She has what might be her most significant screen role ever this very year. 'But what they want from her is....her voice.' She is playing Mother Gothel, the villainess of Disney's Tangled. She's the one who grounded Rapunzel, like, forever. [Okay, stop gagging. I know the

The Links Are Alive...

In Contention Tapley's review of Conviction.New York Magazine Mark Harris great piece on The Social Network in case you haven't read it yet. "I poked Aaron Sorkin..." Cinema Styles "Coming Home to Tango" a look back at two seminal 70s films and how they age when you age. Interesting stuff. For the record I love Coming Home and don't care for Last Tango in Paris but saw them both in my early

Lev @ TIFF: "What's Wrong With Virginia", "Never Let Me Go"

Lev, checking back in. Early mornings and late nights have prevented me from fulfilling my Film Experience duties, so capsule reviews will serve the purposes best. Starting with . . .The Illusionist which is an achievement in many ways. What makes it so remarkable is its focus on every day sadness. Whereas most animation relies on comedy to engage, Chomet transmits his ideas through small

Oscar Predictions Revised: Picture, Director, Animation, Documentary, Sound

I'm working on revising the Oscar predictions. So far we've updated the extensive foreign film pages (yet, we're already behind again the news is coming so quickly), the animated and documentary categories, the aural categories like best score and song (I could use some help there -- offer it in the comments) and NEW best picture. And yes I know that many people believe that The Way Back will not