Blog

The other night I revisited Albert Lewin’s underrated gem Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, which was released 70 years ago, several decades later I was still taken in by the romantic beauty of it…

“Not every sardine was meant to swim, son.”
“I don’t understand fishing metaphors!”

This is one of those movies that I am not certain why it never occurred to me to watch. When I think about it, people who like it are people to whom I have similar tastes, but for some reason…

In recent years one of the most sought-after filmmakers is Italian director Luca Guadagnino. With recent works that include Call Me By Your Name, a reimagining of Suspiria, an acclaimed HBO miniseries We Are Who We Are, along with upcoming projects that include Bones & All, remakes of both Scarface, and Brideshead Revisited. He’s someone who’s been recognized for his unique style, and themes, proving himself to be…

Once a month at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles they have Cartoon Club which is a themed collection of cartoons curated and presented by New Bev cartoon maven Jules McLean and animation historian Jerry Beck.

This has been occurring for years, to the joy of parents who want their little kids to experience classic animation of the big screen where God intended it, cartoon nerds who know all the minutia, and…

“Film is a battleground. Love, hate, violence, action, death… In a word, emotion.”

Those words uttered by writer director Samuel Fuller, are words on filmmaking that could only be said by someone who’s experienced combat. His career consisted of many war films such as Fixed Bayonets!, China Gate, Verboten!, Merrill’s Marauders, and The Big Red One, but perhaps the greatest of them is his 1951 film, The Steel Helmet.

With a career that…

So, the other day a bunch of Olympics movies appeared on the TCM app, and when I was looking for information about one of them I saw that it was also on the Criterion Channel. Then I looked and saw that what Criterion had was all of the same films that were on TCM, plus way more!

Criterion has a collection of 53 films about various Olympic Games from 1912-2012…

The films of Eric Rohmer capture a slow, meditative examination on the smaller moments of daily life, that are often cut out of most movies in favor of life’s key events. Many of his films often explore their main characters on vacation, with his relaxed style, and his love of nature, he perfectly captures the feeling of being on vacation, in which we try to escape from the hecticness of our work lives, into an exotic area. Not only to escape, but also to confront the internal conflicts of our lives…

The term landmark is often thrown around to describe certain movies.

While some of the films might be great, we may not think of it as a time before, or after they were released. But if there was one film within the last few decades that I would think of as a landmark, it’s Hayao Miyazaki’s animated masterpiece, Spirited Away, which…

1969 was the end of a tumultuous decade, the likes of which had not been seen before. So much happened in those 10 years: assassinations, war, the rise of youth culture, Black power, gay pride, the women’s movement. Many marginalized groups rose up to assert their dignity. And the capper of the decade was Woodstock, three days of peace and music on Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, NY. Woodstock grew to embody not only 1969, but the 1960s entire…