Remembering Oliver Reed @ 80

Today should have been Oliver Reed's 80th birthday but he left this world in 1999 at age 61. To celebrate the occasion I decided to compile a collection of links to various things I've written about the man and his work. Some are just bits and bobs while others are more thoughtful considerations of films …

ONE FOR ALL, AND ALL FOR ONE!

  Director Richard Lester was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but he made some of the best British films of the 1960s. Inspired by Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati, he developed an acute funny bone and an appreciation of the absurd that allowed him to work side-by-side with bastions of British comedy such as Spike Milligan …

Sept. & Oct. at The Movie Morlocks

It's that time again. Time to collect & share links to the writing I've published on TCM's Movie Morlocks blog in the past few months. In September I spent a lot of time obsessing over TCM Star of the Month Susan Hayward. I reference her in at least three of the pieces I wrote that …

WINE & WOLVES: THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961)

  I can’t let Halloween pass without talking about a Hammer film. They go hand-to-hand in my home and one of my favorites is Terence Fisher’s The Curse of the Werewolf (1961). The film features some sumptuous color photography, incredibly sophisticated make-up effects for its time and a powerful central performance from Oliver Reed. It also happens …

Jan. & Feb. 2015 at TCM’s Movie Morlocks

Links to my writing at TCM's official Movie Morlocks blog in January & February. 15 FAVORITE FILMS FROM 2014 Excerpt: "I know what you’re thinking. Another list?! Forgive me my trespass but as a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists I’m asked to compile a list of my favorite films each year and …

OLIVER REED AT 77: A CONVERSATION

Feb. 13th marks what would have been Oliver Reed’s 77th birthday if he was still with us. Reed died in 1999 but he has long been one of my favorite actors so to honor his memory I decided to contact filmmaker Kent Adamson who worked with Oliver Reed in the 1980s and is friendly with …

June & July at the Movie Morlocks

I haven't been online much the last few months for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I've been having some medical problems with my left eye and spending lots of time on my computer reading, watching vids and writing can often be problematic. My eyes get easily irritated and I'm prone to headaches, etc. …

KEN RUSSELL: IN HIS OWN WORDS

Controversial film director Ken Russell passed away suddenly this week at the age of 84. Russell has long been considered the bad boy of British cinema or the original ‘enfant terrible’ of the empire, but for almost as long as I can remember he’s been one of my favorite filmmakers. I was introduced to his …

Do You Want to See Something Really Scary?

All month long I've been writing about horror films but this week I decided to share some of the scariest moments from a few of my favorite fright filled movies.

Comic Book of the Week: Curse of the Werewolf

The House of Hammer (also known as Hammer's Halls of Horror) was a British film and comic magazine published between 1976 and 1978. The following pages are from issue #10, which featured a wonderful cover painted by artist Brian Lewis depicting Oliver Reed in Terence Fisher's Curse of the Werewolf (1961). The following sample pages …

They said WHAT?!

Dirk Bograde & Monica Vittii in Modesty Blaise (1966) From my latest piece at the the Movie Morlocks: "In June actor Harrison Ford made news after publicly calling, Shia LaBeouf, his young costar from INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (Steven Spielberg; 2008) “…a f--king idiot.” Since then I’ve been thinking about …

FAVORITE DVD RELEASES OF 2010

Every year I try to compile a list of my favorite new DVD releases. These lists tend to focus on films from the ’60s and ’70s since they’re my favorite film eras. This year I decided to expand my view a little and disregard limitations so I could share a varied list of all my …