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
Films
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
NO SHIRT, SHERLOCK: Elementary, Season One
Somewhere between the Hardy Boys and Agatha Christie, some kindly relative introduced me to the World’s Greatest Detective with a collection of six or seven of Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous stories about Sherlock Holmes. I think the first story I read was “The Red-Headed League” where, even at the age of 8 or 9, … Continue reading NO SHIRT, SHERLOCK: Elementary, Season One
“Inhuman, indecent, and the quintessence of gruesomeness . . . “Our Final Noir Triple-Bill
For our final 1950’s film noir class, our teacher Elliot Lavine handed us three films, and all I can say is . . . nobody said making it to the end in a noir world would be easy. First of all, these films are not all late examples; rather they span most of the decade, from 1953 – 1958, so you … Continue reading “Inhuman, indecent, and the quintessence of gruesomeness . . . “Our Final Noir Triple-Bill
AS GOODIS AS IT GETS: The Burglar and Nightfall
It takes a special person to write noir . . . a bitter, lonely person plagued with disease and/or mental illness, awash in booze and/or drugs, who somehow manages to produce these dark nuggets of gold before dying in some horrible, lonely, bitter fashion. Ah, the life of a writer! Don’t you wonder how Dashiell Hammett, Raymond … Continue reading AS GOODIS AS IT GETS: The Burglar and Nightfall
NOIR IN THE KEY OF KUBRICK: The Killing and Killer’s Kiss
Stanley Kubrick is an auteur who can irk me no end. There is always beauty in his formalistic layout of shots, but there can be coldness, too. He was also the slowest of the classic directors, sometimes taking years to put a film together. His career spanned roughly the same amount of time as that … Continue reading NOIR IN THE KEY OF KUBRICK: The Killing and Killer’s Kiss
DEATH – AGAIN – ON THE NILE
Christie purists, we’ve had our day! Actually, that day lasted for quite a few years, through most of the 1980’s right into the millennium. You got your Warwick/Annis Tommy and Tuppence adventures and Joan Hickson as Miss Marple. You got your Poirot . . . well, most of him. And now it’s time to face the fact … Continue reading DEATH – AGAIN – ON THE NILE
BLACKLIST BLUES: Two by Losey, One by Dassin
We’re almost halfway through my 50’s film noir class, and one major theme has emerged, that of the great number of directors and screenwriters, their Hollywood careers shut down by the Communist blacklist, who flocked to noir as an outlet to both make money and vent their feelings about our troubled country. Some of them, like writer Dalton Trumbo, … Continue reading BLACKLIST BLUES: Two by Losey, One by Dassin
Ah Sweet Mystery! 