Friday, 31 May 2013
Top 5 Bette Davis Scenes
I decided to task myself with this challenge. It's arguably much easier to come up with a list of the legendary Bette Davis' top performances or best overall films. But pinpointing specific scenes that encapsulate exactly what made her such a dynamic...
Berkshire International Film Festival 2013: Twenty Feet From Stardom (2013)
There is a moment in Twenty Feet From Stardom when backup singer Merry Clayton enters an empty recording studio and blissfully reminisces recording her legendary vocals on The Rolling Stone's "Gimme Shelter" with Mick Jagger...
Classic Becky's Brain Food
Classic Becky's Brain Food has been around since 2009, but there hasn't been a new update since January 2013. Even still, there's plenty of great stuff to entertain you until Classic Becky herself reappears.
In short, Cla...
In short, Cla...
MacGuffin Movies!...
1941 - A Comedy of Disasters (1979)
1941 airs on TCM, Friday, May 31 as part of its "Second Look" series. Check local listings.
1941 is not a good film, but it’s definitely an interesting curio of its period. Comedy has never been ...
1941 is not a good film, but it’s definitely an interesting curio of its period. Comedy has never been ...
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
DeMille's Opus: Madam Satan (1930)
"Don't try to believe it. Just accept it for what it's worth, the most amazing, lavish, gorgeous DeMille spectacle ever put on screen..." opens Photoplay magazines October 1930 film review. We couldn't agree more, this film is over the top. It's almo...
Forgotten Films
The mission over at Forgotten Films is to dust off some of the lesser known movies from history and give them a fresh look. Blog author Todd admits that very few films are truly "forgotten" films, but hey, he's doing is part.
Book Review: Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe
Movie star. Bombshell. Model. Sex symbol. Actress. Goddess. Marilyn Monroe has been referred to as any number of things, although the vast majority of terms refer to her as little more than a sex symbol. An object for the general public to consume.
...
...
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Win the Columbia Pictures Pre-Code Collection
Does that Top Ten Pre-Code Films list sound intriguing? Do you want to know more about the Pre-Code era but haven't gotten around to watching the movies just yet?
Now's your chance! Pretty Clever Films has a copy of the Columbia Pictur...
Now's your chance! Pretty Clever Films has a copy of the Columbia Pictur...
Top 10 Pre-Code Films
Ah, Pre-Code films! Movies from that brief seven years or so after movies learned to talk but no one was policing the sauciness of what they were saying. Getting to the Pre-Code era is to delve into a delightful set of films that are surprisingly sug...
Winner of the 360 Screenings Tickets
Big congrats to Jennifer Archer, winner of the 360 Screenings ticket giveaway! We're sure Jennifer is going to have an amazing time at the event!
Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. There's still time to grab your own tickets to the event...
Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. There's still time to grab your own tickets to the event...
Via Margutta 51
No longer is Via Margutta 51 simply the address of Joe Bradley in the classic Roman Holiday, it's also the name of a fantastic movie blog from Chilean Clara, who's favorite movie is - you got it! - Roman Holiday...
Review: Side by Side (2012)
Imagine you had a group of the world's greatest filmmakers (Lucas, Scosrsese, Cameron, Lynch, Rodriguez, Soderbergh, Boyle, the Wechowskis, Fincher, Nolan, to name a few) on hand, willing to take the time out of their most likely tyrannical schedules...
Monday, 27 May 2013
Top 3 Most Eccentric Romantic Movie Relationships
Some people believe in the idea of soul mates - that one particular person is destined to be with you for the rest of your life. Me? I don't buy that at all. Sometimes people enter your life at a certain point, and sometimes they leave or it ends for...
Frankly My Dear
Frankly My Dear is nifty little classic film blog - and a sweetly designed one too - from Rianna, who describes herself as a classic film fanatic and a teenage writer. She's pretty clear on what she's all about - old Hollywood, classic ...
Review: Gambler (2006)
Are you an aspiring independent filmmaker? If so, do yourself a favor and do not watch Gambler (2006) from director Phie Ambo, because if you do, you may end up choosing a different vocation. Are you someone...
Sunday, 26 May 2013
Inside Out LGBT Film Festival: Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth (2013)
In the Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Color Purple, the romance between Celie and Shug is not the primary focus of the book – but it is the first thing people usually like to talk about. This particular element of the novel g...
Inside Out LGBT Film Festival 2013: Cockpit (2012)
If you've never seen Tootsie, you're going to enjoy Mårten Klingberg's Cockpit. If you have seen Tootsie, you're going to feel like you're watching the Swedish version of Dustin Hoffman's ground breaking dr...
Saturday, 25 May 2013
Ten Wanted Men (1955)
When his ward Corinne Michaels (Jocelyn Brando) seeks protection with rival cattleman John Stewart (Randolph Scott), embittered, jealous rancher Wick Campbell (Richard Boone) hires ten outlaws to help him seize power in the territory.
Director H. ...
Director H. ...
Inside Out LGBT 2013: Before You Know It (2012)
The topic of aging in American society is a prickly one. We have a youth-worshiping culture that views the elderly as somewhat icky and mostly a pain the ass. PJ Raval's documentary Before You Know It suggests that the trial...
Mary and Max (2009)
In 2004, Adam Elliot won the Academy Award for Best Short Animation for Harvie Krumpet. The short revolves around a man who suffers from Tourette's Syndrome, a loner and an outcast, who comes to terms to try...
Friday, 24 May 2013
Top 5 Michael Curtiz Movies
Who's Michael Curtiz, you ask? He directed Casablanca, silly. While classic film fans and people who neglect their children to have more TCM watching time know this and know it well, Michael Curtiz is a little of an unsung directorial hero. This man ...
Inside Out LGBT Film Festival 2013: Interior. Leather Bar.
Interior. Leather Bar. is a strange film with an equally strange premise and even stranger essence. Written and directed by Travis Matthews, Interior. Leather Bar. is a semi-fictional documentary th...
The Movie Snob
In his profile, Larry from The Movie Snob proclaims "Working tirelessly for more than thirty years to ruin film watching for family and friends." Don't we all Larry, don't we all. Or at least we make our family and friends w...
Review: H. G. Wells’ Things to Come (1936)
Christmastime in Everytown, Great Britain. The calendar reads 1940 and in the nation’s biggest cities the sights and sounds of the yuletide are everywhere; Carollers sing, church bells ring and children admire toy soldiers through fro...
Thursday, 23 May 2013
Top 5 Movie Casting Mistakes
Many a director has said that 90% of their job hinges on casting the right person for the part. So when the planets do not align and some grave mistake has transpired, is there any way to fix this glaring error? Footage somewhere exists of Michael Ke...
Inside Out LGBT Film Festival 2013: Pit Stop (2013)
Urban gay relationships get a lot of attention in pop culture via movies, television shows, and popular novels. But what are gay relationships in the 'burbs, or heaven help us, the rural, fly-over parts of North America. Pit Stop...
100 Years of Movies
100 years of Movies is a blog on a mission, which is quite neatly stated on The Mission page. Pick a year and explore movies made in that year. Neato, huh?
If you're wondering, 100 Years of Movies is current...
If you're wondering, 100 Years of Movies is current...
Review: Ringu (1998)
Although Ringu had a strong amount of hype to it that I interpreted in an entirely ignorant-of-Japanese-films, Hollywood-ized 'horror-genre' way, the film itself was not what I expected it to be. There's no blood throughout ...
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Gowns by Adrian!
Adrian was the first designer to use "Gowns by..." as a film credit. He was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s head costume designer from 1928 to 1941. During this time he worked on over 250 films, designing outfits for some of Hollywood’s most b...
Inside Out LGBT Film Festival 2013: Valentine Road (2013)
In 2008, the seaside town of Oxnard, California, was rocked by the shooting death of Lawrence “Larry” King, a 15-year-old biracial, LGBTQ student at the hands of his white, 14-year-old classmate Brandon McInerney. The tragedy at the heart of this sto...
Review: Upstream Color (2013)
Indie-auteur Shane Caruth, of Primer/Sundance acclaim, is finally back with his 2nd film Upstream Color. Like the meticulously, realistically grounded Primer, Caruth's sophomore effort is once again based ...
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Inside Out LGBT Film Festival 2013: Magnifica presenza (2012)
Director Ferzan Ozpetek of queer cinema classic Steam: The Turkish Bath (1997) returns to the 2013 edition of the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival with charming ghost story Magnifica presenza (Magnificent Presence)....
Inside Out LGBT Film Festival 2013: In the Name Of (2013)
The 2013 edition of the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival kicks off on Thursday, May 23 with the Polish film In the Name Of from director Malgoska Szumowska. While the film has been travelling the European festival circuit, Thur...
Comet Over Hollywood
So the first post I saw when I visited Comet Over Hollywood was a tribute to Joseph Cotten. I almost left, but no - I soldiered on! (See how reasonable I can be, even in the face of Cotten face?) I'm glad I did or I would ha...
360 Screenings Ticket Giveaway
I'm super excited to say that Pretty Clever Films has 2 tickets to giveaway to the Saturday, June 1st, 7 pm performance of the next 360 Screenings! That's all I can tell you, of course, as location and film ...
360 Screenings Meld Cinema, Theater and Mystery
Look, I love movies - we all do. But the typical movie experience requires really only one thing - you watch. The world is full of solutions to this state of affairs, answers to our desires to discuss and share the cinema experience. From film clubs ...
Monday, 20 May 2013
Top 5 Classic Travel Films
Summer is the season of travel - whether it's a road trip with the family or hiking around the country, using any means of getting to where you want to go. Or sometimes, travelling for the sake of travelling. I find that these movies help inspire the...
Laura's Miscellaneous Musings
Laura's Miscellaneous Musings has been around for awhile, and maybe you all already know about it. But still... how can I pass up highlighting an awesome movie blog about classic films?
From the recent coverage of the Tur...
From the recent coverage of the Tur...
Bates Motel: Who’s Afraid of Norman Bates?
The other day, while I was walking my dog, I came across a dead bird laying the middle of the alleyway near my family home. Apparently it had collided with the windowpane of an office building and then fallen to the pavement. It must ...
Sunday, 19 May 2013
I Thank You
So the first post I saw when I visited Comet Over Hollywood was a tribute to Joseph Cotten. I almost left, but no - I soldiered on! (See how reasonable I can be, even in the face of Cotten face?) I'm glad I did or I would ha...
Saturday, 18 May 2013
The Iron Giant
The Iron Giant (1999) is one of the most critically-acclaimed animated movies of all time. Outside of Disney's hallowed hall of famers, many critics point to this film for its exemplary use of animation and themes as one of ...
Friday, 17 May 2013
Review: The Wind (1928)
Perhaps one of the best films ever made, The Wind from director Victor Sjöström is both a cinematically ripe work of art and a great story told in the simplest of ways.
Lillian Gish plays the central role of Letty Mason, ...
Lillian Gish plays the central role of Letty Mason, ...
Thursday, 16 May 2013
6 Objects Forever Associated With Films
Movies have a peculiar power to make stuff stick. Here are 6 things that will always and forever be associated with how they were used a prop in a movie - for better or worse.
What objects are forever associate...
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Review: Pennies From Heaven (1981)
Pennies from Heaven airs Wednesday, May 15th on TCM. Check local listings.
Dennis Potter was a household name in British Television, but hardly known at all in Canada or the states when a movie based on his mini-series opened in December,...
Dennis Potter was a household name in British Television, but hardly known at all in Canada or the states when a movie based on his mini-series opened in December,...
Charlie's London
If you like Charlie Chaplin - and I know you do! - you're gonna love Charlie's London. It's all Chaplin, all the time on this site: "This blog is dedicated to the greatest South Londoner that ever walked the streets of SE11,...
Interview with Kathy Leichter, Director of Here One Day
After Nina Leichter committed suicide her daughter Kathy moved back into her childhood home to maintain a connection to her lost mother. In 2004, after her success as a documentary filmmaker and an advocate for media activism, Kathy foun...
Monday, 13 May 2013
Top 3 Most Subtle Movie Villains
Sometimes, a villain is devious, dastardly, and isn’t afraid to show his or her face for the world to see. This particular type of villain, however, is not on this list. These are most influential “subtle” villains – villains that didn’t necessarily ...
Review: Sick Birds Die Easy (2013)
In Sick Birds Die Easy, director Nik Fackler leads a motley crew into the jungles of Gabon, searching for the sacred iboga plant. Used in the practice of Bwiti, iboga is a ceremonial hallucinogen believed to possess healing ...
The Cinephiliac
For those of you who hang around Pretty Clever Films, you've probably enjoyed a piece or two from contributor Toyiah Murry. We have lots of great contributors here and Toyiah is one of them - you can always count on a thoughtful, articulate, and stud...
Letter from the Editor: May 13, 2013
Good morning Pretty Clever Film Fans!
Pretty Clever Films turned two years old on Saturday, so I wanted to take a moment to sit back, survey the state of the site, and - most of all - say thank you to everyone who's tracking along. What started as...
Pretty Clever Films turned two years old on Saturday, so I wanted to take a moment to sit back, survey the state of the site, and - most of all - say thank you to everyone who's tracking along. What started as...
Sunday, 12 May 2013
Top 5 Worst Movie Moms
Ah, Mother's Day! The one day when we're all forced to fete our mums, no matter how many hours of therapy they've caused. But to put things into perspective, let's have a look at the top 5 worst movie moms to ever nag (or worse!) their way across the...
Saturday, 11 May 2013
Akira
Japanese animation, or "anime" as most people call it, has been booming in North America for the past twenty years or so. Since then this Eastern style of animation has had a major impact on American cartoons, giving birth to shows like S...
Friday, 10 May 2013
Top 10 John Ford Films
I'm not a huge fan of westerns - too dusty for my taste, but I've learned to love them over the years. But whether or not you care for the genre of westerns, you've got to reckon with John Ford, surely an undisputed master of cinema. If you feel like...
Watch It: Our Dare-Devil Chief (1915)
Starring Al St. John, Ford Serling, and Mina Durfee Our Dare-Devil Chief (also know as Our Daredevil Chief) was released by the Keystone Studios on May 10, 1915.
Our Dare-Devil Chief is 27 minute...
Our Dare-Devil Chief is 27 minute...
Cinema Viewfinder
Cinema Viewfinder is the movie review site of Tony Dayoub. His profile informs us that he is a screenwriter and film critic with a BSC in Motion Pictures from the University of Miami and had written for Indiewire's Press Pla...
Review: The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Arguably, The Lady Vanishes is the apex of Alfred Hitchcock’s body of work now known as “The British Period.” This film has all of British Hitchmarks - suspense, romance, psychological tension, Brit humor of the dry and riba...
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Top 5 Ice Cream Scenes in Movies
Last week @NataleeDara on Twitter objected to the Top Egg Scenes in Movies. Hey, some people don't like eggs and that scene in Co...
A Gallery of Images from Louis Feuillade's Fantômas (1913)
Fantômas is a French silent crime film serial directed by Louis Feuillade, based on the novel of the same name. Composed of 5 episodes released over the course of 1913 and 1914, episode 1 premiered in France on May 9, 1913. If you'd lik...
The Art & Culture of Movies
Whew! Now that Hot Docs has staggered to its conclusion, PCF can get back to regular scheduled programming - namely, the movie site of the day.
Today I'm taking a look at a nifty little blog called The Art & Culture of Movies
Today I'm taking a look at a nifty little blog called The Art & Culture of Movies
Review: Good Hair (2009)
Comedian Chris Rock teamed up with director Jeff Stilson to make Good Hair, a documentary that boldly goes where no documentary has gone before - the topic of black women's hair. Confronted with the notion of "good hair" w...
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Top Ten Sequels That Are Better Than the Originals
In honor of Summer Blockbuster season, which just began with Iron Man 3 and continues until we’re suffering from movie candy diabetes, I thought I’d take a moment to look back at that venerable Hollywood creation - the Sequel. I’ve provoked controver...
The Great Gatsby: 90 Years of Cinematic Fashion
It’s hard to believe that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is almost 90 years young! In just a few days, the Baz Luhrmann version of this classic will be upon us, dazzling its way across the screen with a glittering frenzy that ...
The Stylistic Milestones of Saul Bass
This week marks the birthday of Saul Bass, one of the most important and prolific visual artists to ever work in motion pictures. As testament to his enduring significance, Bass has been posthumously honored with one of contemporary ...
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Top 10 Hockey Movies
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, baby! I totally BeLeaf that they're gonna win the cup. (Go ahead and send your responses to that statement to yes@iKNOWitsbeen45years.com.) But for the rest of you I recognize you're gonna have...
Review: War Witch (2012)
War Witch, (Rebelle is the French title) is a beautiful and elaborate depiction of a young woman during the atrocities that took place in the Congo. Directed by Kim Nguyen...
Get Your Pre-Code Fix this Weekend in Toronto
Whether you're a Pre-code film fan already or you're looking to dig deeper and learn more about this fascinating period in film history, the Toronto Film Society is about to make you ve...
Monday, 6 May 2013
Top 5 Classic Movies to Watch on a Sick Day
Spring is a grand time for some. The sun is shining, the days are growing longer, and the smell of flowers is starting to fill the air. But for some of us, those very things are our downfall in the dreaded season of allergies. Getting sick when it's ...
Hot Docs 2013: Felix Austria!
Let's face it - documentaries are not always the most positive and uplifting movies. Take it on faith from someone who has recently watch a billion (okay I'm exaggerating, but still...) docs in a row, it can be emotionally exhausting. So ...
Hot Docs 2013: Interview with Justin Webster, Director of I Will Be Murdered
I Will Be Murdered is a snaky, twisty thriller....
Review: North Paws
It's no secret that humans and dogs have a pretty special relationship. In Canada's great white north, dogs have been historically critical to basic survival. No dogs - no north. But as life in the north changed, so did the place dogs occupy in the c...
Sunday, 5 May 2013
Hot Docs 2013: Interview with Aleksi Salmenperä, Director of Alcan Highway
Alcan Highway from director Alexsi Salmenperä, a story of ...
Hot Docs 2013: Interview with Amit Virmani, Director of Menstrual Man
Okay, the title of this doc makes people giggle. But after watching the story of Arunachalam Muruganantham from director Amit Virmani, the title makes perfect sense. In his quest to produce low cost sanitary pads, made by and for rural women, Murugan...
Hot Docs 2013: Another Night On Earth (2013)
In early 2011, the globe held its breath during 18 consecutive days of political demonstrations in Egypt, now called the Egyptian revolution. Then the world cheered as Hosni Mubarak was deposed. But as Another Night on Earth
Saturday, 4 May 2013
Hot Docs 2013: Tough Bond (2013)
Documentary film has the power to take us to places we've never been and never will be, though sometimes risks taking us to places we wish we had never seen. So it is with Tough Bond, a three-year chronicle of the lives of l...
Hot Docs 2013: Interview with Ruth Leitman, Co-director of Wildwood, NJ
In the mid-nineties, Ruth Leitman and Carol Weaks Cassidy trod the weathered boardwalks of venerated Jersey Shore summer locale of Wildwood, NJ taking the time to listening to what those denizens of "down the Shore" had to say about life, love, sex a...
Hot Docs 2013: High Five: A Suburban Adoption Saga
When childless Canadian couple Cathy and Martin Ward decided to adopt a child, they never dreamed they would up with 5 instead of 1. High Five: A Suburban Adoption Saga chronicles the Ward's decision to adopt 5 siblings from...
The Invincible Iron Man (1966)
"Amazing armor! That’s Iron Man! A blazing power! That's Iron Man!"
I am a huge fan of comics, and I must admit that I have a weak spot for superheroes. Judging how Iron Man 3 hit theaters yesterday, I deemed it appropriate to do...
I am a huge fan of comics, and I must admit that I have a weak spot for superheroes. Judging how Iron Man 3 hit theaters yesterday, I deemed it appropriate to do...
Friday, 3 May 2013
Top 5 Bob Dylan Movies
Icon. Chameleon. Prophet. Sellout. Recluse. These are just some of the labels that Bob Dylan has worked his entire life to avoid. Dylan has a particularly unique place in 20th Century history; a writer and artist held in un...
Review: Sleepwalk With Me (2012)
Growing up isn’t easy. The minute you master something new about yourself, along comes another new hurdle to challenge you thus, requiring further self-reflection and change continuing the ongoing cycle of life. Stand-up comedian Mike Birbiglia empha...
TCM Classic Film Festival 2013: "Safe In Hell" (1931)
Safe in Hell is a trip. I don’t want to oversell it, because at the TCM Film Fest the initial sold-out show had such great word-of-mouth that the additional screening filled up as well. As happens at festivals, the film was ...
Thursday, 2 May 2013
TCM Classic Film Fest: The Big Parade (1925)
Kevin Brownlow was on hand to introduce the newly restored version of this astounding World War I film, one of the first to deal realistically with the horror and tragedy of war on a very personal level. Brownlow is probably the greatest living exper...
4 Movies That Are Critical of the Educational System
I'll admit it: for most of my life, I was that kid who liked school. I liked the different elements surrounding school - being able to get involved in activities, learning about a variety of subjects, reading books (I always had the mentality of "wai...
Pressburger and Powell’s The Red Shoes (1948)
A young and gifted ballerina is driven to the edge of madness by a controlling company director as she confronts the intensifying pressures of becoming a world-renowned dancer overnight. Although we could be talking about the Oscar-winning film Bl...
Letter to the Editor Regarding The Donovan Affair
Last week we published a piece on the presentation of NBC’s new midseason crime drama Hannibal concerns itself with cinema’s most sophisticated and debonair serial killer, prior to his capture - and before a younger woman named Clarice Starling has come into his l...