Category Archives: Movies

My Year in Movies: 2014

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: The thing about being friends with serious movie buffs is that they can be pretty demanding. Here I am thinking I know a thing or two, but I’m not so much the Ringo Starr as the Pete Best … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Television | Tagged keeping up with the Jonses, listing movies | 9 Comments

Our Favorite Things from 2014

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: For approximately the 14th year in a row my pop music taste slid into middling mediocrity, but I’m perfectly OK with that. I long ago abandoned caring about or following new music. I loved The Black Keys’ “Turn … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books Publishing and Writing, Food and health, Linkathons, Media, Movies, Music, Performers, Personal reflections | Tagged 2014 year in review, Agata Kulesza, Agata Trzebuchowska, Amazon, Amazon Music, beer, Belle & Sebastian, Bill Burr, Chvrches, Cohen Film Collection, D. W. Griffith, Darwyn Cooke, donald westlake, emily browning, ESPN, Eva Green, Facebook, George V. Higgins, Ginger Baker, goses, Hachette, Hayao Miyazaki, John Milius, John Turturro, Karina Longworth, Marc Maron, Marco Bellocchio, Meghan Trainor, Michael Connelly, Natalie Moore, Pawel Pawlikowski, Penny Dreadful, podcasts, Sarah Polley, Steve Sailer, Stuart Murdoch, Taylor Swift, The Black Keys, The Cloisters, The Nerdist, Tom Stoppard, Vanessa Paradis, Winsor McCay, Yik Yak, Zishy | 14 Comments

Two NYC-Set ’70s Cop Thrillers

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes: I just caught up with a couple of cop thrillers from the 1970s that I somehow missed first time around. The first was a chore, the second a gem. The Seven-Ups This 1973 NYC-set picture is much loved … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged '70s movies, barry shears, bill hickman, movies, phil d'antoni, telly savalas, thrillers, yaphet kotto | 10 Comments

Two Movie Posters for “Nashville”

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: The U.S. one-sheet tries to condense this complicated movie into a single image. This Australian take zeroes in on the cast and references compilation music albums. It attempts to sell the complexity.

Posted in Commercial art, Movies | Tagged Film, Movie Posters, movies, Nashville, Robert Altman | 1 Comment

Showtune Saturday: “I’ve Got Plenty To Be Thankful For”

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Eddie Pensier

Eddie Pensier writes: By this point in the holiday season you’re almost certainly heartily sick of the most famous song from Holiday Inn (1942). Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” is certainly a victim of its own success: despite, (or perhaps because … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Music | Tagged bing crosby, bob crosby, holiday inn, i've got plenty to be thankful for, showtune saturday, white christmas | Leave a comment

Notes on “Chinatown Nights”

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: Intriguing Wellman-directed picture in the doomy Oriental vein of “Broken Blossoms” and “The Bitter Tea of General Yen.” Wallace Beery is Chuck, a bellowing Irish mug who’s installed himself as a warlord in Chinatown. Florence Vidor, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged Chinatown Nights, Film, Florence Vidor, movies, Wallace Beery, William Wellman | Leave a comment

Robert and Nanook

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: Robert Flaherty’s “Nanook of the North” is usually discussed as a documentary, but I wonder if the movie isn’t ill-served by that conversation, which is simply too limiting to address the subtleties of Flaherty’s art. In focusing on … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged documentary, eskimoes, Film, movies, Nanook of the North, Robert Flaherty, Silent Film | 6 Comments

Showtune Saturday: “Thank Heaven For Little Girls”

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Eddie Pensier

Eddie Pensier writes: The irreplaceable Maurice Chevalier in Vincente Minnelli’s Gigi (1958), a most astonishingly lighthearted and charming Lerner and Loewe musical (based on Colette’s novella of the same name) about a Parisian courtesan. Do yourself a favor, and ignore … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Music | Tagged couldn't do it today, gigi, lerner and loewe, sex, sexism, showtune saturday, vincente minnelli | Leave a comment

Movie Poster Du Jour: “Charade”

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: This is a large poster: about five feet in height. They stopped making them in this size in the ’80s.

Posted in Commercial art, Movies | Tagged Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, Charade, Film, Movie Posters, movies, Stanley Donen | Leave a comment

The Treasure of Treasures

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: Lately I’ve been enjoying, bit by bit, the Cohen Film Collection’s restoration of D.W. Griffith’s “Intolerance,” which is available to stream via Hulu Plus. (It’s also available on Blu-Ray.) I’ve seen the movie many times, but … Continue reading →