I'll continue with some of cinema's most treasured images. For those familiar with the scenes represented they're bound to invoke a strong emotional response. The narratives' indelible moments are the primary reason these captures were selected.
Read MoreThese are some of Cinema's sad departures of 2018 taken from my personal notes soon after the events took place:
Read MoreIn this series, I'll outline both the finest performances by an actress and those given by an actor in a motion picture. The criteria concerns actors of both genders who are able to communicate an idiosyncratic and thorough understanding of how their characters feel toward, and relate to, the people and situations they are involved with. These performances are delivered in an entirely natural manner without unnecessary affectation or embellishment. Their preservation on film gives the viewer an opportunity to keenly scrutinise each thespian's work. Therefore, the acting must not only be appropriate for the cinematic medium (as opposed to a more emphatic stage delivery) but allow for new character revelations to be discovered upon repeat viewings.
Read MoreJust some thoughts on current happenings:
Read MoreTreasure Trivia:
The Cinema Cafe has a chat room on Facebook that readers are welcome to join here. On Mondays, we have a movie trivia game called "Match-up Mondays" where the object is to name the common denominator between all of the films pictured and correctly identify them.
Like Quiz #7, each film has a memorable scene taking place at a similar site, only this time, instead of a pawnshop, it is a place (in one form or another) where most of us have likely frequented. Can you name the films shown and the locale each of their scenes has in common? Feel free to use all available resources. The first person to correctly identify all of the films and the common denominator here will receive a Region 4 (Australia) DVD (legitimately licensed from Universal) of The Great Gatsby (1949)!
Here are the 6 films (Good luck!):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Just some thoughts on current happenings:
Read MoreThese are some of Cinema's sad departures of 2018 taken from my personal notes soon after the events took place:
Read MoreJust some thoughts on current happenings:
Read MoreI'll continue with some of cinema's most treasured images. For those familiar with the scenes represented they're bound to invoke a strong emotional response. The narratives' indelible moments are the primary reason these captures were selected.
Read MoreNoted actor and director, the charismatic Burt Reynolds (February 11, 1936 - September 6, 2018) has died at age 82.
Guest contributor Bob DiMucci has provided this tribute to his career:
The Films of Burt Reynolds
Read MoreJust some thoughts on current happenings:
Read MoreNoted stage and screen actress, the beautiful and effervescent Barbara Harris (July 25, 1935 - August 21, 2018) has died at age 83.
Guest contributor Bob DiMucci has provided a tribute to her motion picture acting career:
The Film Appearances of Barbara Harris
Read MoreI'll continue with some of cinema's most treasured images. For those familiar with the scenes represented they're bound to invoke a strong emotional response. The narratives' indelible moments are the primary reason these captures were selected.
Read MoreActress Mary Carlisle (February 3, 1914 - August 1, 2018) one of Hollywood's most enduring stars, has died at age 104.
Guest contributor Bob DiMucci has provided a tribute, including some highlights, to her motion picture acting career:
The Film Appearances of Mary Carlisle
Read MoreJust some thoughts on current happenings:
Read MoreSadly, one of the great screenwriters of all time has passed... perhaps the greatest. Japanese filmmaker Shinobu Hashimoto has died at age 100.
Guest contributor Anthony Francis has graciously allowed me to collaborate on his article regarding this most influential loss to the world of cinema.
Read MoreJust some thoughts on current happenings:
Read More
Hidden Gem #80: Rogue Cop (1954, U.S.A.)
Director: Roy Rowland
From the same writers who brought us 1953's The Big Heat (Sidney Boehm adapting William P. McGivern's source material) comes this far lesser known but just as potent film noir that replaces Glenn Ford's vengeful but clean cop Dave Bannion with Robert Taylor's conflicted but dirty cop Christopher Kelvaney.
Hidden Gem #79: Hunger a.k.a. Sult (1966, Denmark/Norway/Sweden)
Director: Henning Carlsen
The director, highly impressed with Nobel Prize winner Knut Hamsun's novel 'Sult', has provided this penetrating and emotionally consuming adaptation that delivers an equally unwavering performance from lead actor Per Oscarsson.
Hidden Gem #78: Between Time and Timbuktu (1972, U.S.A.)
Director: Fred Barzyk
This TV movie is a wildly creative sampling of writer Kurt Vonnegut's various literary works and deserves far more exposer and recognition than it has so far received.
Hidden Gem #77: Série noire (1979, France)
Director: Alain Corneau
An eccentric door-to-door salesman (a stunning performance from Patrick Dewaere) becomes progressively unhinged after encountering a teenager turned prostitute (pimped out by her money grubbing aunt) in Georges Perec and Alain Corneau’s bizarre but energised adaptation of noir writer Jim Thompson's novel.
Hidden Gem #76: He Was Her Man (1934, U.S.A.)
Director: Lloyd Bacon
A little gem that once again pairs stars James Cagney and Joan Blondell, may have less of the snappy banter between them we've come to expect, but their romantic feelings for one another run deeper, and really hit home after witnessing the shocking finale, a conclusion only made possible during the film's pre-code time period.
Hidden Gem #75: Adam at Six A.M. (1970, U.S.A.)
Director: Robert Scheerer
Adam at Six A.M. is a finely etched and subtle "coming of age" film with Michael Douglas in the starring role that was overshadowed by the same year's similarly themed and more dramatic Five Easy Pieces; still, this hidden gem deserves more attention especially for the remarkable character portrayal provided by Joe Don Baker.
Hidden Gem #74: If I Had a Million (1932, U.S.A.)
Directors: James Cruze ("Death Cell")
H. Bruce Humberstone ("The Forger")
Ernst Lubitsch ("The Clerk")
Norman Z. McLeod ("China Shop", "Road Hogs")
Lothar Mendes (unknown contribution)
Stephen Roberts ("Violet", "Grandma")
William A. Seiter ("The Three Marines")
Norman Taurog ("Prologue", "Epilogue")
Eight different episodes concerning the surprised recipients of one million dollars comprise this delightful and enchanting pre-code gem with a stellar cast of rising stars.
Hidden Gem #73: Apartment Zero (1988, U.K.)
Director: Martin Donovan
This unique and compelling relationship/mystery-thriller has the admirable distinction of investing, rather than ignoring as many similarly themed films do, a well substantiated emotional centre in its main characters which not only heightens our engagement when the conflicts get out of hand, but provides impetus for pondering the events long after they occur.
Hidden Gem #72: The Lost One a.k.a. Der Verlorene (1951, Germany)
Director: Peter Lorre
The celebrated actor returned to his native Germany to make his one directorial effort: a shockingly bold, deeply analytical and expressionistic character study about a research scientist living under the Nazi regime compelled to commit murder and its devastating aftereffects on his tortured soul.
Hidden Gem #71: The Sea a.k.a. Il Mare (1963, Italy)
Director: Giuseppe Patroni Griffi
The director here, better known for his work in opera, emulates Antonioni in the way he captures, develops and exposes the nature of his three principal subjects' emotional dependencies in this little known Italian masterwork.
A.G.
Hidden Gems # 1 - 8 begin here.
I'll continue with some of cinema's most treasured images. For those familiar with the scenes represented they're bound to invoke a strong emotional response. The narratives' indelible moments are the primary reason these captures were selected.
Read MoreJust some thoughts on current happenings:
Read More
