On December 3rd, I had the pleasure of sitting in on a panel at Los Angeles Comic Con. The panel, hosted by the podcast Geekscape, was a Q&A with Gremlins director Joe Dante and one of the Executive Producers of the upcoming Gremlins project at HBO: Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Brendan Hay. The nerd in me was super excited about this. Gremlins played a crucial part in beginning … Continue reading A Brief Discussion with Joe Dante
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed. I thought it was very poetic that my watch day for It’s a Wonderful Life just happened to land on Christmas eve, the night that my father and I would always have a viewing of this film. For those that … Continue reading 20. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946 )
An insurance representative lets himself be talked by a seductive housewife into a murder/insurance fraud scheme that arouses the suspicion of an insurance investigator. To me, Double Indemnity is the quintessential film noir. Although, this film was made before that term had ever even been used. It has everything that a film noir should have: narration, a femme fatale, an air of mystery, dramatic lighting, fast dialogue, … Continue reading 29. Double Indemnity (1944)
I recently realized that I needed something to balance out the negativity of my “Films That Have Not Aged Well”. As much as I love writing those posts, they can bum me out, especially when there’s a realization that a film I enjoy is definitely problematic. So, to counteract that feeling, I’ve decided to also look at films that have endured the test of time. … Continue reading Timeless Films: Jurassic Park (1993)
A spoiled heiress running away from her family is helped by a man who is actually a reporter in need of a story. Out of 100 films on the AFI list, only 8 of them are pre-code films. And, out of those 8 films, only one of them is a romantic comedy that greatly alludes to sex throughout the film: It Happened One Night. Honestly, … Continue reading 46. It Happened One Night (1934)
Universal deciding to scrap their “Dark Universe” idea and stick to individual storytelling may be one of the smartest moves they have made in a long time. To kick this plan off with an updated version of one of their classic, but not necessarily big-named, movie monsters was clever. The film overall was good. It was suspenseful and tense right from the first scene, and … Continue reading The Invisible Man (2020): A Classic Movie Monster Preying on Modern Fears
This past weekend, I went to the Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. I bought a popcorn and a drink and settled in to my seat. The theater began to fill with people. There were teenagers, young adults, people in middle age and older. They all got comfortable and settled in for what we were about to watch. We were about to see a film on … Continue reading The Importance of the American Cinematheque
