Whistle Down the Wind
The other evening I suddenly remembered a film I saw long long ago, and had very much loved, back when I was a child. It came out in 1961 and was called “Whistle Down the Wind,” and nearly all I … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Movies
Franco Zeffirelli has died at 96
Franco Zeffirelli died Saturday at the venerable age of 96. But to me, he was and always will be the director of the 1968 film “Romeo and Juliet,” a movie that breathed extraordinary life into Shakespeare. The sweep, color, costumes, … Continue reading →
Passengers
Last night I watched “Passengers,” a movie that was made in 2016 and can roughly be described as science fiction. It’s no masterpiece, but I liked it, which is more than I can say for most movies I see these … Continue reading →
RIP Doris Day
Doris Day died yesterday at the age of 97. Day was all sunshine, and her singing voice was velvet. She was mocked by some for being so all-fired wholesome, but she was a great entertainer in several genres and made … Continue reading →
This seems timely, somehow: riveting street scene movies of Paris in the 1890s
The movie clips open with a shot of Notre Dame. The film restoration techniques used here seem similar to those used by the director of the WWI documentary “They Shall Not Grow Old.”
Continue reading →“Unplanned” finds a larger audience than expected
The movie “Unplanned” is about many things, but one thing it’s about is a person changing her mind on an important issue. In this case, the issue is abortion, and the change was from being head of a Planned Parenthood … Continue reading →
Songs about soulmates
In this recent thread, there was an interesting discussion regarding popular music about finding your soulmate (or thinking you’ve found your soulmate). But no one mentioned the song that immediately came to my mind: “I’ll Know” from “Guys and Dolls.” … Continue reading →
Some #MeToo advocates get a wakeup call
This is exactly why due process matters. It’s not just an altruistic abstraction. The crocodile may eat you and your loved ones last, but the crocodile will eat you because it’s insatiably hungry: A few days ago, Lisa Borders, the … Continue reading →
And speaking of the biological differences between men and women…
…which we were— When you let transgender women (that is, people born as male who now identify as female) compete as girls in high school track meets, you will get predictable results: Connecticut is one of 17 states that allow … Continue reading →
Not watching the 2019 Oscars; thinking of Malek and Mercury
I just couldn’t bring myself to watch the Oscars this year, even for the fashions. I’ve only seen one of the movies this year that was nominated, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It was fun (despite the historical inaccuracy typical of the genre), … Continue reading →
The genius of Peter Sellers
Every now and then this blog has visitors of the anti-vaxx or anti-fluoride variety. Reading one of the latter the other day, I thought of the movie “Dr. Strangelove,” and recalled that the Jack D. Ripper character had a thing … Continue reading →
It’s Groundhog Day. Again.
What could be more appropriate on Groundhog Day than a repeat of an old essay about the movie, a personal favorite of mine (slightly edited, of course, because in the spirit of the movie we try to get it better … Continue reading →