Hollywood Nepotism: Boudoir careerism was always part of the Hollywood industry. Norma Shearer became a star before marrying MGM prodigy Irving L. Thalberg, but she definitely benefited. She received special treatment from the studio. Little glory remains from the power once exuded by Shearer and Thalberg. Marion Davies was Hearst’s mistress Who knows how many […]
Paris in Spring (1935): Lewis Milestone Musical, Starring Tullio Carminati and Mary Ellis
February 20, 2023 by
Lewis Milestone was assigned Paris in Spring, a romantic musical farce. Leading man Tullio Carminati had just completed the operetta-like One Night of Love (1934) with Grace Moore at Columbia studios. Paramount paired their own Mary Ellis with Carminati, and it was Milestone’s task to make a picture rivaling the Columbia success. Aside from a […]
Passages: Sundance Film Fest 2023–Highlights
February 13, 2023 by
A German film director (Franz Rogowski), his English husband (Ben Whishaw) and a Frenchwoman (Adèle Exarchopoulos) form a strange love triangle in this wise, bitterly funny work from indie auteur Ira Sachs. Sharply observed and superbly played, it’s a chronicle of romantic and erotic chaos that has become more common in recent years. xosotin chelseathông […]
American History: Turner, Frederick Jackson–“The Significance of the Frontier in American History”
December 20, 2022 by
The Frontier Thesis is the argument advanced by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 that settler colonial exceptionalism, under the guise of American democracy, was formed by the appropriation of the rugged American frontier.
Movie Genres: Comedy–Best of this Century–Bridesmaids (2011)
Femme-driven, Bridesmaids was a richly realized and consistently laugh-out-loud comedy.