Archive for 2012
Hey TIFF, Silent Movies Were Never Actually Silent
I woke up early(ish) this morning to be sure I had breakfast before heading out to a screening of David Copperfield (1913) at TIFF Bell Lightbox. This movie screened as part of TIFF Cinematheque’s Dickens on Screen lineup and this silent film fan was pretty stoked to see it. David Copperfield is not the most [...]
Review: The Divine Lady (1929)
The Divine Lady (1929) is an historical drama based on the true life love affair between Emma Hart and Admiral Horatio Nelson of the British Navy. The story opens with the arrival of slatternly Emma Hart, a cook’s daughter, at the home of Charles Greville. Emma becomes Greville’s kept woman until he tires of her.
Review: The Great Train Robbery (1903)
The Great Train Robbery is a 1903 American Western film written, produced, and directed by Edwin S. Porter. The story opens with two masked bandits breaking into a railroad telegraph office, where they force the operator at gunpoint to stop the train at the station’s water tan. When the train pulls into the station, the bandits board the train, kill [...]
Film Friday Weekly Round Up
I made the somewhat arbitrary holiday season resolution to NOT watch A Christmas Story. Why? By my rough, back-of-the-envelope calculations I’ve seen this movie at least 28 times, but accounting for years with multiple viewings in one season, probably more like 34, maybe as many as 38. So I’ve watched A Christmas Story somewhere between [...]
Gallery of Images from Django (1966)
Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 Django is the cheesy spaghetti western that launched a billion imitations, including Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. If you enjoy discussion, check out Brandy & Ben See Django at TIFF Bell Lightbox. If you just like to look at pictures, enjoy this gallery of images from Django!
Brandy & Ben See Django at the TIFF Bell Lightbox
In the ramp up to the release of Quentin Tarantino’s hotly anticipated new movie, TIFF Bell Lightbox is screening Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 Django. This movie might rightfully be subtitled: The patient zero movie that launched 30-100 not-quite-official sequels featuring the character of Django. But that would be a mouthful, wouldn’t it? At any rate, Django [...]
Pretty Clever Film’s Ultimate Movie Lover’s Holiday Gift Guide
So here it is, Pretty Clever FIlm’s Ultimate Movie Lover’s Holiday Gift Guide. Ask and ye shall receive, film fans! I asked all of you what’s on your holiday wish list and you responded in droves. Here are the highlights of what Pretty Clever Film’s readers are hoping to find stuffing their stockings – or [...]
Georges Méliès and the Birth of Filmmaking
Georges Méliès was born on December 8, 1861. I says hats off (or heads off if you’re as talented as Monsieur Méliès) to the man who first recognized cinema’s potential for magic. To honor the bday of one of cinema’s greatest pioneers, here’s a repost of a Méliès primer that I wrote for the Toronto Film Scene, [...]
Film Friday Weekly Roundup
It’s beginning to look a lot like… Holiday movie time. Yep, time to dust off It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story or whatever holiday movie floats your boat. (If you keep reading, you’ll get to Robert Osborne’s favs!) Some holiday movies really are just treacly rubbish and yet… no matter how [...]
Watch It and Review It: Be My Wife (1921)
Be My Wife (1921) was written and directed by and stars Max Linder. Linder is a little bit like the rich man’s Charlie Chaplin. While Linder was actually French and always “European,” his recurring comic character of Max was popular with American audiences for awhile. But the prevalence of hardcore slapstick meant Linder’s movies became [...]
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