Sunday 31 March 2013
Blue Steel (1934)
Do you long for the days when you could see a Western matinee for a nickel down at the movie palace? Me too. Except I've never know those days. However, thanks to the magic of the interwebs, we can all enjoy a Saturday Western matinee, for free down ...
Tomorrow is Lon Chaney's Birthday
That's right, Lon Chaney was born on April 1, 1883. To celebrate Lon Chaney's birthday, Pretty Clever Films will be having a Chaneypalooza tomorrow on April 1. Check back on Monday for:
- A review of Lon Chaney's The Ace of Hearts
Saturday 30 March 2013
Koko the Clown
You don't talk early animation without talking Max Fleischer and you don't talk Fleischer without talking Koko the Clown. After Windsor McKay proved that animated characters could be popular in their own right and before Felix the Ca...
Friday 29 March 2013
Top 5 Marx Brothers Musical Moments
The Marx Brothers were masters of the talkie from their first picture, different from the gradual transition made silent era comedy heavyweights like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. From Groucho’s sarcastic quips to Chico’s fast-ta...
Cinema Sight
I'm sure, I'm POSITIVE, you're all reading Cinema Sight on a regular basis. I would find it almost impossible to believe that your average classic movie fan could have missed this gem. But I'm gonna bring it up any, just - y...
Movie Review: Kumare (2011)
Kumare is a documentary following director Vikram Gandhi who poses as a spiritual guru, Kumare. An enticing, powerful film, Kumare encourages important questions, while giving a few solutions to tho...
Thursday 28 March 2013
Top 5 Movie Eggs
Easter is upon us friends. Whether you ascribe some religious import to the occasion or you just like chocolate rabbits, it's hard to avoid the egg this time of year. Eggs are a most potent symbols for life, so it's little wonder they're adopted by b...
Motion Picture Gems
The movie blog Motion Picture Gems is pretty straight forward. As the subhead claims, it's a blog about classic movies.
But site admin Tom does a bang-up job. There isn't a torrent of content flowing here, but what comes ...
But site admin Tom does a bang-up job. There isn't a torrent of content flowing here, but what comes ...
Midnight in Paris (2011)
Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris opens with some of the most beautiful shots of Paris I've ever seen. I think of Goddard, and romance, everything about Paris' history that is so wonderfully rich and palpable...
Wednesday 27 March 2013
Chanel in Hollywood
Coco Chanel in Hollywood, you say? Well, of course, Chanel’s been to Hollywood, everyone’s been to Hollywood!
In 1931, after three years of persuasion and wooing, Samuel Goldwyn finally secured the famed Parisian designer to a $1 million contract ...
In 1931, after three years of persuasion and wooing, Samuel Goldwyn finally secured the famed Parisian designer to a $1 million contract ...
Pre-Code.Com
I just found the excellent Pre-Code.Com, but I'm so in love with I might run off to Mexico with it.
In case the site title didn't clue you in, this site is all about the Pre-Code era (defined here as 1930-1934) and the fi...
In case the site title didn't clue you in, this site is all about the Pre-Code era (defined here as 1930-1934) and the fi...
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
When I go out for sushi, I don’t often think about the time and effort taken to prepare each piece – but then I’ve never been to Jiro’s.
Japanese chef Jiro Ono is THE best sushi chef in the world. Jiro Dreams of Suhi
Japanese chef Jiro Ono is THE best sushi chef in the world. Jiro Dreams of Suhi
Tuesday 26 March 2013
Top 5 Spring Break Movies
Ahh, Spring! It's time to put away the snow shovels and the parkas and hit Daytona for Spring Break! Unless you've over the age of 21, in which case you probably can't get the time off from work. Hollywood churns out a yearly panapoly of Spring Break...
The Picture Show Man
There's not a lot of fancy stuff going over at The Picture Show Man. There's no singing and dancing, no whizzing sliders, or big beautiful pictures. What there is, however, is a meaty archive of articles about film history. ...
Woody Allen: In Acting Only
The Front plays on TCM Thursday, March 28th.
If you play “What if” games, as I do, of nonsensical alter-realities, you find yourself asking questions you can never really now the answer to, but still intrigue yourself to no end. What woul...
If you play “What if” games, as I do, of nonsensical alter-realities, you find yourself asking questions you can never really now the answer to, but still intrigue yourself to no end. What woul...
Monday 25 March 2013
Top 5 High School Movies
High school is a dramatic period of time. We're all complete freaks and weirdos during high school, victims of fluctuating hormones and not in control of out quickly expanding limbs. Due to the surreality of the experienc...
Mike Cline's Then Playing
Have you ever wanted to now exactly what was playing in one tiny town in NorthCarolina throughout the town's entire exhibition history? Okay, maybe your initial response to that question is "Um, no" but that's only because you've never visted
Review: The Lady Eve (1941)
Returning from a trip up the amazon, a wealthy but naive heir to brewery millions encounters a trio of classy card sharks on a cruise. He makes an easy mark 'til the beautiful daughter actually falls in love with him. If ...
Sunday 24 March 2013
Buster Keaton and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Originally published on October 4, 2011.
From Laurel and Hardy to Abbott and Costello to Cheech and Chong (yeah, I said it) - duos make the comedy world go 'round. And why not? Y...
Saturday 23 March 2013
Calling All Cinemaniacs!: The End
The end of the funding campaign that is! I'm happy to say that Calling All Cinemaniacs! reached it's funding goal (with a little bit to spare!).
Now comes the hard part... making this series of micro-docs!
A big huge thank you goes out to every...
Now comes the hard part... making this series of micro-docs!
A big huge thank you goes out to every...
Win a LomoKino Prize Pack from Lomography Canada
I mentioned a while back that the uber-kewl Lomography Canada got on board with Pretty Clever Films and Calling All Cinemaniacs! by loaning me an amazing LomoKino!
Now Lomography Canad...
The Surreality of Destino (1946/2003)
For most of us who choose to pack our memory banks with cinematic minutia, there is a great list of unrealized film projects that we occasionally visit in our minds so we can privately mourn the immeasurable cultural absence left by these unmade mast...
Friday 22 March 2013
The Phantom Carriage (1921)
This review was originally published on June 23, 2011.
TCM screened Victor Sjöström's The Phantom Carriage (1921) as part of the regular "Silent Sunday Nights" feature last week. While the movie's title seems to promise a Nosfer...
TCM screened Victor Sjöström's The Phantom Carriage (1921) as part of the regular "Silent Sunday Nights" feature last week. While the movie's title seems to promise a Nosfer...
Thursday 21 March 2013
The Most Beautiful Fraud in the World
As Jean-Luc Godard famously said, "Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world." For me that cuts right to the heart of the matter, and I'm guessing it does for Kevyn Knox as well, since he took the name for his site directly from Godard's mouth....
Ruby Sparks (2012)
Ruby Sparks came as probably one of the most surprisingly fantastic films I’ve seen in awhile. I went into it a little apprehensive, I have to say. A film about a guy’s fictional character coming to life, and then becoming his girlfrien...
Wednesday 20 March 2013
The Jackie Coogan Shimmy
I just recently had the pleasure of seeing the Jackie Coogan movie My Boy<...
Calling All Cinemaniacs!: Day 29
Whoa. As my childhood babysitters fav tv show said, like sands through the hour glass!
Indiegogo is now counting in hours not days for Calling All Cinemaniacs. There's only 61 hours left to contribute, perhaps less by the time you read this. The ...
Indiegogo is now counting in hours not days for Calling All Cinemaniacs. There's only 61 hours left to contribute, perhaps less by the time you read this. The ...
Cinephilia and Beyond
Okay, the fab tumblog Cinephilia and Beyond features a header that's a framed plaque of the phrase, "What would Lubitsch do?" Sold!
But that's only the start of what's to be found in this amazing archive of cinephilia. Fr...
But that's only the start of what's to be found in this amazing archive of cinephilia. Fr...
Review: Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us? (2010)
It’s a documentary about the honeybee, but it’s not your typical nature film. Queen of the Sun is a quasi existentialist examination of the decline of the honeybee through a phenom...
Tuesday 19 March 2013
Watch It: The Show (1922)
The Show is comedy short, released on March 19, 1922, starring Larry Semon and Oliver Hardy.
The Show might not be the most inventive comedy ever made, but with a harried theater propman who has ...
The Show might not be the most inventive comedy ever made, but with a harried theater propman who has ...
Silents and Talkies
Silents and Talkies is a beautiful, clean little blog run by a nifty gal named Kate Gabrielle. She's got a little be a classic film obsession cooking over there and we all get to benefit.
Kate is currently on a movie-a-day diet and ambitiously lis...
Kate is currently on a movie-a-day diet and ambitiously lis...
Review: Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)
In the decade following Peter Jackson’s Tolkien trilogy, it seems Hollywood has been in a relentless crusade to plunder every remaining region and as-yet unmined district of storybook land. We have had Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderl...
The Merry Monarch (1933)
Based on the novel Adventures of King Pausole and directed by Alexis Granowsky, The Merry Monarch is a kind of uber male fantasy loosely based on King Solomon and his many, many wives. Emile Jannings, silent film st...
Monday 18 March 2013
Costume Designers in Hollywood's Golden Age
Adrian! Orry-Kelly! Travis Banton! Edith Head! Walter Plunkett!
These names conjure up images of glittery, shimmery, and glamorous movie stars wearing the most beautiful creations ever to grace the silver screen. These designers created the iconic...
These names conjure up images of glittery, shimmery, and glamorous movie stars wearing the most beautiful creations ever to grace the silver screen. These designers created the iconic...
Calling All Cinemaniacs!: Day 27
Wowee zowee, Cinefest is a good time. It's also an exhausting time. Even my fingers hurt!
I met a lot of Cinemaniacs at Cinefest. I even talked to a few of them on camera for this project. Now to start sorting through that footage and doing some ...
I met a lot of Cinemaniacs at Cinefest. I even talked to a few of them on camera for this project. Now to start sorting through that footage and doing some ...
Row Three
Row Three is just an all around awesome movie website, full of smart writers and contributors who share a passion for film. Here's what they say about themselves: Row Three is a collaborative film website that aims to foster discussion and community ...
Review: Like Crazy (2011)
If you've ever been in love, then Like Crazy may leave a pretty strong and lasting impact on you. It's a simple story that deals with the most complex feeling in existence. Like Crazy follows the relati...
Sunday 17 March 2013
Watch It: Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1926)
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp might not be as much fun as it sounds, since these are depression-era riding the rails tramps and not -er- the other kind. However, it does star silent clown Harry Langdon and it's pretty damn funny.
Plus, you ...
Plus, you ...
Saturday 16 March 2013
Aleksandr Ptushko, Claymation, and The New Gulliver
In the mad dash to find something to talk about for this edition of Saturday Morning Cartoons, I stumbled across The New Gulliver, directed by Aleksandr Ptushko, in 1935 It's a mix of live action and claymation. Claymation!
...
...
Friday 15 March 2013
Top 5 Joan Crawford Movies
The fabulous Joan Crawford had a long career. From her first silent production as a humble double for Norma Shearer in Lady of the Night to her final (and dismal) feature Trog, if nothing else Crawford always worked. There's a lot of other stuff that...
Silents Are Golden
A repository of all things silent cinema? I'm in. And that's exactly what you'll find at Silents Are Golden.
This amazing movie site has been around for fifteen years... so since the dawn of the interwebs. The ...
This amazing movie site has been around for fifteen years... so since the dawn of the interwebs. The ...
Cinefest 33: The Pursuit of Happiness (1934)
The Pursuit of Happiness (1934), directed by Alexander Hall, starring Francis Lederer, Joan Bennett, and Charles Ruggles, is precisely the kind of movie that makes you want to vacation in Syracuse, NY. The movie offers a nif...
Review of Oldboy (2003)
Oldboy (Oldeuboi, South Korea) 2003
I had to really think hard before deciding to even submit a review on this film because it's very difficult to review with clarity given its broad scope. It is an incredibly strange and...
I had to really think hard before deciding to even submit a review on this film because it's very difficult to review with clarity given its broad scope. It is an incredibly strange and...
Cinefest 33: Summer Daze (1932)
Summer Daze (1932), directed by Albert Ray, was my first taste of the once wildly popular comedy pairing of Karl Dane and George K. Arthur. Though I've heard of the Dane and Arthur, I had never seen Dane and Arthur, as they'...
Cinefest 33: My Boy (1921)
Let's face it - every Jackie Coogan movie follows the same basic trajectory. Jackie is somehow orphaned and set adrift in the world. Then he teams up with some old codger, who falls in love with the boy despite himself. Hardships befall the pair, but...
Thursday 14 March 2013
SXSW: Top 5 Rock Movies
We’re right in the midst of the Texas’s unofficial Hipster Holiday, “SXSW’ which has grown from the little movie festival that could, to the epicenter of interactive media, movies and music that goes on for 2 weeks. Last time I focused my list on the...
Film Noir of the Week
Here's the bad news about the excellent film noir blog Film Noir of the Week: as the name implies, updates occur about once per week. Here's the good news: Film Noir of the Week has been at it since 2005. That's a lot of wee...
Review: Frank Capra’s Lost Horizon (1937)
How would you feel if you, through a series of extraordinary circumstances, became the prisoner of a utopian society? with all your physical and intellectual needs met as you live out your days in an opulent palace free from the daily grind of social...
Calling All Cinemaniacs!: Day 23
It's cold in Syracuse, ya'll! I discovered this as I groped my way through the still dark to a Hess gas station in a desperate bid to find coffee.
Last night, even before the official start of Cinefest, Cinemaniacs from all over gathered at the Ho...
Last night, even before the official start of Cinefest, Cinemaniacs from all over gathered at the Ho...
Wednesday 13 March 2013
SXSW: Top 5 Films Made In or Around Austin
We’re right in the midst of the Texas’s unofficial Hipster Holiday, “SXSW’ which has grown from the little movie festival that could, to the epicenter of interactive media, movies and music that goes on for 2 weeks. A lot of groundbreaking films have...
Frankensteinia
You might think a movie blog devoted solely and only to Franksentein would be somewhat limited. Ah, not so! As the always amazing Frankensteinia demonstrates, the is no shortage of Frankenstein news, images, and topics in th...
Calling All Cinemaniacs!: Day 22
Calling All Cinemaniacs! got a mention today on the Toronto based movie site iheartmoviesto.com! You can check it out here.
First...
First...
No Impact Man (2009)
I’ll admit that after watching No Impact Man I did start to wonder about my own, perhaps, non-environmentally friendly habits; running water too long, throwing away plastic bags etc. But the whole point of No Imp...
Tuesday 12 March 2013
The 5 Best Neo-Noirs
While we’ve accepted that the Film Noir period generally covers the 1940s – 1950s, and the 1960s cinema of Clouzot, Melville, and Truffaut paid homage to this singularly American phenomena with their own subjective take on the hard-boiled genre, a mo...
Calling All Cinemaniacs!: Day 21
Things are looking pretty great here on day 21 at Calling All Cinemaniacs HQ!
Thanks to some generous contributions at the end of last week and over the weekend, the campaign has reached 79% of the overall goal with 11 days left to go. One final p...
Thanks to some generous contributions at the end of last week and over the weekend, the campaign has reached 79% of the overall goal with 11 days left to go. One final p...
Observations on Film Art
What happens when a renowned film theorist marries a professor of film studies? They make a website on film art, of course. That's what we have in David Bordwell's Website on Cinema and the amazing blog component put together by he and his wife Krist...
Review: John Ford’s The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936)
Welcome to the exclusive and exotic Shark Island - the perfect topical destination for the southern gentleman recently convicted in the conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln. During your stay you will have access to an open-air ...
Monday 11 March 2013
Watch It: Seven Chances (1925)
Buster Keaton's Seven Chances was released on March 11, 1925. In it, Buster plays Jimmy Shannon, a partner in a financial brokerage firm that is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. He's presented with his grandfather's wil...
007 Magazine
If you loiter around Pretty Clever Films very much, you may have noticed that I'm kinda obsessesed with Bond, James Bond these days. So imagine my delight when I discovered 007 Magazine, the preeminent source for all this Bo...
Review: Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Safety Not Guaranteed is a film rooted in nerdiness. It’s a product of the 2000s, and a celebration of the underdog and weirdoes, which is why this film may or may not work for everyone. Geekiness is the new black. Comic boo...
Sunday 10 March 2013
Watch It: They Made Me a Killer (1946)
They Made Me a Killer is a 1946 B-movie directed by William C. Thomas and starring Robert Lowery and Barbara Britton. The film was made by Pine-Thomas, the B-movie unit of Paramount Pictures.
They Made Me a Killer
They Made Me a Killer
Watch It: The Proud Rebel (1958)
The Proud Rebel is a 1958 western directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Alan Ladd and Oliva de Havilland.
In the Proud Rebel, Alan Ladd plays John Chandler, a Confederate veteran desparate to f...
In the Proud Rebel, Alan Ladd plays John Chandler, a Confederate veteran desparate to f...
Saturday 9 March 2013
Watch It: Tango Tangles (1914)
Released on March 9, 1914, the Keystone comedy Tango Tangles features Charlie Chaplin, sans mustache, and Fatty Arbuckle. Charlie and Fatty have an eye on the same gal in a dance hall. Hilarity ensues.
Here's a not-so-gre...
Here's a not-so-gre...
Watch It: Betty Boop Cartoons
Betty Boop is an international star of big and small screens. A perennial favorite, here are a few of Betty's toons that you can watch right now!
Before she was the star of her own series, Betty appeared i...
Betty Boop in Dizzy Dishes (1930)
Before she was the star of her own series, Betty appeared i...
Betty Boop
She was sassy, saucy, sexy and know as "Queen of the Animated Screen" - Betty Boop! Created by Max Fleischer, Betty first appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series. She went on to be featured in coming strips and merch - oh ...
Friday 8 March 2013
Top 5 Movies Set on Trains
Lots of movies are set on trains and is it any wonder. There's really nothing more romantic than a train. One of my deepest regrets is that I was born after the golden era of train travel. Some of the very first motion pictures involved trains, wheth...
The Sheila Variations
The Sheila Variations is one of the finest blogs out there. Full stop. And this lady is prolific!
The Sheila Variations is not solely about films, though there is a copious amount of movie conten...
The Sheila Variations is not solely about films, though there is a copious amount of movie conten...
Tuesday 5 March 2013
Top 5 Stage to Screen Adaptations
Some of the best works of literature come in the form of plays, written for the stage. Some of the best films come in the form of play adaptations, taking the idea of 'staging' a play to different and potentially more challenging levels. Whether you ...
Watch It: Hell's Hinges (1916)
Hell's Hinges is a 1916 American Western silent film starring William S. Hart and Clara Williams. Directed by Charles Swickard, William S. Hart and Clifford Smith, and produced by Thomas H. Ince, the screenplay was written by C. Gardner...
PCF Blog of the Day: All Good Things
All Good Things seriously has the longest, wordiest subhead in all of movie blogdom. But that's okay because every word of it is true. You may think it's a bold claim to be ALL good things, but this little film blog comes sh...
Monday 4 March 2013
5 Overlooked Silent Films that I Love
Sure, everyone knows Buster Keaton and The General, Charlie Chaplin and - well, all of 'em. The people love Harold Lloyd hanging off that clock face in Safety Last. Everyone knows the controversy su...
Opposite Blood (2012)
 | Opposite Blood (2012)PCF Blog of the Day: 1001 Movies I (Apparently) Must See Before I Die
If you're guessing that 1001 Movie I (Apparently) Must See Before I Die is a blog that chronicles one cinemaniac's journey to see all the movies listed in the best-selling book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Review: We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
We Need to Talk About Kevin is one of the most frustrating films I’ve ever seen. I say that as a both a compliment and a critique. It's a film rooted in hoity-toitiness, one that tries almost too hard to make a statement and have a mean...
Sunday 3 March 2013Review: The Seventh Cross (1944)
Seven prisoners escape from a concentration camp and struggle across Nazi Germany. Six are captured, tortured, and strung up on one of seven crosses in built in the camp. The seventh cross remains empty.
That's some powerful, if heavy-handed symbo... Saturday 2 March 2013Winsor McCay, Animation Inspiration
Winsor Zenic McCay - how's that for a name guys and gals? - was an early American cartoonist and animator,. While he was mostly known as Windsor McCay, and celebrated for the comic strip Little Nemo and the animated cartoon Gertie ...
Friday 1 March 2013Watch It: The Pleasure Garden (1926)
Today, my friends, is the anniversary of one Mr. Alfred Hitchcock's directorial debut. The Pleasure Garden, Hitch's first credited as director, debuted for the London press on March 1, 1926. It was officially released in 19...
PCF Blog of the Day: All Things Classic
What do we have hear? A movie blog named All Things Classic, with a header image of Buster Keaton, and a tag line that's a Mae West quote. You know, I'm all over that shizz.
All Things Classic is... Review: Five Star Final (1931)
A blast from the Pretty Clever Films past - This review was originally published in September of 2011.
It's tough to pass up a movie made in 1931 starring Edward G. Robinson as a fast talking newsman. Five Star Final...
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