Carole & Co. Posted by carole_and_co on November 1, 2019

We've often discussed the bond between Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters) and her mother, Elizabeth "Bess" Peters. Mother not only infused her daughter with a confidence that paid off in the rough-and-tumble world of entertainment, but a feminist, I-can-do-anything sensibility that enabled Lomb   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on October 7, 2019

Sophia Loren is an extraordinary treasure of the cinema. We know her from numerous Hollywood pictures but there’s something especially gratifying about hearing her in her mother tongue. It’s not that she is necessarily less herself in a picture like Houseboat, speaking English dialogue,   read more

The Stop Button Posted by on July 23, 2019

It’s a perfect comic. There’s no big Punisher action, no rampant gun porn, just high levels of espionage action as Frank figures out how they’re going to escape the missile silo as he delivers on his threat to fire nukes on Moscow. Meanwhile the Russian general’s reaction scene is another...   read more

The Stop Button Posted by on July 22, 2019

And here’s the issue where Ennis goes for the heartstrings. Frank’s got to save the little girl, which ends up being a fantastic sequence. The issue opens with the hijacked airliner getting shot down; the response to it, both from the Russian general and Fury, are the B plot for...   read more

The Stop Button Posted by on July 18, 2019

Just over halfway through the arc and Ennis does a bridging issue. It’s an all-action bridging issue, but a bridging issue. We find out exactly what the U.S.-funded terrorists on the plane are going to do, we find out what the Russian general’s little henchman is capable of doing, we...   read more

The Stop Button Posted by on July 17, 2019

The first page of the issue introduces the latest cast addition—six-year old Galina Stenkov. She’s in a nuclear missile silo with mean doctors trying to get her blood out so they can have the super-weapon. And then in walks Frank. Ennis interrupts their introduction with a one page check-in to...   read more

The Stop Button Posted by on July 16, 2019

There’s so much Frank narration this issue. So much. It’s wonderful. Ennis is able to use the narration for some exposition, some texture, some humor. Not a lot of humor. He’s got Nick Fury around for humor. Frank’s narration humor is dryer; though maybe not more cynical than Fury’s. It’s...   read more

The Stop Button Posted by on July 15, 2019

Right away there’s something different about this issue; from page one. Penciller Dougie Braithwaite. Braithwaite is thrilled to be doing Punisher, you can tell from the detail—I still want to know what’s on the counter next to Frank in the opening scene, presumably a menu but who knows—and he work   read more

Comet Over Hollywood Posted by on December 20, 2018

In 2011, I announced I was trying to see every film released in 1939. This new series chronicles films released in 1939 as I watch them. As we start out this blog feature, this section may become more concrete as I search for a common thread that runs throughout each film...   read more

Carole & Co. Posted by carole_and_co on May 13, 2018

Probably no person was closer to Carole Lombard during her lifetime than her mother, Elizabeth Peters. She gave daughter Jane Alice confidence, instilling in her feminist qualities atypical for the era. She was a confidante, as many mothers are, someone Carole could turn to when she sought refuge fr   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on December 29, 2017

Of course, Bachelor Mother is a blatant oxymoron and it’s a perfect summation of that vestige of a genre the screwball comedy — a genre that’s about marriage and divorce and the gray areas in between conveniently skirting past issues such as adultery or people “living in sin   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on December 29, 2017

Of course, Bachelor Mother is a blatant oxymoron and it’s a perfect summation of that vestige of a genre the screwball comedy — a genre that’s about marriage and divorce and the gray areas in between conveniently skirting past issues such as adultery or people “living in sin   read more

Critica Retro Posted by Lê on June 9, 2017

Judy e Liza: de mãe para filha / Judy and Liza: from mother to daughter O talento é algo hereditário? Pesquisadores dizem que talento é 50% herdado nos genes e 50% desenvolvido com a prática. Nós não vamos nos aprofundar no campo da genética hoje, apenas apresentaremos um caso que,...   read more

The Stop Button Posted by Andrew Wickliffe on May 9, 2016

The Best of An Alan Smithee Podcast: Episode Twenty-two The Little Shop of Horrors (1960, Roger Corman) / Please Don&’t Eat My Mother (1973, Carl Monson) Originally posted: January 3, 2013 Subscribe via iTunes.   read more

True Classics Posted by on May 8, 2016

My mother died on a Tuesday. March 22, 2016, to be exact. Less than two months ago. That day will always be etched in my memory due simply to its utter ordinariness. I had some free time that afternoon, and the weather was that rare perfect mix of brilliant sunshine and...   read more

True Classics Posted by on May 8, 2016

My mother died on a Tuesday. March 22, 2016, to be exact. Less than two months ago. That day will always be etched in my memory due simply to its utter ordinariness. I had some free time that afternoon, and the weather was that rare perfect mix of brilliant sunshine and...   read more

Le Mot du Cinephiliaque Posted by Michael on April 12, 2016

Mother Kusters’ Trip to Heaven (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1975) Frau Kusters (Brigitte Mira) is preparing dinner late one seemingly ordinary afternoon in her seemingly ordinary kitchen in Frankfurt, Germany. Mrs. Kusters wants to add canned sausages to the stew, her annoying daughter-in-law   read more

Comet Over Hollywood Posted by on February 15, 2016

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals. In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals. This week’s musical: Mother Wore...   read more

Comet Over Hollywood Posted by on February 15, 2016

It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals. In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals. This week’s musical: Mother Wore...   read more

Finding Franchot: Exploring the Life and Career of Franchot Tone Posted by Franchot Tone Fan on November 19, 2015

The focus of the 1933 film Stage Mother is exactly what the title suggests: a former performer pushes her only daughter into show business and controls every aspect of her daughter's life. Think of it as an early non-musical Gypsy. Alice Brady and Maureen O'Sullivan star as the mother Kitty...   read more