Audrey Kupferberg

From the beginnings of mainstream film, men have dressed up at women to get laughs. In 1959, when Billy Wilder’s comedy feature Some Like It Hot hit big screens, it was greeted with great enthusiasm and loud applause.

The Erie Canal opened in 1825, and this summer from Albany to Buffalo there have been celebrations of this milestone in American history. From concerts to museum exhibits, upstate New York has been tributing the extraordinary advancement in modern transportation that the Canal provided.

The Friend, which features potent performances by Naomi Watts and Bill Murray, hit theater screens this spring and now can be streamed. The plot focuses on Murray’s character, Walter, a successful New York City-based writer, who left his beloved great dane behind when he chose to commit suicide.

From 2011-2018, fans of police procedurals were treated to a Nordic noir series called The Bridge (Bron/Broen).

So many writers are putting the emphasis on action or circumstances. What they fail to provide audiences with are proper introductions to their characters. The most successful shows-- whether on stage, films, TV shows, take the time to create interesting, riveting personalities.

Years ago, the late renowned film archivist David Shepard put together a restored version of Merry-Go-Round (1923) from two16mm reduction prints. Film historians and silent film enthusiasts applauded the opportunity to see this notorious film.

Local talent, writer/filmmaker John McCarty, has published many film books and a few mystery novels over the years. He also has made competent, exciting films, many through his studio Leering Buzzard Pictures. Several are available online on Amazon’s Prime Video and YouTube.

1939 was a magical year for Hollywood studio output. Gone with the Wind (which wasn’t controversial then), The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Wuthering Heights, Dark Victory, and so many more amazing film productions.

When I overhear someone asking the question, “When will season five be released,” I can guess to which show they are referring. Slow Horses, of course!

Writer/director/co-star Jesse Eisenberg and his co-star Kieran Culkin are getting nods and wins for their unique take on the Holocaust tour film. It’s titled A Real Pain, and that’s an apt title. Culkin won an Oscar for his energetic, pain-in-the-butt performance as one of two loving Jewish-American cousins who travel to Poland on a Holocaust tour.