I was nine years old when the animated version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast came out, but I was probably ten when it came to VHS and… Read more “Beauty and the Beast”
Category: Film
Current Obsessions
As you probably already know, I left my library job at the beginning of February to write full-time, and I’m now working on my novel in earnest.… Read more “Current Obsessions”
Harry Potter and the Too Much Yelling
Like almost every other reader on the planet, I love J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. I started reading them in 2001, blazed through the first four books… Read more “Harry Potter and the Too Much Yelling”
Trouble in Paradise
Trouble in Paradise (1932) is a witty and racy pre-Code comedy that tells the story of two master con-artists (Herbert Marshall and the inimitable Miriam Hopkins) who fall… Read more “Trouble in Paradise”
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
Rouben Mamoulian’s 1931 adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is obsessed with the human face. It knows there is no better register for fear, longing, dread,… Read more “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)”
Actors in Classic Films Perfectly Reacting to 2016
It’s been a hell of a year. Here are some classic film screenshots that perfectly express how we’ve felt about 2016. Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde… Read more “Actors in Classic Films Perfectly Reacting to 2016”
The Big Heat (1953)
This brief essay first appeared on Fourth & Sycamore. Look for a long essay on The Big Heat right here soon. The Big Heat was one of… Read more “The Big Heat (1953)”
The Birds (1963)
This brief essay originally appeared on Fourth & Sycamore. The Birds is perhaps the strangest film Alfred Hitchcock ever made, or at least the most unlikely. Though… Read more “The Birds (1963)”
Bright Star (2009)
Bright Star (2009) is a film of such tender, unguarded emotion, about such honest, bare affection, it could be written off by an immature viewer as a flight… Read more “Bright Star (2009)”
Some Like It Hot (1959)
This essay first appeared on Fourth & Sycamore. While classic comedy films had to tick a few important boxes in order to be considered screwballs, the movies… Read more “Some Like It Hot (1959)”
