4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 27, 2018

Bye Bye Birdie has sunshiny singalong written all over it even before we know the premise. The fact that it’s about the frenzy following the draft notice of a beloved hunky teenage heartthrob Conrad Birdie (a knowing amalgamation of Conway Twitty and Elvis) doesn’t help its case much. I   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 25, 2018

Previously, whenever I thought of Elvis and films, my first inclination was to think musical and then secondly because, by some form of osmosis the culture had taught me this, Elvis went with Ann-Margret. In truth, they were astoundingly only ever in this one picture together but what a picture...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 25, 2018

Previously, whenever I thought of Elvis and films, my first inclination was to think musical and then secondly because, by some form of osmosis the culture had taught me this, Elvis went with Ann-Margret. In truth, they were astoundingly only ever in this one picture together but what a picture...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 23, 2018

It’s my prerogative to respect films that dare to leave me questioning their ambitions and their outcomes. Clouds of Sils Maria is such a film. At times it gets so caught up in its own meta-narrative perhaps too much so. Still, this is a story about a middle-aged actress (Juliette Binoche) cal   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 23, 2018

It’s my prerogative to respect films that dare to leave me questioning their ambitions and their outcomes. Clouds of Sils Maria is such a film. At times it gets so caught up in its own meta-narrative perhaps too much so. Still, this is a story about a middle-aged actress (Juliette Binoche) cal   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 21, 2018

It’s happened in some well-documented cases that the same actor has played two characters that feel nominally similar and based on this cursory level of comparison the general public has been forever befuddled. You could cite some notable examples being Bogart playing Sam Spade and Phillip Mar   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 21, 2018

It’s happened in some well-documented cases that the same actor has played two characters that feel nominally similar and based on this cursory level of comparison the general public has been forever befuddled. You could cite some notable examples being Bogart playing Sam Spade and Phillip Mar   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 18, 2018

Anyone who takes the time to search out this movie whether the reason is a young Jack Nicholson who wrote, helped finance, and starred in this western or because it’s directed by cult favorite Monte Hellman,  they probably already know it was shot consecutively with The Shooting. Whereas the f   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 18, 2018

Anyone who takes the time to search out this movie whether the reason is a young Jack Nicholson who wrote, helped finance, and starred in this western or because it’s directed by cult favorite Monte Hellman,  they probably already know it was shot consecutively with The Shooting. Whereas the f   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 17, 2018

Crime films, westerns, and horror. It’s easy to see why these genres make arguably the best B-pictures, all things considered. It lies in their ability to deliver thrills with minimal capital and a bit of inspiration. Film Noir is by far my favorite but a film such as The Shooting...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 17, 2018

Crime films, westerns, and horror. It’s easy to see why these genres make arguably the best B-pictures, all things considered. It lies in their ability to deliver thrills with minimal capital and a bit of inspiration. Film Noir is by far my favorite but a film such as The Shooting...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 14, 2018

B-films have little time to waste and this one jumps right into the action. In a matter of moments, a man is shot, another man has killed him and a third witness gets away into the night. Although Frank Johnson (Ross Elliot) is rounded up by the police to be...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 14, 2018

B-films have little time to waste and this one jumps right into the action. In a matter of moments, a man is shot, another man has killed him and a third witness gets away into the night. Although Frank Johnson (Ross Elliot) is rounded up by the police to be...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 12, 2018

There’s a key moment in My Man Godrey where the ditzy Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard) giddily announces to her mother, “Godfrey loves me. He put me in the shower!” Her mother’s response could best be described as one of indignance but it’s a barrel of laughs for the aud   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 12, 2018

There’s a key moment in My Man Godrey where the ditzy Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard) giddily announces to her mother, “Godfrey loves me. He put me in the shower!” Her mother’s response could best be described as one of indignance but it’s a barrel of laughs for the aud   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 10, 2018

Love Crazy puts William Powell and Myrna Loy in their wheelhouse as the lithe and sprightly romantic partners right at the center of this screwball comedy.  Steve Ireland (Powell) is in a terribly good mood getting home in his taxi singing diddys as he makes his way up to surprise his wife Susan on   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 9, 2018

“What were you doing on the night of October fifth, nineteen-hundred-and-two?” ~ William Powell as Nick Charles “I was just a gleam in my father’s eye.” ~ Myrna Loy as Nora Charles With The Thin Man, Dashiell Hammet successfully crafted several archetypes that go beyond the basic pulpy film noir st   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 9, 2018

There was a time when San Francisco was synonymous with the earthquake. Before Rice-A-Roni, The Golden Gate, Bullitt, or heaven forbid, The Giants. For me, it’s hardly a major spoiler to say this film revolves much around that tragic date by in 1906 (a strikingly recent 30 years before the...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 9, 2018

“What were you doing on the night of October fifth, nineteen-hundred-and-two?” ~ William Powell as Nick Charles “I was just a gleam in my father’s eye.” ~ Myrna Loy as Nora Charles With The Thin Man, Dashiell Hammet successfully crafted several archetypes that go beyond the basic pulpy film noir st   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on January 6, 2018

Destry Rides Again is integral to the tradition of comedy westerns–a storied lineage that includes the likes of Way Out West, Blazing Saddles, and Support Your Local Sheriff. It takes a bit of the long maintained western lore and gives it a screwy comic twist courtesy of classic Hollywood. The   read more