Hal Holbrook (1925-2021)

by Nathaniel R

Do you occassionally think of Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild (2007) and just tear up? It's a common completely understandable affliction! Here's another reason to tear up. The Oscar nominated and Emmy and Tony-winning actor passed away just a few weeks shy of his 96th birthday. (He actually died before Cloris Leachman and Cicely Tyson but the news has only recently arrived; we lost three beloved acting legends in just a five-day stretch). Holbrook had become a widower 11 years ago when his wife of 26 years, Dixie Carter (Designing Women) passed away.

But what a long life and enduring career this man had. Born and raised in Ohio, a project in college (still in Ohio) led him to his greatest role:  Mark Twain. He first played the famous writer/wit when he was in his twenties and began developing his famous solo show Hal Holbrook: Mark Twain Tonight! by the age of 30. What's your favourite Holbrook performance? Twain and a dozen other key roles are after the jump... 

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Alan J. Pakula: The King of Paranoia

by Cláudio Alves

This summer, several of Warner Bros. classics have become available to stream on HBO Max. Among them are a good variety from the 1970s, including some of the best movies of New Hollywood's most underrated master of cinema. We're talking about Alan J. Pakula, a director whose pictures came to embody the mood of that decade, full of misanthropic discontentment and a sense that the world is diseased, people are out to get you and safety is unachievable. Alan J. Pakula was truly the king of cinematic paranoia…

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Films that made me want to be a costume designer

Costume Designer Daniel Orlandi Guest Blog Day. Here's Daniel...

Growing up in New Jersey I started to sneak into Manhattan at a very young age to see Broadway shows which made me want to be a set designer. Bu it was at the movies where I fell in love with costumes. My parents both loved movies and they took me with them as it was cheaper than getting a sitter. I can watch a film as an adult and think “Oh wow that's what the film was about. Suzie Wong was a prostitute!” Movies theaters were also my Saturday afternoon activity. Mom would drop me off and pick me up after she ran her errands.

I loved the Doris Day and Rock Hudson films and all their imitations. The film where I first really noticed costume design was The Art Of Love (1965). I saw it so many times as it was the second feature Saturday afternoon for so many other films...

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All hail The Prince of Darkness!

by Cláudio Alves

In the annals of American film history, you'll have difficulty finding a filmmaker as influential as Gordon Willis. He's one of the best cinematographers that's ever lived, a man who almost single-handedly invented the look we most quickly associate with the great cinema of the 70s. Low-lit and underexposed, his pictures were rich in shadow play and gloomy frames, a materialization of the decades' paranoia and moral ambiguities. Because of such a characteristic style, he gained the nickname 'prince of darkness,' though maybe we should have called him the king of cinematographers. Both titles feel correct…

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Prime in December: Mrs Maisel, Hereditary, and All the President's Men

Time to play Streaming Roulette. Each month, to survey new streaming titles we freeze frame the films at random places. Whatever comes up first, that's what we share -- no cheating.  What does Amazon Prime offer us this month? Let's survey...

[Librarian voice on line] Mr Bernstein, I was wrong. The truth is I don't have a card that says Mr Hunt took any material. I don't remember getting -- I do remember getting material from someone but it wasn't Mr. Hunt. The truth is I didn't have any requests at all from Mr. Hunt. The truth is I don't know any Mr. Hunt. [CLICK]

All the President's Men (1976)
Winner of four Oscars including Best Screenplay for William Goldman (who we were just discussing). The best picture line up of 1976 is so delicious, isn't it? All the Presiden't Men, Bound for Glory, Network, Rocky, Taxi Driver. I mean most Best Picture lineups wish! 

-Moldy mildew mother of mouth-muck, dangle and strangle to death!
-Oh how rude!

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