2013: A Look Back

Yesterday at The Movie Morlocks I wrote about the upcoming Academy Awards and my favorite Best Picture nominee, Steve McQueen's 12 YEARS A SLAVE. The curious can find my post here. In it I used the word "brutal" to describe my feelings about the batch of films that I watched last year and I shared …

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 …

3 Reasons

The few people who still visit this blog may have noticed that I haven't updated since November. That's a 5 year record (of extended absences) and there are lots of reasons for it but here are the top 3: 1. Work - I'm not just referring to freelance writing because that doesn't pay all the …

10 Great Christopher Plummer Performances

From my latest post at the Movie Morlocks... "My favorite moment of this year’s Oscar telecast occurred when a sprightly 82-year-old Christopher Plummer took the stage in a beautiful velvet suit to accept his Best Supporting Actor award. He was incredibly gracious and gave one of the best speeches of the night. It was obvious …

The 84th Academy Awards

for Best ActorIt's awards season again and for the 4th year in a row I'll be "live tweeting" the Oscars over on Twitter. As usual, I haven't been able to see all the Best Picture nominees but in all honesty most of them hold little interest for me. I did see a lot of 2011 …

Young Americans (1967)

The Young Americans (1967) From my latest piece at the Movie Morlocks ... "In 1968 five documentary films were nominated for an Oscar but you’d never know that from looking at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences website. The site claims to feature a complete list of all the Oscar nominees and winners, …

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 …

It’s That Time Again

It's that time again - Oscar night is here! And for the third year in a row I'll be "live tweeting" the show. If you want to follow along or join in the fun you can find me on Twitter here. Update 2/28: I wanted to update this with some more thoughts about last nights …

Oscar 2010

Oscar night will soon be here and just like last year I plan on "Tweeting Live" during the show. If you want read my off-the cuff remarks during the Academy Awards you can follow my Oscar commentary on Twitter or read my Twitter updates as they appear here on my blog under "Twitter Updates." There …

I’ve been abducted by the Morlocks!

I've got some exciting news to share! I was recently asked to join the Movie Morlocks team and I'm officially blogging for TCM (Turner Classic Movies) at http://moviemorlocks.com now. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity and I couldn't be more excited about it. It will give me the chance to spread my wings a bit …

Congratulations Mr. Corman!

One of my favorite filmmakers will be getting an Honorary Oscar this year! Surprising news came out of Hollywood this morning when the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Roger Corman, along with actress Lauren Bacall and cinematographer Gordon Willis will all be recipients of a much deserved Lifetime Achievement Award. Disappointingly, …