Browsed by
Month: May 2023

The Phenix City Story: Ripped From the Headlines.

The Phenix City Story: Ripped From the Headlines.

Released: 1955 Dir.: Phil Karlson Once upon a time there was a town called Phenix City, located on the Alabama side of the Chattahoochee River, and for a very long time Phenix City was ruled by vice and corruption. Politicians, the police force, lawyers, judges, juries all bought and paid for by the Syndicate. Anyone who apposed the rulers of Phenix City ended up in the river, with a couple of extra holes, cause of death: accidental drowning. It had…

Read More Read More

The Way to the Stars: Life, Love and Loss.

The Way to the Stars: Life, Love and Loss.

Released: 1945 Dir.: Anthony Asquith We’ve all seen films and documentaries showing B-17 and Lancaster bombers peppered by AA fire, attacked by FW-190 fighters, and crippled aircraft limping back home to make a miraculous landing, or tragically falling short. The Way to the Stars is the flipside of those films, about life, love and loss, told poetically and with heart. In 1940 RAF Station Halfpenny Field, home of No. 720 Squadron, flying Bristol Blenheim bombers, is a constant target of…

Read More Read More

Living on Tokyo Time: The Sins of Being Nice

Living on Tokyo Time: The Sins of Being Nice

Released: 1987 Dir.: Steven Okazaki First time viewing reaction. Living on Tokyo Time is about the culture clash between Japanese and Japanese Americans, and it’s fascinating on that level alone. However, the film resonated with me on a different, and personal level. Kyoko (Minako Ohashi) comes to San Francisco after ending her engagement to an unfaithful fiancé in Japan. Although she has a job, her visa expires, and she wants to stay in the U.S. A co-worker sets her up…

Read More Read More

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie: A Different Take on Neo-Noir.

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie: A Different Take on Neo-Noir.

Released: 1976 Dir.: John Cassavetes First time viewing reaction and refers to the preferred 1978 edit rather than the 1976 theatrical version. Last night I had my first run in with a John Cassavetes film, not as an actor, but as writer/director. I’ve heard you’re either going to love or hate Cassavetes films, and I have to say, I really liked The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. A unique take on the film noir/neo-noir genres. The film tells the story…

Read More Read More

Gone in 60 Seconds: Follow Your Dream and Make a Car Chase Movie.

Gone in 60 Seconds: Follow Your Dream and Make a Car Chase Movie.

Released 1974 Dir. H.B. Halicki               I once learned, when writing or making a movie, write or make the movie you would want to watch. Someone else out there will probably want to see it and enjoy it. I don’t know if that’s what was going on in H.B. Halicki’s mind, but his creation of Gone in 60 Seconds in 1974 certainly backs up this theory. Produced completely independent of a major Hollywood studio, and financed entirely by Halicki himself,…

Read More Read More

T-Men: Undercover in the Dangerous World of Counterfeiters.

T-Men: Undercover in the Dangerous World of Counterfeiters.

Released: 1947 Dir.: Anthony Mann While working in home video distribution for 8 years, then another 15 years working at a video store, one thing remained constant; what almost everybody wanted was the newest releases. Anything older than three weeks was completely unacceptable, no matter how good the film was, it was old news. End of story. So, the very thought of something in black and white, from a bygone era, was unthinkable. It’s old, artificial, corny and…boring. Oh, they…

Read More Read More

The Glass Wall: The Little Film That Deserves a Larger Audience.

The Glass Wall: The Little Film That Deserves a Larger Audience.

Released: 1953 Dir.: Maxwell Shane The Glass Wall is a hard-to-find film. I have it in my collection as part of Columbia Pictures Bad Girls of Film Noir Collection Vol. 1, which unfortunately is now also hard to come by, at least in Canada anyway. I found a couple of uploads to YouTube, but the quality was sketchy, and I hesitate to recommend streaming services I don’t recognize. However, The Glass Wall is well worth keeping your eyes peeled for,…

Read More Read More

Airport: Trans Global Airlines, the Golden Argosy, Flight Two, Non-stop to Rome, is now Ready for Boarding.

Airport: Trans Global Airlines, the Golden Argosy, Flight Two, Non-stop to Rome, is now Ready for Boarding.

Released: 1970 Dir. George Seaton It was always exciting when the new copy of TV Guide arrived in the mail. The November 10-16, 1973 edition was no exception, however, this particular volume featured an article that would have an enormous impact on me. The headline heralded ‘A Very Special Week’, loaded with specials, premieres, and big movies. Images of Bob Hope, Julie Andrews, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis jr., William Holden, The Waltons, and the King himself, Elvis Presley splashed across…

Read More Read More

Kanał: A Most Extraordinary Anti-War Film.

Kanał: A Most Extraordinary Anti-War Film.

Released: 1957 Dir.: Andrzej Wajda First time viewing reaction.               A few days ago, I had never heard of the Polish film Kanał, and now I can’t forget it. Which is a good thing. The film is about a nightmare, but not the nightmare of our dreams. This nightmare is real, it’s a nightmare about war. It is also, in a way, a horror film.               In late September 1944 the Warsaw Uprising is in its final days, as German…

Read More Read More

Verified by MonsterInsights