Sometimes, I feel like I'm living in a western movie. White men in North Dakota are trying to spread west, but run into Indian opposition. Terrified of the "red man," they paint him as the enemy, the great obstacle of progress. But at least westerns had the decency to make the Indians murderous villains, not quiet … Continue reading 75 YOF: John Wayne, North Dakota, and Casual Racism (The Searchers-1956)
James Dean has been immortalized as a Hollywood icon because the instant he hit his peak, he died in a car crash. If you want to see an icon who's been put in paintings with Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, and The Three Stooges, Rebel Without a Cause is pretty much your only option. PLOT: A … Continue reading 75 YOF: “Rebel Without a Cause,” and Becoming A Man (1955)
It's a bit hard to study film history without including Marilyn Monroe at some point. However, I wanted to look beyond her iconic appearance. Could she actually act? Here's a film that tries her talent, not just her physique. STORY: After being snubbed by his lover, a man named Jed starts flirting with a Nell … Continue reading 75 YOF: “Don’t Bother to Knock,” the Marvelous, Maniacal Monroe (1952)
Sometimes when examining film history, it's good to shine a light on particular, popular actors. This film has two: Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. Better yet, Bogart won the Oscar for Best Actor in this film. That's good enough for me! STORY: World War I is in full swing and not even Africa is safe. … Continue reading 75 YOF: “African Queen,”One Ugly-Ass Romance (1951)
This post is part of a fun experiment in which I watch a movie from each release year from 1941 to 2016 to see how movies, and our world, have changed. You don't have to read the previous entries to understand this one, but if you'd like to see the progression, click here to see … Continue reading 75 YOF: “All About Eve” and the Snoot Factor
This is part of an ongoing series exploring history and film throughout the ages by watching one movie per release year from 1941 to 2016. To see the other movies and times discussed so far, click here. And now for something completely different. In order to shake things up, we decided to watch an animated … Continue reading 75 Years of Film: 1949–The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
This is a continuing series exploring history and film by watching one movie from each release year from 1941-2016. For a full list of movies/years examined so far, click here. And now we're on to 1948, where I don't have a proper intro...let's just do this. STORY Adapted from the Charles Dickens novel, this film … Continue reading 75 Years of Film: 1948–Oliver Twist
This is a continuing series in which we look at one film from each year to see how film and the world have changed. For a brief intro and a list of all movies so far, click here. Yet another famous one we'd never seen, but the boys in Shawshank Redemption made Rita Hayworth sound so … Continue reading 75 Years of Film: 1946–Gilda
This is a continuing series studying film and history changes, one movie year at a time. For a brief introduction and a list of all movies discussed so far (and to join in those discussions yourself), click here. Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra? What could be more 1940s? This seemed like one of the definitive … Continue reading 75 Years of Film: 1945–Anchors Aweigh
What better place to start these adventures into film history than with one of the most famous monster flicks of all time? It's been remade, rebooted, and spoofed to death, but does that mean it's great or just memorable? Plot Larry Talbot returns to his old hometown, but while on a date, he's bitten by … Continue reading 75 Years of Film: 1941–The Wolfman
Fencing With Ink 