When I describe Chastity Flame to people I usually use the shorthand description that she’s like an über-sexy female James Bond. Since Bond rebooted with Daniel Craig that’s a good selling point, although when I started thinking about Chas what I had in mind was the kick-ass heroine of Peter O’Donnell’s comics and novels (and…
Tag: movies
Film for a Friday: Sweet Charity
I just needed some Fosse to get me motivated on finishing grading. Some great stuff but no time to enjoy it all — but I have some really sharp students (of course!). Once all this is done and graduation over, I’ll be updating more frequently. And having a little fun, laughs, and good times.
Review: Love & Friendship
What absolute joy this film is. The sense of fun and delight in being bad is not what one usually associates with Austen but it is exactly the reason her best observations cut so deeply. I may have to reconsider Whit Stillman. First I should admit to being a hoarder. I had not read Lady…
TOA/V: Anna Karenina
The eternal struggle in Belle Ombre: agreeing on something to watch with my brother. One of the places our largely divergent tastes overlap is in the realm of costume drama, so the other night after one or the other of us voting down this or that film we finally agreed on the 2012 version of…
TOA/V — Tea: The Dark Side of the Cup
“Billions of cups are sunk a day for centuries and nobody says a word – until now.” A mockumentary exploring the silent epidemic of tea dependence. A plight, engulfing our society for a millennia – undocumented. Click here to watch on Vimeo I supported their kickstarter and received a lovely tea coaster like the image…
TOA/V: Straight to Hell Returns
So I got to meet Alex Cox at the Hudson Basilica run by former Hole member Melissa Auf der Mauer (who introduced him) and see the rejiggered STRAIGHT TO HELL RETURNS so how big was my smile? Very! I love this film. I felt for years as if I were the only person crazy enough…
Tuesday’s Overlooked A/V: Härmä
Härmä In the plainlands of Ostrobothnia, Western Finland, a tradition prevails, according to which the first-born son inherits everything and the remaining offspring must fend for themselves. The law has been cast aside in many areas and groups of men, knife-wielding thugs, nicknamed ‘toughs’, control the fields. The blade rules the land. ONCE UPON A…
TOA/V: Adèle Blanc-Sec
We watched The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec the other night: I had been looking forward to it coming out but when it did, life was chaotic and so I’ve not seen it until now. I was intrigued when I heard a couple papers on the film at the comics conference in Glasgow. I’m happy…
TOA/V: One, Two, Three
The seldom-trumpeted comedy One, Two, Three may be best known as the film that made James Cagney leave the movie business until his swan song in Ragtime two decades later. The 1961 film had several touchstones which put it in a difficult position: spoofing the Eastern Germans and the newly erected Berlin Wall, and worse…
K. A. Laity 