The graceful silhouette of a woman comes into view. Away from the darkness, she is revealed in a figure-hugging, beautifully crafted cheongsam or qípáo dress. Poised and graceful, with her hair always meticulously coiffed, she looks exquisite as she glides through the interior surroundings, whether a winding alleyway, a cramped restaurant or narrow stairwell. It… Continue reading Poetic Film, In the Mood for Love is Unforgettable
The World of Suzie Wong is set in 1960 Hong Kong and stars William Holden and newcomer actress Nancy Kwan and directed by Richard Quine. I’m a fan of Richard Quine’s films. He directed many fine actors like Jack Lemmon, Jimmy Stewart, William Holden, Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood, Merle Oberon and Kim Novak,… Continue reading The World of Suzie Wong is a Pleasant Surprise and a Feast for the Eyes
I’m a fan of the Rocky film franchise, so with the release of Rocky spinoff, Creed, I have decided to look at one of Hollywood’s best boxing contenders. Robert Wise was an incredibly versatile director and one of Hollywood’s most accomplished. He helmed a long list of films in a variety of genres that… Continue reading Brutally Realistic, The Set-Up is an Honest Look at a Boxer’s Life
Take a wistful glimpse at the early postwar years with filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso. This beautiful film won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival and Foreign Language Film At the Academy Awards in 1990. There was a time when the local movie house was “the” gathering place of small towns.… Continue reading Philippe Noiret and Salvatore Cascio are Superb in Cinema Paradiso
Philippe Noiret is one of my favourite actors. Let me put it this way, when he passed away, I felt like I lost a close friend or even an uncle. In a way I did because I had been watching M. Noiret for so many years, since I was a child in the 70’s and… Continue reading The Inimitable Philippe Noiret
I wasn’t certain what to write in this blog after the tragic events of last week. I knew that I wanted to write something that would tell how much we love this beautiful city and its incredible people. Paris, Je T’Aime debuted in 2006 and little wonder it has become somewhat of a modern French… Continue reading Paris Je T’Aime
During his long and storied career, Wilder had an amazing knack for making films that were not only considered film classics but also model examples of their genre. Wilder defined the film noir genre with Double Indemnity. No one tackled the subject of Hollywood the way he did when he made Sunset Boulevard. With Stalag… Continue reading Stalag 17 is a Masterpiece
This is one of my favourite films! My best friend and I even performed a version of this in our French class. I had seen the film years before, when I was 10 or 11. They used to rerun these great films all the time, now PBS or Public Broadcasting Service, TVO, TCM and Silver… Continue reading Acting Extraordinaire from Signoret, Clouzot and Meurisse in Masterpiece Les Diaboliques
Joel McCrea plays a director in Sullivan’s Travels. He has carved out a career of churning out one comedy after another. He remains unfulfilled and longs to make a “serious” film, one that would allow him to leave his mark not only in the film industry but on the world. Successful, yet spoiled and naive,… Continue reading Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake in Preston Sturges’ Sullivan’s Travels
In this classic 1960 French film, Jean-Paul Belmondo is a wandering criminal and Jean Seberg plays his American girlfriend. Jean-Luc Godard’s first feature-length work was Belmondo’s breakthrough film. I was in my teens when I discovered this on late night tv, my introduction to the French way of filmmaking, French New Wave. It is captivating!… Continue reading Belmondo and Seberg captivate us in Breathless
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