FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY (1973)

Film buffs tend to have obsessions. We fuss and fawn over particular actors and directors while attempting to see everything they ever appeared in or produced. One of my own personal obsessions isn’t an actor or a director but it’s a tale I enjoy seeing reimagined over and over again in different languages and in …

VENOMOUS SNAKES & POISON ANTS: PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (1975)

“What we see and what we seem are but a dream, a dream within a dream.” - Miranda in Picnic at Hanging Rock (a variation of A Dream Within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe) In Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), viewers are reminded again and again of the "venomous snakes and poison ants" that populate the Australian outback. …

MY MELANCHOLY VALENTINE: DANS PARIS (2006)

Love is complicated. Some see it as a priceless gift or blessing while others describe it as an unshakeable disease. It can be comforting, enriching, elevating, thrilling and divine. It can also be messy, unruly, feral, ferocious and cruel, particularly if you are suffering from acute depression. In Dans Paris aka In Paris (2006), French filmmaker Christophe Honoré (Ma …

OUT OF THE CLOSET: TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL (2015)

On September 19 TCM is airing a Tab Hunter double feature. More info about programming can be found at the end of my post. Everyone loves a Hollywood tragedy. The violent murders of Sharon Tate and Sal Mineo generate more press and web articles than the body of work they left behind while the estates …

Celebrate LGBT+ Pride Month with Cinema

This an update to my original LGBT+ Pride Month post first published in 2015 that you can find here. As a film journalist, I have often tried to focus my attention on underappreciated films, unsung actors and lesser-known directors. Unsurprisingly, this has led me to write about a number of LGBT+ films and television programs …

ANIMAL PASSIONS: CAT PEOPLE (1942)

But black sin hath betrayed to endless night My worlds both parts, and both parts must die. - John Donne, Holy Sonnet V (as quoted in Cat People) This year marks the 75th anniversary of Cat People (1942). It is hailed as one of the most influential horror movies made during the 1940s and thanks to its vaunted reputation among film …

GIRLS WILL BE BOYS

Two of the most intriguing performances that were nominated for an Oscar this year can be found in ALBERT NOBBS (2011). In the film Glenn Close and Janet McTeer play women who decide to dress as men in order to find work in 19th century Dublin. I haven’t had a chance to see the film yet but …

Six Months of Movie Morlocks: May – Oct. 2016

It's been an interesting, busy and to be honest, an extremely stressful year due to some ongoing medical issues I'm dealing with that you can read more about here: Vertigo: Hitchcock was wrong. In turn, I've been terribly lax about updating the blog but due to looming work related developments that I'll be sharing soon, …

Celebrating Gay Pride

As a film journalist I have often tried to focus my attention on underappreciated films, actors and directors. Unsurprisingly, this has led me to write about a number of gay/LGBT films as well as gay/LGBT filmmakers and actors. So in celebration of Gay Pride weekend and the Supreme Court decision that now makes gay-marriage a …

2013 at the Movie Morlocks

Jess Franco 1930-2013 What follows is a collection of links to some of my posts at TCM's Movie Morlocks from 2013. These are (in my estimation) the best and most interesting articles I wrote last year but you can read my entire output for 2013 at the Movie Morlocks if you peruse the archives. From …

Dirk Bogarde – The Reluctant International Man of Mystery

In my latest installment of Spy Games for the Movie Morlocks I discuss the spy spoofs and espionage thrillers starring one of my favorite actors, the gifted and gorgeous Dirk Bogarde.

“A film is a petrified fountain of thought.” – Jean Cocteau

"I know of no elite and no tribunal which can take upon itself to judge what a film will unleash in its immeasurable course. The only jurisdiction to which a film should be subject concerns its style and its expressive power. The rest is a mystery and will always remain so." - Jean Cocteau My …

Girls WIll Be Boys

Dame Diana Rigg in THEATRE OF BLOOD (1973) Last week I compiled a lengthy list of some of the most interesting examples of female actors who have portrayed men (or dressed in male clothing) for a particular role at the Movie Morlocks. It was inspired by the recent Oscar nominations for Glenn Close and her …

Girls Will Be Boys

Two of the most intriguing performances that were nominated for an Oscar this year can be found in ALBERT NOBBS (2011). In the film, Glenn Close and Janet McTeer play women who decide to dress as men in order to find work in 19th century Dublin. I haven’t had a chance to see the film yet but while I …

A Light that Never Went Out: The MTV Legacy of Derek Jarman

One of the most fascinating and overlooked aspects of Derek Jarman’s impressive filmmaking career is his collaborative work with musical artists. These projects materialized as experimental short films as well as music promo videos that regularly aired on MTV throughout the 1980s. Jarman appreciated the money he made directing videos but he wasn’t particularly happy …