It’s impossible to love musicals and not revere Fred Astaire. The epitome of elegance, Astaire was an actor, singer, choreographer, fashion icon and one of the greatest dancers in film history, whose 76 year-career encompassed 10 Broadway and West End shows, 31 musical films and dozens of recordings and TV appearances. He entered show business […]
To Boldly Spoof: ‘Galaxy Quest’ (1999)
This post is part of the Outer Space on Film Blogathon, hosted by Moon in Gemini. See the other posts here. Resistance is futile. Live long and prosper. By Grabthar’s hammer. The last of these is not like the others. Grabthar hails from Galaxy Quest, a cinematic love letter to Star Trek that boldly parodies […]
Blast Off: The Outer Space on Film Blogathon
Hailing frequencies open. Debbie Vega of Moon in Gemini is hosting the Outer Space on Film blogathon this weekend, April 13-15, and I’m joining in. See the full roster here.
Something to Sing About: Classic Hollywood comes to FilmStruck
Classic film fans have a new reason to cheer: FilmStruck is teaming up with Warner Bros. Digital Networks to expand its library to include hundreds of films from Golden Age Hollywood. Beginning today, subscribers to Turner Broadcasting’s streaming service will have access to films from the Warner Bros. catalogue including Singin’ in the Rain, Casablanca, Citizen […]
Jeu d’esprit: ‘The Story of a Cheat’ (1936)
Imagine an act in which the magician pulls a rabbit from a hat, followed by a grand piano, the Eiffel Tower and an undiscovered Van Gogh. This is Sacha Guitry’s picaresque The Story of a Cheat. Guitry plays the eponymous Cheat (we never learn his name) who, well into disreputable middle age, settles down to […]
Strike a Pose: Women’s Fashion at the Movies
Fashion Week recently descended on New York, which got me thinking about women’s clothes in film. The best costumes reveal a character’s tastes and temperament, the way she sees herself and the world sees her, before a single word is spoken. In The Blue Angel, cabaret singer Lola Lola’s top hat and tights embody Weimar […]
Frank Oz at The Museum of the Moving Image
Miss Piggy made a guest appearance in Queens last Friday. So did Fozzie Bear, Bert, Animal, Grover, Cookie Monster and Yoda. Frank Oz, the man behind some of the world’s most beloved puppets, encompasses multitudes, his voice (or rather voices) familiar to anyone who has ever spent time on Sesame Street, at the Muppet theatre […]
Light and Shadow: Ray Milland
When I was eight or nine, I wandered into the living room and found my mother watching a film I didn’t recognize. Grace Kelly was pleading with a man not to reveal their affair to her once distant, now much-reformed husband. Then, ‘Mr. Kelly’ arrived. He was charming, witty, impeccably dressed and secretly plotting to […]
Gene Kelly in Motion
“Why don’t you and me do some fancy stepping tonight?” —Gabey (Gene Kelly) to Ivy (Vera-Ellen) in On the Town Grab your tap shoes: today is Gene Kelly’s 105th birthday. I’ve been a Kelly fan almost since infancy and after decades of assiduous viewing, it’s easier for me to name the musicals I haven’t seen […]
Not-so-silent cinema: The Art of Silent Film Music
This article was originally published on Starring NYC (now sadly defunct) and has been dusted off and spruced up for its Retro Movie Buff debut. Ben Model believes silent cinema is the worst name for a film genre. Not only is it patently misleading, it’s also a little dull. “It sounds like you’re going to […]
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