Ray Harryhausen’s name was one you would mention only to your friends who were really into movies. Or if you had just met someone and you wanted to test their credits-throw in a Harryhausen reference. If they nodded and agreed, you knew you were in good company.
To Freda Kelly, the Beatles were just a local band. Working in a secretarial pool around the corner from the famed Cavern Club, early in Good Ol’ Freda, Kelly estimates she saw maybe 190 of the Beatles 295 performances there. While her officemates were swooning over Pat Boone and Cliff Richard, Kelly was obsessed with …
One thing you have to give Richard Williams- he’s a persistent guy. An award- winning animator, best known for his short films and credit title sequences for other films, in 1964, Williams undertook what was to be his life’s work- a feature-length animated film titled “The Thief and the Cobbler.” Well, that wasn’t the original …
There’s something about this season that brings back the memories of summers gone by. Memories of friends. Memories of particular nights. Memories of particular songs, sung along to, full-throated, beside 10,000 strangers who, for that one moment, could be considered close friends. And while film can never completely capture that feeling, there are a few …
Looking over the names and movies nominated, it appears that 2010 was a pretty good year at the movies, critics be damned. Sure, audiences had to sit through “Sex and the City 2,” “The Last Airbender,” and “She’s Out of My League,” but people always remember 1994 as the year of “Pulp Fiction,” and “Heavenly Creatures,” and …
Is it a joke? Is it real street art made by an important new artist? Either way, “Exit Through the Gift Shop,’ the new documentary by artist Banksy is damn interesting. “Gift Shop” tells the story of Thierry Guetta a French-born, LA-based clothing boutique owner. Years ago, Thierry became obsessed with video cameras. He started …
The world of Jean-Pierre Jeunet has gotten a little big larger. After the original closing night film for the 2010 IFFB was pulled, organizers scrambled to find a replacement. And with Jeunet’s latest offering, it was the perfect and quirky choice. As the movie opens, a young boy named Bazil finds himself without a father …
In 2008, as the Democratic party assembled in Denver, Colorado to nominate Barack Obama as their candidate, everything seemed to run smoothly. Or did it? AJ Schnack’s “Convention,” is the behind-the-scenes look at the convention, offering viewpoints as varied as the mayor’s office, a newly christened reporter on the political beat and a couple of …
Sometimes people ask me why I watch so many movies, why I spend so much time reading about, studying and looking for hard-to-find old movies. Now, as a response, I can just present them with a copy of “Make Way For Tomorrow.” This is why I search through old movies. This is something special. Never …
If you’ve seen every episode of “The Cosby Show,” and are disappointed that you haven’t seen Dr. Cliff Huxtable shoot anyone down in cold blood, have I got a movie for you. 1972’s “Hickey & Boggs,” re-teams Bill Cosby with former “I, Spy,” co-star Robert Culp. (Culp also directed the film.) “Boggs,” is a typical 1970s …