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Ground Floor Entertainment, Penthouse Level Talent
When I was a kid, syndication was everything. If you wanted to watch an old television show, you had to see it in syndication. If it was too old, or unpopular, you wouldn’t get the chance. Shows...
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On Vampyres and Other Symptoms
ON VAMPYRES AND OTHER SYMPTOMS (2011) is the clever title of a new documentary directed by Celia Novis focusing on the reclusive filmmaker, writer and artist José Ramón Larraz. If Larraz’ name doesn’t...
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The HorrorDads Meet the Bad Dads
RHS: In preparation for Father’s Day this year, let’s talk about one of horror’s key motifs: Bad Dads. Some bad dads are born that way, some achieve badness; still others have badness thrust upon them....
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Edward Dmytryk vs. the Blacklist
“Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” Before you answer, please understand: this is not a Yes or No question. There is no point wasting taxpayer money to ask you this,...
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100 years old, and still having fun.
No, I’m not talking about my dad, although he is getting close (just kidding – Happy Father’s Day, ol’ man!), I’m talking about Japan’s oldest movie studio whose simple motto is “We Make Fun Films.”...
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Before ‘The Artist,’ There Was ‘Juha’
This week, I attended a special screening for Facets patrons of a contemporary, black-and-white, silent film. And, no, the film was not The Artist, the recent Oscar-winning silent comedy-drama by...
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The Hazy Lives of Nobuhiro Yamashita
The characters in a Nobuhiro Yamashita film do a lot of standing around. They are waiting for something, whether it be a friend, a bus, or simply for the day to end. Yamashita’s films are about killing...
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Cinema Chain Reaction II: The Discarded Edition
As a writer, I constantly think of things I want to write about and usually that means I immediately start writing. If I can’t, because I’m busy writing something else or I’m not near my laptop, I’ll...
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Embracing Ambiguity: Figures In A Landscape (1970)
[Warning! Spoilers on the road ahead.] The first thing that you see in Joseph Losey’s FIGURES IN A LANDSCAPE (1970) is the big black helicopter. It lingers in the sky like a giant buzzing insect or an...
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Otto Kruger, that’s who!
I’m sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. I meant to ask: “You know who’s great?” And then I would have paused dramatically as your mind spun through the standard responses: Elvis Presley James Bond Bela...
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Abraham Lincoln, Action Movie Star
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter? Seriously? I took my kids to The Avengers a few weeks ago and we were assaulted by a preview for Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. Both kids, almost simultaneously,...
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I Was a Teenage Peeping Tom
Among the many teen idols of the fifties who climbed to fame with top forty hit records, only a few made the successful crossover to film acting. Pat Boone was groomed by 20th-Century-Fox as a teen...
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Marriage: Hollywood Style
In a recent lecture, I mentioned the marriage of Gloria Swanson to Wallace Beery. The couple had met while working at the Essanay Manufacturing Company in Chicago during the mid-1910s when Swanson was...
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Andrew Sarris, 1928-2012
The influence of Andrew Sarris’ film crticism has become so omnipresent it is now invisible, part of the received wisdom of how we approach and watch movies. This has only become clearer after his...
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Good Plot, Bad Movie
I have had many a disappointing time at the cinema in my life, usually with sci-fi or horror, probably because they’re my two favorite genres from childhood and expectations ran high. And so many a...
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Spy Games: 6 Months and Counting
We’re 6 months into the year-long celebration of James Bond’s 50th anniversary and I thought it would be a good time to take another look at the various worldwide tributes and festivities that have...
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BOO-ya!
Some screams rise from the throat, others from the gut. Nicholas McCarthy’s new fright film, THE PACT (2012), localizes horror down deep in the belly, in memories repressed and long-lived, in secrets...
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Counterpoint: Star Trek, the Motion Picture. Pretty, pretty good.
I always look forward to Greg Ferrara’s weekly posts; I find myself nodding my head as I read, as if I was at a concert that got into a really rocking groove. Sometimes as I read, I have to wistfully...
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Bringing Grindhouse Kicks to the Hollywood Theatre
While visiting Portland I finally got to check out the Hollywood Theatre, which prompted me to seek out the head programmer for a few quick questions. Before approaching Dan Halsted I did a Google...
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If You Designed a Film Class. . .
After serving as a Movie Morlock for over four years, I have come to respect the knowledge and experience of the TCM blog-readers in regard to films, movie stars, and cinema history. Likewise, my...
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