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Carole Lombard’s Lasting Impact … on Napa!
Carole Lombard will be headlining TCM’s Summer Under the Stars line-up on Sunday, August 11th. While pursuing my personal interest in local history here in Napa I was pleasantly surprised to discover...
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Split Decision
At the risk of being absurdly reductionist: there are two kinds of special effects. The first is the Invisible effect—the kind that you aren’t meant to notice. Back in the days of classic film, these...
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BURIED IN THE RAFTERS
My next film calendar goes to press in three days, which has had me working straight through the weekend with much yet to do. As of last night I still had the hope of typing out some words on...
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Try Remembering These Titles
Theater marquees are not what they used to be. Cineplexes don’t use traditional marquees, instead opting for an electronic marquee above the heads of the ticket sellers. The mini-marquees list all of...
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Shall We Dance: Step Up All In
“I wanted to show great dancing and inventive choreography without too much cutting, without chopping it up too much. Good dancing should speak for itself. Watch old Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly movies...
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Before They Knew What to do with Them
Have you ever watched a television show from start to finish, in real time (as opposed to “binge time”), over the course of several seasons, and when you finally go back and see the first season again,...
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Memories of Lauren Bacall 1924-2014
Film fans have endured a rough summer. We’ve lost many talented people who have brought us immeasurable joy. Today I’d like to celebrate the late great Lauren ‘Betty’ Bacall who mesmerized audiences...
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My first suicide
Do you ever finally reach a point of knowing? Or do you just wake up one day and say “I’m going”? - Cowboy Junkies, “Good Friday” If you begin reading about Hollywood and its stars at a tender age...
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Robin Williams, My Popeye
I had planned to run something else here this week, but in light of this week’s tragic news regarding Robin Williams, I’ve shoved that essay to a later week and opted to re-run an oldie but a goodie,...
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In through the Out Door
Today is John Hodiak’s day here on TCM and one of the movies showing later tonight is The Arnelo Affair, which I just happened to write up for TCM recently. One of the first things I mention in the...
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Generation Clash: ‘The Happening’
According to the film history books, 1967 was a seminal year for the Film School Generation because of three movies: Bonnie and Clyde, Cool Hand Luke, and The Graduate. The films’ departure from the...
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Brainquake: The Lost Novel by Samuel Fuller
“Sixty seconds before the baby shot its father, leaves fell lazily in Central Park.” -the first line of Sam Fuller’s Brainquake Sam Fuller was not one for the slow burn. He preferred instant...
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A Trio of Titanics
Early today TCM is showing Titanic from 1953 starring Barbara Stanwyck, Clifton Webb, and today’s star of the day Thelma Ritter as Maude Young, a fictionalized version of Molly Brown. The tragic...
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Saying Good Night to Brian G. Hutton (1935-2014): Night Watch (1973)
Last week this blog started to resemble the obituary section of my local newspaper and while I hate to continue that trend I couldn’t let Brian G. Hutton’s demise go unmentioned. The New York born...
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Death Notice: Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide
Another week, another obituary… only this time we’re here to bury a book (and, time permitting, praise it). Plume, the boutique imprint of Penguin Random House has announced that Leonard Maltin’s 2015...
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Canon Fodder
I’ve outed myself as a Doctor Who fan in this space before. As a TV show, even if it is a record-breakingly long-running TV show, it’s not really within the remit of this blog—but then again, Doctor...
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Seven Days in May
Coming up soon on TCM is an interesting political thriller by John Frankenheimer that usually gets lost in the shuffle. Seven Days in May (1964) is based on the novel by Fletcher Knebel and was...
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Battle of the Powells: William vs. Dick
Today, TCM pays tribute to Dick Powell, airing 14 of his films as part of Summer Under the Stars. Earlier this month, a day had been devoted to William Powell. As a major fan of both stars, I can’t...
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Unfollowing The Golden Rule: Good Sam (1948)
“I’ve tried to break him of it…but he just loves people!” -Lucille (Ann Sheridan) complaining about her husband Sam (Gary Cooper) in Good Sam In 1948 Leo McCarey was coming off the biggest hits of...
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Ida Lupino’s The Bigamist (1953)
Today is Edmond O’Brien’s day here at TCM and later tonight (much later, as in 1:30 a.m., EST) will be showing the little seen 1953 drama, The Bigamist. Starring O’Brien (of course) with Joan...
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