Ikiru (1952): Loving and Living

“This man bears a cross called cancer. He’s Christ.” Ikiru is instantly a tale of dramatic irony as we see x-ray footage and an omniscient narrator tells us matter-of-factly the signs of cancer are already obvious. Our protagonist’s work life hits hard as he’s a public ... Read full article

The Silver Cord (1933): Loving Joel McCrea is a Battlefield

“Surely I can be a good son and a good husband.” Whether it means to or not, the opening interlude of The Silver Cord plays like a comic inversion of typical Hollywood. It opens in Heidelberg, and they make us blink; they’re actually speaking German and Irene Dunne is one of them! ... Read full article

Jean Arthur: Loving Portrait of a Unique Performer

“I guess I became an actress because I didn’t want to be myself.” *** There was in Old Hollywood an actress named Jean Arthur whose chosen star name was a tribute to Joan of Arc and King Arthur, nothing less. She was born Gladys Georgianna Greene in Plattsburg, New York, had Norweg... Read full article

Loving Vincent (2017, Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman)

Loving Vincent is the story of the man in the yellow suit (not to be confused with the Man in the Yellow Hat, which is sort of unfortunate because monkey) and his quest to deliver Vincent Van Gogh’s last letter. The title comes from how Van Gogh signed letters to his brother–“your most loving ... Read full article

Loving Asta, the Canine Film Star

I’ve been dogsitting this week, which has me thinking about my favorite canine of classic film. I have to admit, I’m not an original at all: I love Skippy, of Asta fame. It doesn’t matter that I’m not a wire-haired terrier fan, or actually a terrier fan period. That dog runs ... Read full article