Screen Drafts is a podcast that helped me survive the pandemic and, along the way, captured my heart through the sense of camaraderie that permeated each conversation. Since I first wrote about it nearly seven months ago, I have caught up with all the publicly posted episodes, and I have joined the Patreon group and dabbled … Continue reading KIDS, DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME! The Mini-Mega Hitchcock Draft, Home Edition
Films
AIM (NOT SO) STRAIGHT AND TRUE: My Resolutions for 2023
A few weeks ago, my pal (and Book Club Arch Nemesis!) the Puzzle Doctor reached his 2000th post on In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel. Not bad for a man who’s only been blogging since 1954. I hit my 500th post last August (it was a dreary review of a dreary book, Dorothy L. Sayers’ The Documents in … Continue reading AIM (NOT SO) STRAIGHT AND TRUE: My Resolutions for 2023
PAT ON THE BACK: Meeting (Some of) My 2022 Goals
“There is no Frigate like a Book to take us Lands away . . . “ These words by Emily Dickenson were emblazoned on the bookplates my grandparents gave me when, at an early age, I declared my love for reading. I pasted them into every volume I owned and used up my stock long ago. … Continue reading PAT ON THE BACK: Meeting (Some of) My 2022 Goals
THE (OTHER) HITCHCOCK WOMAN
Saturday is my mom’s birthday. She always hated that her birthday was on Christmas Eve, and not because she’s a nice Jewish Bronx-born girl. She envied the idea of a person’s birthday being months away from Christmas or Hanukkah, of the celebration of your life – along with gifts - being upstaged by a major … Continue reading THE (OTHER) HITCHCOCK WOMAN
GIVING THANKS FOR GLASS ONION
You’ll excuse a guy for grousing about the good ol’ days of Hollywood’s Golden Age, when actors were treated like chattel and had to grind out film after film in order to earn those Beverly Hills mansions. Between 1931 and 1939, Bette Davis made 41 movies, Jimmy Cagney made 30, and Joan Crawford 22. Humphrey … Continue reading GIVING THANKS FOR GLASS ONION
Angela Lansbury
It’s a tale as old as time: the young girl who loses her father at an early age and retreats into make-believe and roleplay; who, after seeing a great performance onstage dreams of performing herself. I write a lot about Agatha Christie, and this describes her to a t – except she never became the … Continue reading Angela Lansbury
A “LOVE LETTER BUT…” TO THE SCREEN DRAFTS PODCAST
It should not come as a shock to you that I hail from the Boomer generation. Just look at the way the blurbs under my photos don’t center. Come watch me have a meltdown the next time my phone or laptop “updates” and everything I had finally mastered on my technology becomes moot. It should … Continue reading A “LOVE LETTER BUT…” TO THE SCREEN DRAFTS PODCAST
THE MOVIE THEY MADE FOR ME! See How They Run
I imagine that in these frustrating times, when film studios have made 15-year-old boys their target audience, that those of you who love a good movie have had a similar experience to mine. You know, the one where you are so desperate to see anything in a movie theatre that you find yourself surrounded by the aforementioned … Continue reading THE MOVIE THEY MADE FOR ME! See How They Run
THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: My Ten (or so) Favorite Courtroom Cases
(This is for Carol.) True story: after acing my bar mitzvah at the tender age of 13, I told my parents that when I grew up, I did NOT want to be a rabbi - I wanted to be a movie star. My mom and dad exchanged a look – correct that: it was a Look – … Continue reading THE JUSTICE LEAGUE: My Ten (or so) Favorite Courtroom Cases
DOWNTON ABBEY, A SAME OLD SAME OLD ERA
Yes, my friends, I know: I do not usually review mainstream films here, as this blog is reserved for the mystery genre, albeit in all its forms. Today, however, I saw Downton Abbey: The New Era, and I would like for a moment to contemplate the mystery of Julian Fellowes. Here’s a man, a well-born peer … Continue reading DOWNTON ABBEY, A SAME OLD SAME OLD ERA
Ah Sweet Mystery! 