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AFI Top 100 Discussion: The African Queen

Today on AFI Top 100 Discussion, Jon and I are discussing John Huston’s 1951 adventure film, The African Queen. Telling the story of an upright English missionary (Rose, played by Katharine Hepburn) and a shiftless engineer (Charlie, played by Humphrey Bogart) and their attempts to destroy a German ship in Africa shortly after the outbreak of WWI, The African Queen is a staple of classic…

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#1951 #AFI Top 100 #Africa #Humphrey Bogart #John Huston #Katharine Hepburn #WWI

What I Watched: March 2017

March, or “yay! no more Oscars!” month. I had a good time catching up on stuff that didn’t particularly have to do with current cinema or at least cinema in the past year. I had some really good TCM viewings in the beginning of the month, plus some more Wong Kar-Wai stuff, then sort slowed down in the later half of the month to binge some tv shows on the side. March 1: Get Out March 2: Camille I…

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#45 Years #Camille #Family Plot #La Ronde #The Young Girls of Rochefort #Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me #what i watched

AFI Top 100 Discussion: The Gold Rush

AFI Top 100 Discussion is a series of posts dedicated to dialogues concerning the best of American Cinema as designated by the American Film Institute. Jon Harrison of A Cinematic Odyssey and I have been picking our way through the list since 2014, having covered nine films so far. Today we are discussing the 1925 silent comedy The Gold Rush. Today for our AFI Top 100 Discussion, Jon and I will…

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#1925 #AFI Top 100 #Charlie Chaplin #comedy #silent film

The X-Files S1, E21: "Tooms"

The X-Files S1, E21: “Tooms”

I’ve been delving into the popular sci-fi series The X-Files for a while now, making many attempts and failures to engage with its first season. Since the summer, and I’ve been weaving in and out through the series’ various episodes, trying to piece the gigantic enterprise together. It may seem strange for me to go back and recap an over two decades old television show, in some ways that type of…

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#1994 #Chris Carter #David Duchovny #David Nutter #Gillian Anderson #Glen Morgan #Henry Beckman #James Wong #Mitch Pileggi #Sci-fi #William B Davis

As Tears Go By

Film Review #426: Wong Kar-Wai's AS TEARS GO BY (1988)

It’s always interesting to see the first effort from a director you’ve come to know and love. Sometimes filmmakers seem to start off strong and then trail off or give into their own excesses as time goes on, while others are still finding their way with their first feature, and then only later will their true greatness shine through. It never fails to amaze me how someone’s first film ties into…

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#1988 #Andy Lau #crime #gangster film #Hong Kong #Jackie Cheung #Maggie Cheung #Wong Kar-wai

The Grandmaster

Film Review #425: Wong Kar-Wai's THE GRANDMASTER (2013)

I feel as if I’ve started or ending with this statement in so many of my reviews it should just be a given by now and I should stop pointing it out, but my biggest takeaway from watching this film is that I wish I had seen it in a theater. The cinematography is probably its strongest attribute, and my TV just could not handle the blacks that Wong plunges much of his film in. It’s disappointing to…

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#2013 #Kung Fu #Philipe Le Sourd #Tony Leung #Wong Kar-wai #Ziyi Zhang

The X-Files S1, E20: "Darkness Falls"

The X-Files S1, E20: “Darkness Falls”

I’ve been delving into the popular sci-fi series The X-Files for a while now, making many attempts and failures to engage with its first season. Since the summer, and I’ve been weaving in and out through the series’ various episodes, trying to piece the gigantic enterprise together. It may seem strange for me to go back and recap an over two decades old television show, in some ways that type of…

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#1994 #Chris Carter #David Duchovny #Gillian Anderson #Jason Beghe #Sci-fi #Titus Welliver #Tom O&039;Rourke

2046

Film Review #424: Wong Kar-wai's 2046 (2004)

2046 can pretty easily be thought of as the sequel to Wong Kar-Wai’s previous film, In the Mood for Love. It’s more sprawling, the character of Chow played by Tony Leung acts differently, but otherwise it pretty clearly continues the themes and continuity from the first story. While 2046‘s story has more characters and more locations, it seems just about as sad and regretful as Wong’s earlier…

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#2004 #Carina Lau #Faye Wong #Foreign film #Hong Kong #Li Gong #Maggie Cheung #Tony Leung #Wong Kar-wai #Ziyi Zhang

The X-Files S1, E19: "Shapes"

The X-Files S1, E19: “Shapes”

I’ve been delving into the popular sci-fi series The X-Files for a while now, making many attempts and failures to engage with its first season. Since the summer, and I’ve been weaving in and out through the series’ various episodes, trying to piece the gigantic enterprise together. It may seem strange for me to go back and recap an over two decades old television show, in some ways that type of…

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#1994 #Chris Carter #David Duchovny #David Nutter #Donnelly Rhodes #Gillian Anderson #Marilyn Osborn #Michael Horse #Renae Morriseau #Sci-fi #Ty Miller

In the Mood for Love

Film Review #423: Wong Kar-wai's IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000)

I feel as if In the Mood for Love is just about impossible to write about. A lot of films benefit from a lot of analysis, making what you see on screen that much more clear and powerful, or perhaps even that much more expansive and mysterious in its ideas. I watched In the Mood for Love yesterday afternoon, and am trying to read some about it this morning, but have had a hard time connecting the…

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#2000 #Foreign film #Hong Kong #Maggie Cheung #Tony Leung #Wong Kar-wai

Get Out

Film Review #422: Jordan Peele's GET OUT (2017)

It’s rare that any new movie gets me into theaters in March. Usually the early months of any given year are spent catching up on delayed releases from the previous one, whether they be indie festival films that are just being released then, or Oscar films that don’t come to my neck of the woods until January. Last year I did see one of my favorite films of 2016 in February, Hail, Caesar!, and…

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#2017 #Allison Williams #Bradley Whitford #Caleb Landry Jones #Catherine Keener #Daniel Kaluuya #horror #Jordan Peele #Lakieth Stanfield #racism

The X-Files S1, E18: "Miracle Man"

The X-Files S1, E18: “Miracle Man”

I’ve been delving into the popular sci-fi series The X-Files for a while now, making many attempts and failures to engage with its first season. Since the summer, and I’ve been weaving in and out through the series’ various episodes, trying to piece the gigantic enterprise together. It may seem strange for me to go back and recap an over two decades old television show, in some ways that type of…

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#1994 #Chris Carter #David Duchovny #Dennis Lipscomb #George Gerdis #Gillian Anderson #Howard Gordon #Michael Lange #RD Call #Sci-fi

What I Watched: February 2017

Almost anything I had to say about February was overshadowed by the crazy plot twist in the Oscars ceremony. What an insane thing to have happen! I did have a bit more of an intentionality in the films I watched this February, because it was BP month. However, I still watched a lot of random stuff (well, not so random I guess because they were doing 31 Days of Oscar) that came up on TCM. Here are…

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#Birdman of Alcatraz #Bonnie and Clyde #Kitty Foyle #Lion #Ocean&039;s Eleven #OJ: Made in America #The Band Wagon #The Dirty Dozen #The Informer #The Unsinkable Molly Brown #what i watched #Zootopia

February 2017 Blindspot: Braveheart

That's a wrap on BP month with my February #blindspot, Film Review #421: Mel Gibson's BRAVEHEART (1995)

The Blindspot Series is a series of twelve posts spread throughout the year designed to offer bloggers a chance to catch up classic films we somehow may have missed. Started by The Matinee, here is my list of Blindspot films for 2017. Next up for February is Mel Gibson’s Braveheart. Braveheart is one of those movies that lives and dies on its ability to deliver spectacle. A lot of great films are…

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#1995 #Angus MacFadyen #best picture #blindspot 2017 #Catherine McCormack #Mel Gibson #Patrick McGoohan #Scotland #Sophie Marceau

The 89th Academy Awards... The Winners

The 89th Academy Awards… The Winners

I have pie, I have whipped cream… let’s do this Oscars liveblog thing. Instead of an intro, enjoy (?!) these couple pre-written paragraphs about BP month! Best Picture month was a pretty great success this year, unparalleled since I first started doing it in February of 2013. I reviewed 11 previous best picture winners on the blog, 7 of them new to me and 4 of them rewatches. I’m not going to…

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#2016 #academy awards

The 89th Academy Awards... My Predictions

The 89th Academy Awards… My Predictions

After the wild and crazy year that was 2015, 2016’s Oscars are looking a lot more set in stone. In a twist that surprises no one, I’m predicting La La Land, with it’s record-tying 14 nominations, will win a lot of awards. That doesn’t make this year too exciting, so I hope I’m wrong on some level, but I’m also hoping that my prediction average isn’t as horrible as it was last year. As a recap, my…

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#2016 #academy awards

Mrs. Miniver

One of the last for BP month, it's Film Review #420: William Wyler's MRS. MINIVER (1942)

Call it Cavalcade, the Sequel. But really, folks, that’s almost accurate, and I don’t use the name to totally diminish the movie. I didn’t mind Cavalcade, and actually found some things to appreciate about it. Like that film, even though this movie kind of hits you over the head with its propagandistic message, it’s a sweet and powerful movie on some level despite that. (You can also say it’s The…

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#1942 #best picture #Dame May Whittey #Greer Garson #Henry Travers #Teresa Wright #William Wyler #WWII

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