This is my 400th post. I wasn’t sure I’d make it over the past year (which has seemed like 400 years). The question is: what do I write about? For a brief instant, I thought I would wax reflective about my current life, but you really don’t want to hear about it. (No, really. You don’t.) … Continue reading POST #400: Christie Community Service
Author: Brad
UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 10 – Worshipping at the Alton of Noir
Ten weeks ago, I decided to share with you my journey through a world of 40’s film noir that I watched as part of my course “Primacy of the Visual,” taught by Elliot Lavine through Stanford University. Twenty-four films later, I am so grateful to Elliot for allowing me to visit a few favorites, for introducing me … Continue reading UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 10 – Worshipping at the Alton of Noir
KRIMES FOR KIDS: The Curse of the Middle Child
Earlier this spring, I read the first book in not one but two series of mystery novels for kids, thanks to the diligence of my buddy JJ who spends a significant amount of time over at The Invisible Event digging up juvenile gold in the mystery genre. You can catch up to my initial thoughts … Continue reading KRIMES FOR KIDS: The Curse of the Middle Child
UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 9 – The Great Schism
Well, it was bound to happen. After nine weeks of forty people gathering in a tiny Zoom room to marvel over all the 1940’s films noir that our instructor Elliot Lavine has shared with us, he finally presented a double bill of films that were, each in their way, so extreme that they managed to divide us. … Continue reading UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 9 – The Great Schism
UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 8 – Mid(century) Evil Woman
Most of the time it’s easy to kick back and enjoy an old movie for its story, its performances, and – as often happens in the case of film noir – its distinctive look. But sometimes, like when you’ve been sitting isolated for over fourteen months and you’ve been forced to watch one major political party do … Continue reading UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 8 – Mid(century) Evil Woman
UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 7 – Battle Noir Didactica
If you sit down to watch a film noir, you can expect to be both shaken and stirred. You might have to turn your head away a few times at the violence (or you might find yourself staring agog at the screen, baffled by what this sub-genre of film got away with in the mid-20th century.) You’ll certainly feel … Continue reading UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 7 – Battle Noir Didactica
BOOK REPORT #6: Macho Macho Couturier
I am neither lying nor exaggerating: it happened exactly like this . . . I had just settled settled down with my pipe and post-prandial glass of port when the telephone rang. I sighed and rose to answer it. It was Dr. John Curran, the foremost authority on Dame Agatha Christie. Well, at least, the authority on … Continue reading BOOK REPORT #6: Macho Macho Couturier
UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 6 – The Champagne of Noir
The French didn’t so much invent film noir as identify and elevate it. They took genre more seriously than the American film industry, which saw golden financial returns for movies that were cheaply made. The studios were all about the almighty dollar. When Hitler was on the rise, Hollywood was reticent about taking a stand for an … Continue reading UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 6 – The Champagne of Noir
UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 5 – Do Lang Do Lang Do Lang
We’re halfway through my film noir class with instructor Elliot Lavine. This week’s trio of films gave me the chance to revisit four old friends: Joan Bennett with Jonathan Frid Meet Joan . . . I first met Joan Bennett in the drawing room of Collinwood, a stately but troubled mansion on the hills overlooking the Maine … Continue reading UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 5 – Do Lang Do Lang Do Lang
MORE PODCAST FUN (Plus, the Wit and Wisdom of Ariadne Oliver)
In what I hope will be a quarterly appointment for the next 75 years, JJ “The Invisible Event” McBloke has hosted Moira “Clothes in Books” Traychic and Yours “Ah Sweet Mystery” Truly for another deep, spoiler-filled, dive into an Agatha Christie novel! This time it was Cards on the Table, the third book Christie published in … Continue reading MORE PODCAST FUN (Plus, the Wit and Wisdom of Ariadne Oliver)
Ah Sweet Mystery! 