Good afternoon Cinemaniacs!
Here's an awesome update on the campaign - we broke the $1,000 mark this morning! I cannot express either my deep gratitude or my amazement at the support that Calling All Cinemaniacs! has received.
Here's the part w...
Thursday, 28 February 2013
Top Five Most Moving and Inspirational Movies
Sometimes we watch movies to simply be entertained. Other times we want to be terrified, challenged, intrigued. And there are movies that inspire. Filmmakers have long turned their lenses to situation where humans are required to be better than they ...
Check out this Funny Short from Brothers Tucker
One of the awesome contributors to Calling All Cinemaniacs!, Tony Tucker, is part of Brothers Tucker, a sibling duo intent on making you laugh. Tony doesn't just fund little film related projects, he also makes 'em!
Brothers Tucker just posted the...
Brothers Tucker just posted the...
Alfred Hitchcock Geek
This beauty of a film blog had me at Alfred Hitchcock. The geek is just a bonus. As you might have guessed from the title, Alfred Hitchcock Geek is all Hitchcock, all the time. And it is good.
From book reviews, news abou...
From book reviews, news abou...
Review: Tokyo Drifter (1966)
You know when your Yakuza gang disbands because your boss is going straight? And then a rival gang leader tries to recruit you, but you're having none of it because you're so loyal to the old boss? And then that rival gang tries to kill you? And then...
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
Top 5 Movies Adapted from Novels
As an English student and self-professed cinemaniac, I have to say that there are some terrible film adaptations of fantastic books. Hopefully, this list will show you that yes, there are some fantastic adaptations out there that also maintained some...
Calling All Cinemaniacs! and the Go Go Factor
Calling All Cinemaniacs! Update
Thanks to:
Pam Fossen
Wade Sheeler
Silent Czarina, aka Shirley Hughes
William JR
Caren Feldman
Timothy McNeela
Spencer Lindenman
Steve & Debbie Dean
Tony Tucker
Becki Jolli
Morley Schul...
366 Weird Movies
366 Weird Movies has a mission which is explained in the site's tag line: Celebrating the cinematically surreal, bizarre, cult, oddball, fantastique, psychotronic, and the just plain WEIRD!
There's a subset of this mission, which is to compile THE...
There's a subset of this mission, which is to compile THE...
Review: Prometheus (2012)
In 1979, Ridley Scott took science fiction to greater proportions with Alien, a terrifying cat and mouse chase between a blood thirsty alien and a desperately frightened crew trapped with the predator on their small enclosed ship in the middle...
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Top 5 Movie Clocks
Rather I should say, Top 5 Movies with Clocks or Top 5 Movies That Are Clocks, or some such. Really, I'm talking about movies that are time pieces, where time and the passing of it counts for the characters, the plot, and the audience. If I was just ...
PCF Blog of the Day: Backlots
Every time a post from Backlots pops up in my rss feed, I feel a little tingle of excitement. That's because Lara, the doyenne of Backlots, is truly afflicted with a serious case of cinemania. And she brings that fervor for ...
Review: The Harder They Fall (1956)
The Harder They Fall (1956) was directed by Mark Robson, featuring Humphrey Bogart in his last film before his death in 1957. The film was based on the 1947 novel by Budd Schulberg and remains a stinging indictment of pre-commissioned b...
Monday, 25 February 2013
Watch It: The Finishing Touch (1928)
The Finishing Touch is a 1928 short comedy silent film produced by Hal Roach, directed by Clyde Bruckman and starring Laurel and Hardy. It was shot in November and December 1927 and released February 25, 1928 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
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PCF Blog of the Day: Silver Screenings
When you click into the About page of the amazing classic movie blog Silver Screenings, you find this statement: "Classic movies are good for you, like chocolate eclairs or a trip to the spa. You should never let a week go b...
Review: Pursued (1947)
Funny story. I made plans to see Raoul Walsh's 1947 psychological western Pursued with a friend a month in advance. For some reason, I wrote only Pursued! on the date box in question, leading to a one weird day where I wonde...
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Psychic Critic: These Are the 2013 Oscar Winners
This just in: I woke up from a mad dream in a feverish sweat. A voice from the heavens crackled across my brain, and the voice named the Oscar winners to me. It's currently 1:35 PM PST and I want to see if this voice was an ethereal presence, an supe...
Watch It: The Hitchhiker (1953)
Now that you've got a few hours to kill 'til Oscar time, I present to you The Hitchhiker, a 1953 crime drama directed by none other than Miss Ida Lupino.
In the comments section of The Top 5 Film Noir Bad Guys, Grand Old ...
In the comments section of The Top 5 Film Noir Bad Guys, Grand Old ...
Calling All Cinemaniacs!: A Quick Update
Happy Oscar day my fellow cinemaniacs! No matter how I try, no matter how I resist, no matter how many times I tell myself it's all politics and Forest Gump will always win, I have never successfully resisted watching The Big Show. But boooo on the A...
Oscar Follies: The First Ten Years
The first decade of the Academy Awards was a bit of a wash. Throughout the 1930s, only a few films now considered as true classics actually claimed the golden statue for Best Picture (or Outstanding Production as it was known back the...
PCF Blog of the Day: Caftan Woman
The Caftan Woman ship is manned by one Patricia Nolan Hall, or Miss Patty as I like to call her. I have the great good fortune to have actually spent some time with Miss Patty and her amazing sister Maureen,...
Saturday, 23 February 2013
Watch It: Kansas Silent Film Festival Saturday Programme
If you're like me, and I think you are, you're crying into your beer right now because you're not at the Kansas Silent Film Festival. Unless of course you're at the fest and reading this ...
J. Stuart Blackton, Early Animation Pioneer
James Stuart Blackton, a Brit, is often credited as the father of American animation. (Go figure. My people will claim anyone who does something good.) In 1900, Blackton produced The Enchanted Drawing, making it the silent ...
Friday, 22 February 2013
Top 5 Film Noir Bad Guys
Film noir is famously murky when it comes to good versus evil. These are no westerns where the good guy wears a white hat and the bad guy wears a black hat. But is films noir, the good guy usually deeply flawed and the line between him and the bad gu...
Great Oscar Snubs Part 3: Top 10 Greatest Oscars Mistakes
Hello one more time, Dear Reader. You’ve made it to the final installment of Great Oscar Snubs. This is the one you’ve been waiting for (or at least my editor, Brandy Dean, has). These are the Top 10 Greatest Oscars Mistakes - acting and film winners...
Calling All Cinemaniacs!: What is Cinemania?
Good afternoon, my fellow Cinemaniacs! I'll be honest, day 2 of the "Calling All Cinemaniacs!" funding campaign was a little tougher than day 1. After the initial pop, the hard slog starts. However, thanks to new funders Spencer Lindenman and Steve &...
The PCF Blog of the Day: She Blogged By Night
Okay when you find a classic movie blog that takes it's name, tag line, and site header from the salacious 1953 crime drama Girls in the Night, you should drop whatever you're doing and go check it out. That's exactly what y...
Review: John Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
American filmmakers have always had a particular fascination with Abraham Lincoln. From Griffith to Ford and Spielberg, many of America’s greatest directors feel inclined if not compelled to once again impart the legend of President L...
Thursday, 21 February 2013
Watch It: The Iron Mask (1929)
The Iron Mask, starring Douglas Fairbanks, was released on February 21, 1929. It's the first talking role for Fairbanks and it's also one of those inter-period, half silent, half talkie movies. Typically, the movie has been ...
Top 5 Bond Girl Names
It's no secret by now that Pretty Clever Film Gal is just a tad Oscar obsessed at the moment. Turns out, I'm not the only one. The Oscar's seem to have a little bit of Bond fever too. The rumors are swirling that all 7 Bonds - from Connery to Craig ...
Calling All Cinemaniacs!: Day 1 Recap
Good day everyone!
As day 2 of the "Calling All Cinemaniacs!" funding campaign dawns, I'm feeling pretty good. The first day of the campaign saw a total of 12% of the entire goal reached, and I think that's pretty damn good! I mean, I think that's...
As day 2 of the "Calling All Cinemaniacs!" funding campaign dawns, I'm feeling pretty good. The first day of the campaign saw a total of 12% of the entire goal reached, and I think that's pretty damn good! I mean, I think that's...
The PCF Blog of the Day: Out of the Past
Out of the Past is a classic film lovers paradise. Run by Raquel, the entire site oozes with her love for classic film. (And check out her about page - she's got other blogs too!)
I personally share with Raquel a deep, um, passion fo...
I personally share with Raquel a deep, um, passion fo...
For the Good of Russia:Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
This article was originally published on May 19, 2011.
Here's the first thing I'll say about Rasputin and the Empress: this film is not factually accurate. There was a Russian Royal family known as the Romanovs,...
Here's the first thing I'll say about Rasputin and the Empress: this film is not factually accurate. There was a Russian Royal family known as the Romanovs,...
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Great Oscar Snubs Part 2: 10 Best Films not Nominated for an Oscar
They always say, “It’s a thrill just being nominated.” But what about the great films that got no respect at all? Oscar’s history is littered with some of cinema’s finest that weren’t even invited to the party. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and it’s...
Calling All Cinemaniacs!
Hey all. Pretty Clever Film Gal has been feeling crazy lately, or maybe just crazed.
Here's why: when I started Pretty Clever Films waaaay back in May of 2011, as a cruddy little poorly designed wordpress.com blog, it was supposed to be a hobby. A...
Here's why: when I started Pretty Clever Films waaaay back in May of 2011, as a cruddy little poorly designed wordpress.com blog, it was supposed to be a hobby. A...
The PCF Blog of the Day: Forget the Talkies
The tagline for the excellent movie blog Forget the Talkies is "cuz silents are sexier." I could not agree more. And this blog makes it clear that silent era is still fresh, vital, and entertaining today.
Forget the Talki...
Forget the Talki...
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
Watch It: A Girl in Every Port (1928)
Today we've got a treat in this rare silent from director Howard Hawks. A Girl in Every Port follows the adventure of sailors on shore leave (always a good time). This little comedy gem features not only real-life stripper S...
Top 5 Most Depressing Films
Right after snatching up all the post-Valentine’s Day chocolate sales, I’m sure you, just like me, enjoy curling up on your cozy couch and watching some depressing, tear-inducing movies. Just kidding! But seriously, there are some really sad movies ...
The PCF Blog of the Day: Silent London
I suppose the title of this fantastic film blog is pretty self-explanatory. Though what it doesn't make clear is that reading Silent London will make you what to chuck it all, move to London, and attend all the Brit silent s...
Review: Killer Joe (2011)
Killer Joe is a strange film, there's no getting around that fact. It starts off feeling similar to the Coen Brother’s Blood Simple, but by the end it warps itself into something along the same vein as a David ...
Monday, 18 February 2013
Great Oscar Snubs Part 1: Top 10 Academy Award Nominated Films that Didn't Win Anything
With the 85th Annual Academy Awards just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to go through the Oscar records, dig through the piles of trivia, and create a couple lists culled from my hours of research- actually minutes of research, but hour...
The PCF Blog of the Day: Self Styled Siren
The Self Styled Siren is not only a siren, but a classic movie lover extraordinaire. Her siren song will definitely lure you in, and if you've never visited the Siren before be prepared to lose hours in her extensive archive.
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Existentialism, Howard Hawks, and "Only Angels Have Wings"
Only Angels Have Wings airs February 22, 2013 on TCM at 5:45 pm EST.
Howard Hawks is considered one of the great classic film directors. His contemporaries defined him as a “man’s man,” both in his attitude, demeanor and ...
Howard Hawks is considered one of the great classic film directors. His contemporaries defined him as a “man’s man,” both in his attitude, demeanor and ...
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Coming Up in Toronto - Film Noir Double Bill from Toronto Film Society
As part of the ongoing Monday Night Film Buff Series from the Toronto Film Society, you can catch a nail-biting film noir double bill tomorrow at the Carlton Cinema. Tomorrow's bill included Railroaded!, Anthony Mann's class...
Watch It: Stagecoach (1939)
Got a hitch in your giddy up, pardners? Relieve the stress with John Ford's first sound western, Stagecoach (1939). Starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne in his breakthrough role, Stagecoach follows...
Saturday, 16 February 2013
Lotte Reiniger's Cinderella
For this installment of Saturday morning cartoons, I'm reviving this 2012 post on Lotte Reiniger, a pioneer of early animation. I also mock those not lucky enough to attend the 2012 Toronto Silent Film Festival. Cause...
Friday, 15 February 2013
Top 5 Movies About US Presidents
Monday February 18 is President's Day in the United States. This is an amazing fake holiday that gets you a day off work and serious deals on furniture and cars. Seriously, why do furniture stores have President's Day blowouts? At any rate, President...
Film Noir Photos
Let's say you're going to visit a website called Film Noir Photos. What would you expect to find there? Photos - and lots of 'em? Well praise the lard and pass the biscuits, I've found an honest man on the interwebs!
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Thursday, 14 February 2013
Top 10 Most Romantic Movies
Happy Valentine's Day all! Love is a pretty fundamental part of the human experience, so it's no surprise that Hollywood wants a piece of that. Cinema past and present is just littered with tales of love. From the will they-won't they screwball comed...
Noir and Chick Flicks
Noir and Chick Flicks is the blog baby of Dawn, of one prolific blogger. Seriously, she has like a gazillion blogs including tribs to Esther Williams, Betty Grable, Gene Tierney, Dolores Del Rio, Doris day, westerns, musical...
Review: A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
Yippe ki-yay mother fuckers! John McClane returns to your local cineplex screen today in the fifth Die Hard installment, A Good Day to Die Hard. If you're anything like me, you are seriously stoked for this event an...
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Top 5 Movies About Newspapers
I love a fast talking dame and a bitter editor with a bottle of rye in his desk drawer. I really, really do. I also studied journalism and had a job or two at a couple of New York dailies. Imagine my disappointment. Still, I tell myself that it was j...
The Last Drive In
The Last Drive In is penned by one Jo Gabriel, also a renowned singer/songwriter. And she's one cheeky mother, in the best possible way. The Last Drive In started with heavy focus on horror and sci-fi, b...
A Good Day to Die Hard, Ranked
So I saw A Good Day to Die Hard yesterday and here’s the short report: it’s a really good action action movie, it’s a great James Bond movie, and it’s a little disappointing as a Die Hard movie. But the burning question on every obsessive list-mak...
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
My Top 5 Hitchcock Films
Alfred Hitchcock is the master. Not the master of suspense or any other subcategory of mastery, but just the master. I will not support this point with evidence or reason. I will merely state it as a fact, because it is. If you disagree, then begone....
11 East 14th Street
11 East 14th Street is home base of a mysterious, international man of mystery named Gene Zonarich. If you have a film blog or hang around film blogs, perhaps you've spotted him. Much like Batman he sweeps in, sets everyone ...
Review: Nanook of the North: A Story Of Life and Love In the Actual Arctic (1922)
It's really difficult to categorize Robert J. Flaherty's 1922 masterpiece Nanook of the North: A Story of Love and Life in the Actual Arctic (now more commonly known as Nanook of the North). It is r...
Monday, 11 February 2013
Top 5 Most Over Hyped Movies
Here are my top-five horrendously overrated and over hyped movies, and before you read on, just know that these are entirely based on my opinion. That doesn’t mean that I’m apologizing for any of my c...
Flappers Flickers and Silent Stanzas
When you find a movie blog named Flappers Flickers and Silent Stanzas, you know you've found something good. Indeed, Jennifer, the brain behind this beauty, has made something very good indeed and a must read for all you fla...
Review: Beasts of the Southern Wild
Beasts of the Southern Wild is one of those films you just want to lock away for your own. It’s a kaleidoscope of vivid and complex images, of triumph and fortitude. I could hardly believe that this was director Benh Zeitlin’s first fil...
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Watch It: The Heart of Texas Ryan (1917)
The Heart of Texas Ryan (1917) stars silent cowby hero Tom Mix as Jack Parker. Until he met Texas Ryan, the Eastern-bred daughter of rugged cattle king William Ryan, Jack Parker was just a straight-shooting, hard-riding cowb...
Saturday, 9 February 2013
Watch It: Pandora's Box (1929)
Pandora's Box (German: Die Büchse der Pandora) is a 1929 German silent melodrama film based on Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist (Earth Spirit, 1895) and Die Büchse der Pandora (1904). Directed by Austr...
Packaged Goods: Artful Animation at TIFF Bell Lightbox
The Packaged Goods series at TIFF Bell Lightbox is a showcase of shorts from the commercial sector which, according to the festival, “explores some of the most evocative, entertaining and enlightening animated ads, music videos and sh...
Friday, 8 February 2013
10 Things About The Birth of a Nation
If you're going to love silent cinema or if you're going to make a study of the early development of movies, you're gonna have to butt heads with D.W. Griffith. And you're going to have to come to some kind of truce with The Birth of a Na...
Silent Toronto
If you're in Toronto and you're reading this site, you probably know all about Silent Sundays at the Revue Cinema. And if you know about Silent Sundays, you're probably familiar with Er...
Review: Rusty Knife (1958)
Rusty Knife (1958)
Rusty Knife was the first smash for director Toshio Masuda, who would go on to become one of Japanese cinema’s major hit makers. Top Nikkatsu stars Yujiro Ishihara and Akira Kob...
Thursday, 7 February 2013
Top 5 James Bond Films
Autumn was very sophisticated in Toronto, what with TIFF's mega James Bond blow out. There was the Bond Exhibit, complete with a rotating bed on which a supine gold painted lady had died and a golden typewriter! Then there as the months long, multipl...
Grand Old Movies
Way back when PCF first launched on wordpress.com, Grand Old Movies was the first blog to notice and say hey. I can't express how much that warm welcome and e...
Review: Woman in the Dunes (1964)
Woman in the Dunes or Suna no onna (1964)
Hiroshi Teshigahara's art-house sensation Woman in the Dunes is about four things: food, wate...
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
10 Things About What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
What happens when two Hollywood divas age out of the star system and find themselves isolated in a decaying mansion with no support and no attention? What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is what happens. But am I talking about t...
Spellbound by Movies
Spellbound By Movies is the baby of one Beth Ann Gallagher, passionate movie lover and cat owner. While updates to this blog aren't as frequent or regular as o...
Who the hell is Elmo Lincoln?
This is a repost of last year's Elmo Lincoln birthday post. I know so much more about him, thanks especially to @tpjost. I now know exactly who the hell Elmo Li...
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Five Must-See Films Directed by Women
Forget Katharine Bigelow and her little Oscar for The Hurt Locker. There's lot of ladies doing it for themselves in the film biz and they've made many awesome movies. Here's five of my favorite films directed by women.
What are yo...
What are yo...
San Francisco Silent Film Festival Blog
You've probably heard about a little event called the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, but did you know that aside from the lovely SFSFF website there's also a
The Patsy (1928)
Marion Davis is best known these days as the long time mistress of William Randolph Hearst and the inspiration for Susan Alexander Kane in Citizen Kane. While both of these facts are indeed facts, the portrait they paint is ...
Monday, 4 February 2013
An Analysis of The Master - Submit to the Process
“Flood-tide below me! I watch, you face to face.”
This is the beginning of the Walt Whitman poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," and is visually enacted on the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson in his most recent film, The Master. This image...
This is the beginning of the Walt Whitman poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," and is visually enacted on the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson in his most recent film, The Master. This image...
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Watch It: Salome (1923)
Salome (1923), directed by Charles Bryant and starring Alla Nazimova, is the third film adaptation of the Oscar Wilde play of the same name., after a short Salome (1910) and the Theda Bara version of Salome (1918, lost). The play itsel...
Saturday, 2 February 2013
Pauvre Pierrot (1892)
You learn something new everyday, or at least I do. When I sat down to do some research on the early history of film animation, I made the perplexing discovery that the first instance of public film projection was not held by the Lumiere brothers in ...
Friday, 1 February 2013
10 Things About The General (1927)
So my Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra silent film calendar tells me today is the release date for The General. I get really excited about this - a great reason to talk about The General! The prob...
Classic Movies Digest
Classic Movies Digest is a rather plain and unpretentious movie site design wise. But as the subheader says, "Like classic movies? You're in the right place." This statement is profoundly true.
If you're looking for a steady stream of classic movi...
If you're looking for a steady stream of classic movi...
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