I like to viddy the old films now and then
NOTE: There s gonna be spoilers. Just watch Notorious if you haven t already. Treat yourself! Few films appear as effortlessly taut and elegant as Notorious. Not a single image or line of dialogue are wasted. Every moment is packed with multiple layers of subtext. It might be the most crowd-pleasing example of why the Hitchcock style Continue reading The Fourth Master of Suspense Blogathon:…
I ve been going through the work of the great French filmmaker Agnes Varda this summer. While I was long familiar with her masterful features Cleo from 5 to 7 and Vagabond, the rest of Varda s filmography has long lingered on my watchlist. While my schedule does not always allow me to fit in a feature Continue reading Movie of the month: Uncle Yanco (dir. Agnes Varda, 1967)
One of the running themes of my writing has been re-examining long-held assumptions about movie history. I have a bleeding heart for panned films and a skepticism towards broad claims. If you ve dipped your toes into silent cinema, you ll likely be familiar with common knowledge about controversial pioneer DW Griffith. Griffith invented close-ups/tracking shots/[insert favorite Continue reading…
NOTE: There are mild, nondescript spoilers here. For such a lightweight comedy, Desk Set seems oddly prescient today. The film depicts the desperation of a group of research librarians at a TV studio when computerization is brought into the workplace. The head librarian Bunny (Katharine Hepburn) goes head to head with computer engineer Richard (Spencer Continue reading Movie of the Month: Desk Set…
WARNING: This post is going to indulge in major spoilers for The Nun s Story. And by major spoilers, I mean basically the entire movie. If you haven t seen it and care about being spoiled, just go watch it then come back to this post. It s a great movie and it features Audrey Hepburn s best performance, Continue reading The Audrey Hepburn Blogathon: The Nun s Story (dir. Fred Zinnemann, 1959)
For all the annoyances of social media, if there is one thing I love, it s getting recommendations for films I d never heard of previously. A Letterboxd list brought The Ball at the Anjo House to my attention a few weeks ago and I was lucky enough to find a watchable copy on YouTube. After seeing Continue reading Movie of the month: The Ball at the Anjo House (dir. Kozaburo Yoshimura, 1947)
It s been a few months since I picked this series back up! What can I say? Things have been busy this year. Luckily, it s not so busy that I can t continue one of my favorite series on this blog: revisiting the hits of yesteryear and seeing how they hold up today. If you have not Continue reading The greatest hits of 1926, part two
Long thought lost like so much of the silent era, a copy of the 1924 thriller-melodrama The Signal Tower was eventually discovered in 16mm. Directed by Clarence Brown before he became famous for his handling of several women s melodramas in the 1930s, The Signal Tower is a simple, brisk, and effective piece of work. You Continue reading Movie of the month: The Signal Tower (dir. Clarence Brown,…
This post is part of the 12th Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon hosted by Silentology. Check out her blog for more Buster goodness. In the grand context of silent era Hollywood, Marion Mack’s film career was a minor one. Her onscreen credits are few and her writing credits number about the same. As it sometimes happens, Continue reading The 12th Annual Buster Keaton Blogathon: Marion Mack and The…
The Fan is rarely anyone s favorite Otto Preminger film, but it happens to be mine. I admit it is neither the best nor most groundbreaking movie he ever made, yet it is the one I am always the most eager to revisit. There s something comfortable about it for me. Adapted from Oscar Wilde s 1892 play Continue reading Movie of the month: The Fan (dir. Otto Preminger, 1949)