Month: June 2020

There’s growth all around “Pain & Glory” (2019), personal, universal, and out with the film itself, and while there is an overarching narrative, Pedro Almodóvar’s film is as equally about his self journey as it is Salvador Mallo’s back and forth throughout life. A story of pleasure, it is Almodóvar after all, this film accounts… Continue reading Pride Month, Retrospective Review: Pain & Glory (Dolor y gloria) — In Their Own League

Nearly two decades since its release, “Mulholland Drive” (2001) remains a Rubik’s cube of plot twists and turns. No matter how many contradictory analyses have attempted to explain what it is actually about, there is no arguing that it is a masterful depiction of LGBTQ love and desire. All the quirks and oddities of a… Continue reading Pride Month, Retrospective Review: Mulholland Drive — In Their Own League

Featured image from Killzone 2. I’ve noticed with delight that there is an increasingly large selection of Hong Kong films available to stream in the US. Here’s a roundup of stuff that is worth checking out (note: there is also a lot of Wong Kar-wai, but criterion is restoring and releasing his whole filmography, so […]… Continue reading Hong Kong Cinema on Streaming — STROHLTOPIA

Unveiled are the sounds that lay dormant in “Blue Velvet” the entire duration of the scene, terrible sounds distorted by melody. via The Horror of Pop Songs: Psychological and Historical Consonance in David Lynch — Alex Hertz Design

directed by Kristoffer Nyholm Have you heard of Flannan Isles Lighthouse? Yes, I’m sure you’re a big fan of lighthouses and you even have posters with them all over your walls. And if you happen not to be such fan (hard to believe, but okay), I need to tell you about this particular lighthouse . […]… Continue reading One more spoken and we are dead. “The Vanishing” (2018) — I have nothing to watch

Introduction Lifeboat is a 1944 American survival film directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a story by John Steinbeck. The film stars Tallulah Bankhead with William Bendix. Also in the cast are Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson and John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn and Canada Lee. It is set entirely on a lifeboat launched […]… Continue reading Lifeboat (1944) — Military Gogglebox

Introduction Lifeboat is a 1944 American survival film directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a story by John Steinbeck. The film stars Tallulah Bankhead with William Bendix. Also in the cast are Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson and John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn and Canada Lee. It is set entirely on a lifeboat launched […]… Continue reading Lifeboat (1944) — Military Gogglebox

David Farland’s Writing Tips: Opening Well There’s a list of things that you need to open a story. In fact, depending upon the author you talk to, there are dozens of different lists. For example, one editor I respect recently suggested that in the opening, you need to establish the “Ghost” of the story, spelled […]… Continue reading David Farland’s Writing Tips: Opening Well — David Farland | Story Doctor

Of all the Hollywood folks who have Gone Too Soon, one that may not immediately spring to mind is Irving G. Thalberg. You might recognize his name from the award occasionally handed out at the Oscars to purveyors of fine films. Past recipients include Alfred Hitchcock, Cecil B. DeMille, and Steven Spielberg. As for Thalberg […]… Continue reading Requiem for a Hollywood Mogul — Silver Screenings

This movie is almost entirely built on performance, a gentle balance between Cary Grant exuding enigmatic charm, easy duplicitousness, and barely concealed malice, often within the same scene. The audience is set to interpret the variations in how he presents himself along with Joan Fontaine, our heroine. It’s a journey that starts as a rather […]… Continue reading Suspicion — David Vining, Author