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Untrue West
One thing I love about blogging here is the sense of a real conversation developing with readers. Several weeks ago, I wrote about Laurel and Hardy’s first talkie, UNACCUSTOMED AS WE ARE, and the...
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William Castle’s Little Picture
Somewhere between William Castle’s rebirth in the late fifties as the genius movie marketeer of such gimmicks as Emergo (House on Haunted Hill), Percepto (The Tingler), Illusion-o (13 Ghosts) or death...
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The Bruce Willis of Poland
Working at Facets Multi-Media has introduced me to foreign films most movie-goers don’t even know exist—from Krik Krak, the long-forgotten experimental documentary from Haiti, to Yesterday Girl,...
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Adventures in VOD: William Witney & Roy Rogers
In December, a truckload of William Witney-directed Roy Rogers films were dumped onto Netflix Instant. I was clued into this trove by a conversation between Jaime Christley and Vadim Rizov on Twitter,...
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Anne Francis in The Satan Bug (1965)
Like many film fans, I was disappointed to learn that Anne Francis had passed away on January 2, 2011 due to complications from pancreatic cancer. She was 80 years old at the time and is fondly...
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“See you in Monte Carlo!”
If the Great Train Robbery of 1963 had never happened, there’d be 5% fewer movies. I can’t support that statement with facts or math but it sure seems that way. The theft of £2.6 million from a Royal...
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The Passion of the Keaton
Buster Keaton has a problem. Working backwards: 5) he’d very much like to get an audience with a certain general, so he can present his latest invention—a gun fitted with a headlight, for improved...
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CRIB NOTES, PART 2 OF 2
In my last post I explained the reasoning behind my programming choices for the first half of my Spring arthouse film calendar, today I finish the job. I accept the fact that anyone looking at my...
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Palm Springs Weekend
The 22nd Palm Springs International Film Festival ends today with Best of the Fest, a selection of films voted by audience members as favorites over the course of the 12-day event. One of the best...
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Americana: Meet John Doe and Go Go Tales
Two versions of the community-made man. Gary Cooper’s John Doe and Willem Dafoe’s Ray Ruby are nothing without their coterie of speech-writers, money-men and erotic dancers. Meet John Doe (1941) and...
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“Was the murderer a man… or man’s best friend?”
My movie viewing experiences have been rather disappointing lately. I’ve spent a lot of time catching up with the critical and box office successes of 2010 and many of them have left me scratching my...
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American weirdos
Until this year, I’ve never appreciated the significance of the one-two punch that is January 19th and January 20th, nor have I understood fully the value of these calendar stops to the fund of...
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Mr. and Mrs. Smith (no, not that one, the other one)
Oscar nominations, Shmoscar nominations. I don’t get particularly worked up over movies everybody likes—they’re low-hanging fruit. You don’t need me to tell you that INCEPTION, THE FIGHTER, or THE...
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Le Bad DVD Box Art – Design Makeover Candidates
How many times have you been browsing in a video rental store or shopping for DVDs on-line and completed rejected a potential movie rental or sale based on the box art design? Probably more often than...
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The Film David Lynch Doesn’t Want You to See
David Lynch celebrated his 65th birthday last Thursday and Fellow Morlock RH Smith honored one of America’s most respected directors by offering a thought-provoking post comparing Lynch with Edgar...
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DVD Roundup: 11 Harrowhouse (1974) and Lucky Lady (1975)
Two reviled flops from 20th Century Fox have finally made their way to DVD on the brave shoulders of the Shout! Factory label. Charles Grodin adapted and starred in the heist film 11 Harrowhouse after...
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Conrad Veidt: “I am a wanderer”
“What are you?,” asks the blunt landlady when a new guest arrives unexpectedly on the doorstep of her boarding house in The Passing of the Third Floor Back (1935). Filmgoers and filmmakers had been...
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Seduced by Pierre Clémenti
Listen, Let’s Make Love (Scusi, facciamo l’amore?; 1967) begins with a series of scenic images highlighting the beauty and splendor of Milan, Italy accompanied by one of Ennio Morricone’s most sensual...
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Why don’t'cha do right?
It’s too late to wish Spike Lee’s DO THE RIGHT THING a happy 20th birthday but you can still celebrate the milestone – and I can think of no finer way than with AMMO Books‘ weighty coffee table tome...
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Keaton International
In this week’s post we will meet Buster Keaton the gangster, Buster Keaton the communist, and Buster Keaton the Nazi. I’ve got a treasure trove of rare clips you won’t see anywhere else—all you have...
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