On this week’s edition of After Image, I chat with Metro Arts’ producer Veronica Straight-Lingo about Judy Garland’s centenary, which is being celebrated all month long on TCM and The Criterion Channel. And speaking of The Criterion Channel, there is … Continue reading
It didn’t take long for Judy Garland to get started. Born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, on June 10, 1922, Garland strode onto the vaudeville stage with her sisters in 1924, solidifying her future as an entertainer. In … Continue reading Judy Garland
For all intents and purposes, the summer movie season began in 1975 with the release of Jaws. Set during Fourth of July weekend on the picturesque island of Amity (Martha’s Vineyard), Jaws is to summer what It’s a Wonderful Life is to Christmas. It’s inescapable, and both Summer Movies author John Malahy and Leonard Maltin (who wrote the foreword) use the blockbuster as a launching point. Jaws altered how studios made movies and viewed their audience, especially the large population of teenagers out of school and with an abundance of time on their hands. But as Malahy offers in Summer Movies: “Jaws isn’t just the prototypical summer blockbuster. It’s also a classic example of an underappreciated category of movies—those that depict the experiences, traditions, and delights of the summer season.” Continue reading SUMMER MOVIES: 30 SUN-DRENCHED CLASSICS
Judy Garland was born in a trunk. Or so the story goes in A Star Is Born, a movie about an aging actor on his way out, thanks to addiction, and the young starlet he handpicks to bear the burden of … Continue reading JUDY
It’s hard to overstate the significance of 1939 in American cinema. Even though the movies were nearly four decades old, a series of events and artistic developments conspired to bring Hollywood into maturity. Some of these advancements were technological: sound … Continue reading 1939: Hollywood’s Golden Year
If I didn’t laugh I should be very annoyed. —Manuela On the island of Calvados in the 18th century, little orphan Manuela is all grown up and ready to be married off to a rich suitor. He is the rotund … Continue reading THE PIRATE
Michael J. Cinema 