Film & TV
Cellphones in movie theatres?
Many years ago I attended the Toronto Film Festival and what amazed me almost as much as the films was that the moment the curtain went up and the credits started the audience was utterly silent. They were actually paying attention. Wow! Though my theatre experience varies quite a bit from noise all the way [...]
I am Cuba
My Videodrome muse alerted me to this film. I had heard the recent murmurings from the Criterion blog on Letter Never Sent (same director and cinematographer) and had just noticed it on their just in shelf. She rhapsodized on the camera work in both movies and it took little persuasion to rent them both. So [...]
Golden Age of Crime Television?
I think it all started with Homicide: Life on the Street. This show, based on David Simon‘s book about a drawn out and unsuccessful murder investigation, was the first that I remember that seemed to both explore the metaphysics of being a detective and that seemed to actually focus on the victim. Most shows, if [...]
Unexpected hilarity in older films
Continuing the thread of my amusement with older films, and now to moments I did not expect, the first stop is this scene from Asphalt Jungle in which Sterling Hayden takes affront: He’s quite serious and I’m not sure of the origin of the usage of boning but it reminded me of Al Pacino in [...]
On older films 2 and Fifth Element
On the last post I mentioned the now out of date gadgets but of course most films old or new are populated with the same things we have now (just in different proportions). What you notice the most is what is missing. Sometimes it is objects that have not yet become popular (like computers) or [...]
On watching older films 1 (and curios)
If I had to provide just one reason to re-view the 1941 Maltese Falcon it would be this scene with Sidney Greenstreet – incredible dialogue and perfect delivery except for Bogart’s little tirade before the exit. But in the process of catching up on my noirs I caught the older Maltese Falcon (1931) (as well [...]
Case Histories, The Wire and Film Noir
Just finished the last Case Histories, kind of a Scottish Wallander, with Jason Isaacs perfectly playing yet another world weary detective in a beautifully photographed landscape, this time Edinburgh. And of course it makes me rue the time I was in Liverpool and did not add on a few weeks and wander over Scotland. Apart [...]
