Posts

Image
The House with Laughing Windows If you were ever a habitue' of grindhouse movie theaters or drive-in cinemas during the 1970's, chances are you watched a giallo film or two (or ten) without ever knowing it . For those unfamiliar with the term, giallo is a genre of cinema that arose in Italy during a tumultuous period (late 60's to early 80's) which saw extreme political unrest, terrorism, kidnappings, assassinations and radicalism developing throughout the country. Combining elements of mystery, horror, gore and sexploitation, gialli were notorious for their lurid, often incomprehensible plotlines, sexual objectification of women (sometimes bordering on misogyny), clueless cops and ultra-violent deaths. Most often the protagonist was some everyday Joe (or Jane) unwittingly caught up in terrifying situations that, due to the ineptness/indifference of authorities, required them to play amateur detective. Well over half of the numerous giallo movies I've watched don...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
The Housemaid Sydney Sweeney seems to have popped up everywhere these past 12 months, and not always in a flattering way. Her modeling gig for American Eagle jeans generated considerable backlash on social media after the clothing manufacturer was accused of promoting eugenics through their ads focusing on Sweeney's superior (read: white) "genes". It didn't help matters when the Unspeakable Toilet Clot in the White House defended Sweeney in a gushing post that declared her promos "the hottest" out there. Then there was Mother Sweeney's birthday party with the MAGA be-hatted guests in the backyard, and the revelation that Syd, herself, is a registered Republican. Throughout it all, Ms. Sweeney remained mum until all the bad press and speculation finally prompted her to publicly disavow the ideologies ascribed to the ad campaign. Following this, she further clarified (maybe) that the birthday party's MAGA hats were simply worn as a joke by a group of A...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  Two Turtle Doves - The Thin Man After my last marathon post on Stanley Kubrick's controversial Eyes Wide Shut , I decided to dial it back a little and talk about the much more accessible (and, quite frankly, more enjoyable) The Thin Man , director W.S. Van Dyke's 1934 film adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's detective novel of the same name. Released the same year that my mother was born, The Thin Man  is the second of my posts on holiday-set movies that aren't really HOLI DAY MO VIES . Stars William Powell and Myrna Loy are incandescent as Nick and Nora Charles, a wealthy, high-spirited, recently married couple who find themselves embroiled in a series of murders when they return to Nick's New York City haunts for Christmas. Having eschewed the criminal element with whom he once associated, Nick, a former private detective, now manages his wife's business affairs back in San Francisco. But old habits die hard. When Clyde Wynant, an eccentric inventor-cum-old a...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  Eight Maids a-Milking--Eyes Wide Shut There are enough Christmas trees, twinkling lights, ornaments and decorations to qualify this blog entry as a holiday film. But it's grim as all get out and the festivities tend to lean towards the darker side. To be sure, the number of maids a-milking in Stanley Kubrick's grand finale is far greater than eight but we'll leave it at that for now. Yes, today we're getting into the spirit of the season with Stanley Kubrick's controversial 1999 (alleged) erotic thriller,  Eyes Wide Shut .  Both revered and reviled by critics and moviegoers, the highly controversial film was released four months after Kubrick's death from a heart attack--a shame, really, since the late director would almost certainly have enjoyed seeing talking heads exploding from sea to shining sea.   Adapted from Arthur Schnitzler's 1926 novella,  Traumnovelle , the plot of the story has been transferred from fin-de-siecle Vienna to end-of-the-mi...
Post a Comment
Read more