Shanghai Express (1932) – Josef von Sternberg

  The next entry in the Romance and Melodrama category for my viewing of The Blue Angel from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book is this very enjoyable film, that again features von Sterberg directing, and Marlene Dietrich starring. The film follows a collection of passengers aboard the Shanghia Express, amongst them,…

Morocco (1930) – Josef von Sternberg

  My foray into romance and melodrama following my screening of The Blue Angel for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book continues with this film starring Marlene Dietrich in her first Hollywood picture opposite Gary Cooper. It was also von Sternberg’s movie Our characters all arrive in Morocco, Gary Cooper as Tom…

The Blue Angel (1930) – Josef von Sternberg

  The next section I`m jumping to in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book, is Romance and Melodrama, and this has provided me with my first introduction to the films of Marlene Dietrich, specifically, The Blue Angel. A bit of a superior-type professor, Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings), runs a tight ship in the classroom,…

Above All Things (2012) – Tanis Rideout

  This is going to be an interesting review. This book has been sitting on my shelf for a while, and I wanted to wait to be in the right frame of mind to read it, as it’s a bit historical, a bit adventure, and a bit romantic. The book chronicles a single day in…

What’s Up, Doc? (1972) – Peter Bogdanovich

The next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for Some Like It Hot is this zany madcap comedy set in San Francisco and starring Barbara Streisand and Ryan O’Neal. Hanging the slightest of story threads on the concept of four identical overnight bags, and four adjoining hotel rooms, this one…

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951) – Albert Lewin

The recommendations following Pandora’s Box in Great Movies – 100 Years of Film is this romantic fantasy drama starring Ava Gardner and James Mason in the titular roles and both of them are seeking a form of redemption and salvation. Gardner as Pandora, for me, is extremely unlikable character, cold, manipulative, and quite willing to…

The Apartment (1960) – Billy Wilder

The Great Movies – 100 Years of Film recommendations following Some Like It Hot keep coming with this highly enjoyable romantic dramedy with Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray and Ray Walston. It is also the last black and white film to win the Best Picture Oscar until Schindler’s List. Lemmon plays C.C. Baxter, a…

Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992) – John Carpenter

  A John Carpenter film I haven’t seen (there are a couple), and I’m kind of divided on this one. It’s very obvious that this is one of the few films that he didn’t (or couldn’t) have complete control over and is also one of the very few that didn’t have him doing the music…

2014 Canadian Film Fest: H&G (Danishka Esterhazy) & Kate (Illya Klymkiw)

The first evening screening for tonight’s Canadian Film Fest at the Royal Theatre begins at 6:30, and takes us down some interesting dramatic roads. The screening’s short, Kate, directed by Illya Kimkiw, written and starring Holly Merritt is a beautiful, almost dreamlike film that examines the baggage and the ties we carry and form from…

Romantic Movies for Valentines Day

  So it’s Valentine’s Day. You and your sweetie have had a romantic dinner, or a nice walk (pleasant and warm even with the chill in the air), arm in arm, hand in hand, you decide to go back to the apartment and have a cuddle while watching a romantic movie that isn’t overly sappy……