Each semester in my film studies class, I look forward to presenting the work of the Film School Generation of the 1960s and 1970s. Not only do the students respond well to the era of film history that broke the rules, but I am always surprised at how many of the films feel fresh and [...]

Recently, I showed Citizen Kane to the young college students in my Intro to Film class. I estimate that in my 20+ years of teaching, I have seen Citizen Kane at least 100 times. I am sure other film instructors have faced the same challenge as I do when teaching a required classic shown over [...]

French animation boasts a long history, harkening back to Emile Cohl who produced the hand-drawn Fantasmagorie in 1908. What I like about the history of French animation is that it includes bold experimentation alongside commercial endeavors. While the history of American animation is equally as impressive, I wish contemporary Hollywood was less dominated by that [...]

I have the unenviable task of wrapping up the Morlocks’ week-long blogathon devoted to horror. Actually, most of us jumped the gun and wrote on horror movies or related subjects even before the blogathon began. I wish I were clever enough to offer an insightful summary or, at least, a show-stopping list of terrific horror [...]

Yesterday, I joined my friends from the Chicago Film Discussion Group for our monthly brunch at the tragically hip Holiday Club. Each month, we meet to discuss a designated topic, exchange suggestions for movies, and catch up on what everyone has seen. In tune with the season, the topic of discussion yesterday was horror films. [...]

Author Susan Orlean recently published Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, a biography of the canine movie star. Instead of doing the usual round of book signings at bookstores, which are seldom lucrative these days unless the author is a star or celebrity, Orlean is touring theaters. The author is using the occasion [...]

Every week I seem to have a conversation with someone about the rapid passage of time. Where did the summer go? The month of September? This week? Enjoying anything at a leisurely pace or taking time to ensure that a task is well done have become casualties of our fast-paced, urbanized lifestyles: The immediate delivery [...]

One of my favorite films airs tomorrow night, October 4, on TCM. In a Lonely Place is my favorite directorial effort by Nicholas Ray, with terrific performances by Humphrey Bogart and by Gloria Grahame.  Though a box-office disappointment when it was released in 1950, In a Lonely Place has since been recognized as a Nicholas [...]

Last Friday, the ABC soap opera All My Children aired its last episode on television after a 41- year run. In January, One Life to Live will broadcast its last episode, and though, it hasn’t been formally announced, General Hospital will follow suit in September 2012. Soap fans are angry and disappointed that their shows [...]