When an NPR segment of Bill Littlefield’s “Only a Game” closed with the song “I Walked with a Zombie,” a 1981 chestnut by Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators, I had to grab it at iTunes. My curiosity then led me to Wikipedia and the 1943 film of the same name, which I added [...]
Archive for the ‘Film’ Category
I Walked with a Zombie
Posted in Art, Film, Music on August 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Quite a Day
Posted in Film, Literature on July 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“Julie Benz plays an abused teenage runaway that becomes a single mom and bank executive who is then stalked, kidnapped by masked gunmen, held hostage for 14 hours and forced to rob a bank to save her child’s life.”
– “Held Hostage,” The Syracuse Post-Standard, July 19, 2009
As the local paper lets more and more writers [...]
For My Part
Posted in Film, Literature, Religion on June 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“For my part, even at my then early age (and ever since), I preferred those of any church or creed that could be religious without becoming professional or doing a lockstep.”
– William S. Hart in My Life East and West (1903)
Incense in the Alhambra
Posted in Art, Film, Incense, Literature on June 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The life of Isabel de Solís has inspired historians, novelists, a film-maker and at least one painter. A young Spanish maiden captured by the Moors circa 1470, Isabel was tossed into the share of plunder that went to Muley Hassan, a.k.a. Abu l-Hasan Ali, ruler of Granada. Hassan was a grumpy old man whose refusal [...]
The Incredible Journey
Posted in Dogs, Film, Literature on December 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Sheila Burnford’s wonderful book, The Incredible Journey (1961) led to a wonderful film of the same name two years later, and I recommend them both to you. The film, produced by the Disney studios, is at long last available on DVD, although only to members of the Disney Movie Club; I imagine that will change. [...]
My Favorite Christmas Movie
Posted in Film on December 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Die Hard (1988)
Watched it again this evening, and it still holds the magic.
Recently
Posted in Film, Literature on June 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The movie Juno, Dwell magazine, Anne Lamott’s Joe Jones, Carl Hiaasen’s Downhill Lie, the first episode of Year 4 of The Last Detective, Anne Fadiman’s essay on ice cream, all wonderful.
Thank You, Joy
Posted in Film on April 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I mourn today the passing of Joy Page, who was 17 when chosen to play Annina Brandel in Casablanca (1942). In the film, Page’s character is torn between being faithful to her young husband and remaining stranded in Casablanca, or sleeping with Capt. Renault (Claude Rains) in order to gain exit visas. Rick (Humphrey Bogart) [...]
The Bridge
Posted in Commentary, Film on February 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
When I was in the Air Force, stationed at the Presidio of Monterey, I began reading the San Francisco Chronicle. I was especially drawn to the columns of Herb Caen, the surreal world of the society pages, the short pieces about odd incidents (“Worker Felled by Dead Tuna”), and especially the suicides off the Golden [...]
It Often Helps
Posted in Commentary, Film on May 9, 2008 | 2 Comments »
“We got to know each other by talking, which I think is the best way.”
– Jessica Simpson, quoted in Glamour, June 2008
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