Live and Let Die (1973)

     You know what? I think I had James Bond pegged all wrong. My initial experiances and the way people seem to talk about the franchise led me to believe that Bond movies were all fairly typical action blockbusters lightly flavored with cold war era spy fiction and sci-fi with an unusually high level of racism and mysogyny due to the franchise's adhirance to tradition, and the power fantasy it was created to cater to. However, as we move further along the franchise into the seventies I can't help but get the sense that, while they are spy/sci fiction action blockbusters they aren't at all typical.

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

     You know what I find most interesting about James Bond? Just behind Godzilla it is the second longest running movie franchise. That's not the only thing the seem to have in common: they also seem to have gotten really silly at around the same times too, and Diamonds Are Forever (1971) seems to be prime evidence of this. Although, it is worth mentioning that the Godzilla movie it most reminds me of was released two years later: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973).

Apocalypse Now (1979)

     To some extent Apocalypse Now (1979) weirdly belongs in the same category of films as Gone With the Wind (1939). Both are titans of cinema; undertakings as successful as they are grand, and incredibly difficult for me to watch. I was dreading rewatching Apocalypse Now as soon as I finished my first viewing. I guessed a rewatch would be inevitable. After all I didn’t really feel like I truly “got it”. In truth I still don’t think I do, but now more than ever I’m pretty sure I don’t really want to.

Cabaret (1972)

     10 months 2 jobs later in a year besotten by a pandemic I return to the old film blog. It's nice to know that no matter how often I abandon it I can always come back to post more musings. I've gone back to the old scratch off poster again fulfilling a promise I made just over a year ago that I'd muse on Cabaret (1972). So I done did a watch of the movie so lets do a talk about it.

A Place in the Sun (1951)

First, some housekeeping. I've stepped away from this blog for a while due to getting my wisdom teeth pulled outta my head. It's pretty difficult to maintain motivation when you're in either in pain or on high dose pain killers. Regardless I've pretty much recovered and am getting back into this thing. So the movie reopening this blog is 1951's A Place in the Sun.

Double Feature: Frankenstein (1931) & Dracula (1931)

So in an attempt to get through this scratch off poster of mine a little faster I've decided to double up on movies where time permits and doubling up is relevant, and there is no better pair of movies to start this with than Dracula and Frankenstein. Both films came out the same year, share an actor and producer, are based off classic horror literature framed as correspondence, and both Universal horror films. Its impossible to deny the influence both Frankenstein and Dracula had on the horror genre (having practically invented the mainstream perception of the genre) and on the broader industry.

The Circus (1928)

Genre is an interesting thing. There are very often blurred lines separating works into genre classifications. The more closely you examine any work the more difficult it becomes to lock it down to a specific genre. Very often this distinction comes down to a wishy-washy "I know it when I see it approach".

Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Out of Sci-fi Schlok: Meaning

It's now Independence Day. What is a film blog supposed to talk about on Independence Day? Can I get through an entire post dancing around the obvious topic? I'm gonna try. I'm not really a patriotic person. I respect my country, the US of A, but boy has it been a difficult country to love recently, and it seems even suggesting that I don't love the United States gets a few raised eyebrows in my direction (seems a bit creepily nationalist to me). But there is one thing I unreservedly love about my country and that is that I don't have to. I am under no obligation to think that America is the greatest country in the world or that our nation's policies and activities are moral and correct. That is the freedom I like to celebrate every Independence Day. To that end I think it would be interesting to indulge my inner Godzilla fan and explore the political undertones of Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah (1991)