Every day, Opening Acts highlights the best pieces of writing on film, television, and literature published around the Internet. Please share if you like what you see.
For your reading enjoyment …
1. I Went On A First Date To See Fifty Shades of Grey And It Actually Wasn’t Horrible, by Nate Jones. Jones discusses his experience about seeing this year’s big erotic drama… with a stranger.
“If you’re wondering who goes to a deserted neighborhood to see Fifty Shades of Grey at 8pm on a Thursday, the answer seems to be: people who procrastinated until everywhere else was sold out. The crowd was probably 80 percent women, and they came ready to party.”
2. Boost For Iranian Cinema At Film Festivals, by Camelia Sadeghzadeh. Sadeghzadeh looks at the state of Iranian cinema in the wake of Jafar Panahi’s Berlinale win.
“Back in Mr Panahi’s home town Tehran, the 10-day annual Fajr (Dawn) film festival has just closed… Actresses must wear hijab and cannot sing or dance. Love scenes and politics are off limits… (but) this year’s programme highlighted some surprisingly hard-hitting themes.”
3. ASC Awards: Honoree John Bailey Is The ‘Accidental Cinematographer’, by John Anderson. Anderson writes about Bailey’s surprised reaction to recognition.
“A lot of award winners through the years have expressed shock and surprise and claim they never expected to get what they were getting. John Bailey you actually believe.
4. Point Break And The Search For “The Ultimate”, by Chris Evangelista. Evangelista takes an in-depth look at Kathryn Bigelow’s 90s cult hit.
“Like Quell and Dodd, Utah and Bodhi are inherently destructive personalities feeding toxic energy off each other. As Quell is constantly concocting booze-poitions, Bodhi is drawing Utah deeper and deeper into his adrenaline-junkie lifestyle.”
5. The Trouble With A Lego-less Animation Race, by Jen Chaney. Chaney discusses the ongoing annoyance that The Lego Movie was snubbed by the Academy.
“Even with an expanded Best Picture field, award-worthy popular works still often get overlooked. The Lego Movie is a prime example of how true that is; it not only didn’t get a Best Picture nomination, it couldn’t even drum up enough support to score an invite to the animated-feature party.”
