The end of this week will feature the latest edition of my biennial Favorite Films list, so I suppose I have films on my mind. Some of the earliest films I saw were short films, thanks to my dad and the Arlington County library which had them. And I do mean films! We had a projector at home, which was often used for birthday parties and other events. This inevitably meant those masters of movie…
I’ve been kind of preoccupied with some minor things over the past couple weeks. So let’s talk about matters of true importance: capes in Science Fiction. (Sorry, Edna Mode).
Somewhere in the Heavens, and in glorious Dynamation, Ray Harryhausen is celebrating his 100th birthday. There’s nothing I can say that can surpass what many, many, many people in the film industry can say about Ray Harryhausen, so I’ll simply link to two videos. The first, a tribute made on his death: The second, a review of all his creatures, set to music you know you want to do stop action animation dancing to:
A towering presence in cinema –literal and figurative– has died. Max von Sydow, an actor we’ve seen on screens since the 1950s, has died at the age of 90. You can read (and listen) to accounts in the BBC, Variety, and NPR among many others. What struck many of us moviegoers was the wide range of parts he would play… and could play with such quiet conviction. Here is a man who played the Son…
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) does a wonderful remembrance of the film artists we lost in the past year. I’ve mentioned it before, but it always makes me wistful and reminds me to rewatch a movie or three. I thought this year’s was especially good, perhaps because of the many quotes from the people they used. Check it out when you’re ready to be verklempt.
If you checked out my earlier post, you know that I’m readying the 2018 edition of my favorite films. I always add a new crop of films to the sort every time, but I also find time to re-watch some of the old films… and Thanksgiving weekend proved to be a great time to do so. One of the films was the delightful modern fantasy, Field of Dreams. Sharp-eyed readers will recall that it ranked #29…
If you didn’t check out the incredibly cool 360-degree video Google Doodle earlier this month, get a smartphone or tablet and check it out. It’s a wonderful tribute to a storyteller who I think would very much embrace virtual reality, augmented reality, and the various emerging techniques storytellers are trying.
Turner Classic Movies (TCM), always releases their end of year remembrance a couple weeks early. Then they update it in case someone passes near the end of the year. I don’t care. I watch both versions. Even if you don’t recognize everyone, there’s always plenty to make you wistful… and remind you that a certain film or three is worth re-watching. Verklempt, right? And of course, they nailed the landing.
Growing up a cinemaniac, there are, quite naturally, a number of actors and directors and screenwriters I would like to meet. However, I daresay I would not shake the hand of any of them so vigorously as I would the hand of film historian and critic, Leonard Maltin. Maltin’s indispensable and always entertaining movie guide was a fixture in our household. Not only did we get each annual edition, but we held on to the…