I’m telling you – time keeps on slipping (slipping, slipping) into the future. One day, I’m in L.A. at the TCM film festival, swooning over Carol Burnett, and the next, I’m listing Halloween décor to my Etsy shop (shameless plug alert!) Oy. So, before I have to start making my wardrobe plans for the next festival, I’m taking the opportunity today to recap my experience from this year’s event, which I attended – for the sixth year – with my older daughter, Veronica. I’ll try to keep this post…

Bob Hope stars as AJ Niles, a world-renowned author of a series of books examining the lifestyle, eating habits, and sex life of the Europeans. His research keeps him busy all across the continent and his books have made him over a million in revenue. However, when he returns to the States after a 14- year absence, he finds his business manager has skedaddled to Mexico and left him with the IRS hounding him for over $600,000 in unpaid income taxes. His publisher suggests he write another book…

Soundworks Productions combines an intriguing concept with a “killer” cast to breathe fresh life into grand guignol classic Sweeney Todd. A clear favourite of local audiences, Soundworks Productions’ season of Sweeney Todd opens with precious few tickets remaining even after the addition of extra performances. Advance ticket buyers have been rewarded with a creatively conceived, expertly prepared production that is a real crowd-pleaser in its balance of black comedy and sinister horror. An…

One of my favorite Deanna Durbin films, FIRST LOVE (1939), is now available on Blu-ray from Universal.FIRST LOVE is a delightful retelling of the Cinderella story. Orphaned Connie (Durbin) graduates from boarding school and goes to live with wealthy relatives.Most of the family ignores her, and her cousin Barbara (Helen Parrish) is downright mean.The servants, however, take Connie under their wing and arrange for her to attend a ball, where she dances with wealthy, handsome Ted Drake (Robert…

I see a post like this on social media almost daily so I figured I should just write up my own recommendation list for AppleTV shows and link to it rather than retyping it out each time someone asks.Please hit me in the comments below if there's a series or movie on AppleTV I've forgotten to mention that you love. My main purpose in writing this list is that AppleTV shows seem to fly under the radar for some reason, but I think I could ditch all the other streaming services and be just fine…

Find all previous and future episodes listed here or in your podcast app under “Barbican Station”. This episode I talk with Matthew Bradford about all our Burning Questions ahead of season six of the show. We discuss some Herron related news before getting into what we might see this season based on the trailer. We eventually delve into some book related potential spoilers but we do give fair warning. Plus, we talk about what’s coming on the Herron Horizon and some collecting talk. All that and…

I read somewhere that 1955’s To Catch a Thief was fairly spy-adjacent. I watched it this morning.It’s got about everything you need: a very debonair hero in Cary Grant (he was 51 at the time), a beautiful girl in Grace Kelly (she was just 26), amazing locations on the French Rivera, elegant galas, classic sports cars, and intrigue around stolen jewels.Grant is John Robie, a former jewel thief nicknamed “The Cat” who broke out of prison during World War II and joined the French Resistance. He…

Pearl is a drag queen – and a young one at that. And even though she has managed to bloom into her drag persona there is still one thing that hurts inside. That is the rejection that she has faced from her mother. One night, during her performance, she notices a familiar face in the audience… Parental rejection is still something that impacts a lot of young people, which is a great shame in this day and age. This animated short from a group of students tells the story of just one young person –…

Elisa Giudici reporting from Venice “What story was Oppenheim trying to tell with this movie?” a colleague asked me right after we left the screening of Primetime. He sounded as baffled as I felt. Since we're both European, neither of us is particularly familiar with Chris Hansen’s persona, voice, or mannerisms. As journalists, however, we know enough about his notorious pursuit of ratings on American TV and the backlash surrounding his early-2000s show. Still, for days, when someone asked what…

by Cláudio Alves Social realism is a preferred style for many directors in the American indie scene. However, one must be careful when indulging in its rawness, or else accusations of making misery porn may come about. There’s also the way such projects can devolve into something more akin to an acting exercise than a story proper, built upon and uniquely sustained by performers willing to portray degradation for the camera, breaking apart for our viewing pleasure if not our elucidation.…

I read somewhere that 1955’s To Catch a Thief was fairly spy-adjacent. I watched it this morning.It’s got about everything you need: a very debonair hero in Cary Grant (he was 51 at the time), a beautiful girl in Grace Kelly (she was just 26), amazing locations on the French Rivera, elegant galas, classic sports cars, and intrigue around stolen jewels.Grant is John Robie, a former jewel thief nicknamed “The Cat” who broke out of prison during World War II and joined the French Resistance. He…

Garry Abbott joins Tim Worthington for a chat about Wilson Fisk asserting that he's better than Chuck Swirsky - frickin' liberal - in Daredevil: Born Again.

An odd little bird of a movie — one that, in retrospect, kicked off a fairly solid career for David O. Russell, and one littered with great performances from beloved actors. And yet it seems to have barely any cultural footprint at all. Perhaps that's because its star shines less obviously bright here than in the other Ben Stiller vehicles that made him famous; perhaps it's because it mostly stars people you laugh at but do not like. Flirting with Disaster works very, very well when you examine…

We'll kick this off with a video from Anthony Scibelli's Unsung Legends Of Comedy series Billy was teamed up with another Howard brother and soon to be Stooge, Shemp Howard at Monogram.In the 1950’s, Gilbert worked frequently in television. He appeared six times on The Red Skelton Hour.Andy’s Gang Love the memorable pantomime Buster Keaton and Billy performed on You Asked For It.

Dennis Hopper on the set of Blue Velvet (1986). Photo credit: Jim Bridges. Vitals Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth, sadistic drug dealer Lumberton, North Carolina, Spring 1985 Film: Blue Velvet Release Date: September 19, 1986 Director: David Lynch Costumer: Ronald Leamon WARNING! Spoilers ahead! Background After his early low-budget debut Eraserhead (1977) and adaptations The Elephant Man (1980) and Dune (1984), David Lynch finally unleashed many of his cinematic signatures when the neo-noir…

Video transcript: Did Tilda Swinton live up to expectations in Man to Man at the Royal Court Theatre? I confess that she was on my bucket list of screen actors that I would love to see on stage, and I never thought that she actually would, so of course I was going to buy tickets And it’s a very expansive play. It’s a solo performance, playing lots of different roles. But it’s also expansive in that it follows a woman’s life from 1930s Germany through to the 1980s. There’s a lot of history, a…

It wouldn’t be accurate to say that Edward G. Robinson is green on EVERY poster for SCARLET STREET. There are some where he’s a more lifelike hue, one where he’s more blue, and one where he’s half blue, like Mr. Braveheart. Some association is being formed between Robinson’s bank clerk in the film and a […]

It's hard to believe it's been seven years since I first saw ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT (1942) thanks to the recommendation of the late Michael Schlesinger.Schlesinger hosted the movie at the 2019 TCM Classic Film Festival, and while it didn't fit my schedule then, I heard good "buzz" about it and watched it at home a couple months later.I enjoyed returning to this unusual film thanks to the brand-new Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT tells the tale of a collection of…

I just watched THE LOVERS on Youtube, and wanted to jot down some of my thoughts about the animated short film. / If you want to check it out for yourself too, you can watch it her...

I’m not sure who’s more gross, Netflix or Wilder’s estate: Titled Wonka’s The Golden Ticket, the unscripted series uses the re-created voice of actor Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka in the 1971 movie, as a key part of the game. Netflix and Eureka Productions, which is behind The Golden Ticket, got permission from Wilder’s estate and worked with AI company ElevenLabs to re-create the late actor’s voice. 🔗 hollywoodreporter.com

Huzzah for Liz (and us all) The Sewing Academy is back.

“We’ve been expecting you.” Welcome to Downton Abbey, or Highclere Castle as the famous country house is known in the real world. After spending quite some time in intellectual property approvals, this LEGO Ideas project was finally approved, and in October 2026 we can buy this monumental landmark.We received an early copy for review, and also spoke to the design team as part of a roundtable presentation.Continue reading »

Does it still get oddly quiet in terms of new releases while the critics are up in Toronto, or are there not enough for that to be a factor? The big release is Practical Magic 2, one of those sequels where the characters from the first (Sandra Bullock & Nicole Kidman) have nearly-grown kids (Joey King & Maisie Williams) encountering the same curse where men who fall in love with them die. It's

Horror arriving “bright and colorful like a Hitchcock movie.”

Delighted to have a new copy of Jeff Burton’s Dreamland. A photo book of Burton’s artistic work, taken on adult movie sets and around Los Angeles. Dreamy, glossy, arresting. It’s certainly influenced my own work.Books I ReadAbout I My Book | Consulting I X I Instagram I LinkedIn I Email

Apple's highly polished and cinematic Event videos frequently draw inspiration from big budget blockbusters. The 2026 introduction of iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo was no exception, with some references to James Bond films, particularly the opening shot of "Skyfall" (2012) when presenting former CEO Tim Cook, Bond walking from left to right in profile when introducing new CEO John Ternus, and the James Bond gunbarrel title sequence when referencing the new variable aperture featured on the…

MOLIERE WOULD HAVE LOVED IT Much to celebrate here, and not only the return of that maverick angel Mark Rylance: once again treading a London stage, adorned with a clerical collar and at one point (actually, two points) hopping in fruitless pursuit of a very reluctant hostess with his trousers round his ankles, Rix-style. Excellent. Even without that, celebrate the first production on his scale in a mainstream theatre by Darren Raymond’s “Intermission Youth” charity, long supported by Rylance…

The Frock Flicks team is taking a last bit of time off as fall begins,

by Cláudio Alves I don’t want this to become a yearly tradition. However, it’s notable that, for the second TIFF in a row, I chose to cap my first day at the fest with a Cannes prizewinner starring Renate Reinsve, coming hot into the awards season with NEON’s backing and the recommendation of a battalion of fellow critics I follow. And at the end, I find myself a contrarian. But while Sentimental Value was merely a disappointment, Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord is much worse, an outright catastrophe…

Alien - click for the song! Somi or Somi Kakoma, is a Grammy-nominated American-born singer, songwriter, playwright, and actress of Rwandan and Ugandan descent.The first African woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award in a Jazz category. (Really???) The first Rwandan or Ugandan to ever be nominated for a Grammy.Also, the first East African actor to perform on Broadway. copyright to the owner Wikipedia - click for the bio!Now; for the lyrics: I don't drink coffee, I take tea my dearSome extra…