A weekly feature here on Big Heads that looks forward to the week ahead on the mighty Turner Classic Movies. For your viewing and recording pleasure. The column returns and so does TCM, with a marvelous week of programming after stumbling through Summer Under the Stars. Friday, September 11 05:
I use the term "Underrated Auteur" frequently on the TCM Look-Ahead column. These are the less ballyhooed names from Hollywood history who nevertheless can rightly be classified as auteurs, with long, generally successful careers within the restrictions of the Hollywood system, yet managed to make distinct, personal
In The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929 - 1968, Andrew Sarris provided an extremely useful and entertaining appendix he called "Directorial Chronology." It was basically a best American film of the year list with a highly auteurist, idiosyncratic bent. So you would see things like Man's
Admittedly late, due to travel and procrastination, but some good ones in August (and 2 or 3 masterpieces at that). A Dandy in Aspic (1968), directed by Anthony Mann I have been seeking this out in my quest for Anthony Mann completion (it was his last film). Finally found a
Today marked the last I could visit any of the cinemas included on The Big List. I simply could not make the logistics work for others I hoped to frequent, and London just has so much to do. Today was for the beautiful and made-for-me Garden Cinema, in
Even for non-cinephiles the BFI South Bank is fabulous, with its brutalist architecture and 3 bars, including one on the balcony with one of the best views in London. For cinephiles? Forget about it. Featuring a library with every book one can imagine on film and television (including many,
If you are disconcerted by the old-timey look of the marquis at the Prince Charles Cinema, rest assured that is intentional. Around since 1962, the embrace their heritage while at the same time never failing to upgrade what matters – seating and tech. They are able to screeen films in
I am off to London in a few hours time. It is unlikely I will be able to contribute the usual columns whilst gone, but I do intend to post some movie-centric stuff on Big Heads during the week. London is one of the three greatest movie-going cities
A weekly feature here on Big Heads that looks forward to the week ahead on the mighty Turner Classic Movies. For your viewing and recording pleasure. TCM gets the ball rolling, to their credit, on their Summer Under the Stars with a marvelously idiosyncratic choice of star, the singular Marie
A weekly feature here on Big Heads that looks forward to the week ahead on the mighty Turner Classic Movies. For your viewing and recording pleasure. It saddens me to announce that TCM is continuing its Summer Under the Stars feature which, while not as egregious as a thousand days
On Tuesdays Big Heads will "program" a double feature of thematically similar films. I will provide links so you can track down where to stream them and turn your house into a got-dang Cinematheque. This week on the Two-fer we present a revisionist gumshoe exercise by
A weekly feature here on Big Heads that looks forward to the week ahead on the mighty Turner Classic Movies. For your viewing and recording pleasure. Friday August 7 10:00 p.m. PDT The Dawn Patrol (1938) Okay, not the superior original version from 1930 by Howard Hawks, but
The Jokers (1967), directed by Michael Winner Movies like this, with hip, above-it-all youths making a mockery of society, used to be omni-present in the 60s. This has Oliver Reed and Michael Crawford as well-off, incorrigible brothers who plot to steal the Crown Jewels just to
A weekly feature here on Big Heads that looks forward to the week ahead on the mighty Turner Classic Movies. For your viewing and recording pleasure. Fritz Lang (with 2 films!) nudges ahead of Nicolas Ray in the most rec'd competition here on the Look-Ahead. Friday, July
A weekly feature here on Big Heads that looks forward to the week ahead on the mighty Turner Classic Movies. For your viewing and recording pleasure. Friday, July 24 10:00 p.m. PDT The Prowler (1951) Joseph Losey before the blacklist sent him to London pretty much permanently. The
Thanks largely to the contributions of the person I quote, below, the Iconic Cinerama Dome in Hollywood is receiving a grand re-opening in 2028. This is an overwhelming win for movie goers, and I really believe there will be more to come. Vive le Cinema! I am pleased to
On Tuesdays Big Heads will "program" a double feature of thematically or stylistically similar films. I will provide links so you can track down where to stream them and turn your house into a got-dang Cinematheque. This week on two-fer, we revisit a horror relic about
A weekly feature here on Big Heads that looks forward to the week ahead on the mighty Turner Classic Movies. For your viewing and recording pleasure. Friday, July 17 10:00 p.m. PDT In a Lonely Place (1950) Nick Ray's swooningly romantic, liquor-soaked murder story that
Every Tuesday Big Heads will "program" a double feature of thematically or stylistically similar films. I will provide links so you can track down where to stream them and turn your house into a got-dang Cinematheque. Today on two-fer a magnificent reminder we used to have
In The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929 - 1968, Andrew Sarris provided an extremely useful and entertaining appendix he called "Directorial Chronology." It was basically a best American film of the year list with a highly auteurist, idiosyncratic bent. So you would see things like Man's
A weekly feature here on Big Heads that looks forward to the week ahead on the mighty Turner Classic Movies. For your viewing and recording pleasure. It's Noir City month on TCM, chock full of the usual (can't miss) subjects. Friday, July 10 08:00 p.
A weekly feature here on Big Heads that looks forward to the week ahead on the mighty Turner Classic Movies. For your viewing and recording pleasure. Yes, there are the usual suspects of patriotic films this week, but TCM is showing remarkable restraint in leaving most of the week free
Operation Avalanche (2016), directed by Matt Johnson. I caught Nirvanna the Band fever this year. This is an early and wildly entertaining foray by Matt Johnson and company into feature film making. Johnson and Owen Williams play NASA-employed videographers who get wind that the Apollo 11 moon mission is
A weekly feature here on Big Heads that looks forward to the week ahead on the mighty Turner Classic Movies. For your viewing and recording pleasure. Friday, June 26 06:15 p.m. PST The Beast with Five Fingers (1947) Remember my Mad Love rec from last week? This is