cinema

Andy Warhol dominates the world of independent cinema in the 1960s. Or not. Maybe that’s just the way we have been trained to remember what went on eighty years ago. Look a little deeper and find that the 1960s was an inspired time for many creative artists who had discovered the magic that they could make with an 8mm, 16mm, or 35mm camera!

In this season of blizzards, travel delays, and grey mornings, it is a boost to the spirit to watch movies about hope triumphing over despair, particularly—since I am a retired educator, movies involving groups of children whose lives are enriched through the intervention of teachers.

A double Blu-ray/DVD package of the legendary French romance Casanova is now available. It’s a boon for those who love the art of the silent film. Flicker Alley, Lobster Films, and the Blackhawk Films Collection are presenting this long unavailable blockbuster which was restored by the Cinematheque Francaise.

When it comes to things theater and movie-related, my friend Monty Arnold is a most reliable source, an expert in both entertainment fields. Receiving news from him that Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is finally coming to Broadway in 2023 was good news, indeed. Then Monty added that the longest running play in the world is now the springboard for a new movie called See How They Run.

Check out the long list of films and TV series produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry, and it will be clear that this talented filmmaker knows how to tell a good story. Such is the case with his latest auteurist feature, A Jazzman’s Blues, which is trending on Netflix.

In 1996, the BBC produced a nine-part miniseries called Our Friends in the North. In approximately ten hours of airtime, the story of four chums from Newcastle plays out. From 1964 to 1995, Nicky, Tosker, Geordie, and Mary live their lives from age twenty to fifty.

For more than a century, films have been produced that are based on great works of literature. Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, Charles Dickens. As early as 1910, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was made into a silent film, and, if you are in a Halloween frame of mind, you can view this production of the Edison Manufacturing Company online.

The situations are difficult to imagine. In 1944 and 1945, prisoners in Nazi death camps sneaked cameras into Auschwitz, Birchenau, Buckenwald, and Dachau. The photographers risked torture and death (well, even a worse death, should that have been possible) to chronicle aspects of existence in these hell holes. Yes, hell holes where Nazis starved and brutalized their victims.

So many movies and TV shows entertain through depictions of crime and emotional loss, and so it’s a pleasure to spend a couple hours with a well-produced adult fairy tale. The movie is the latest adaptation of Paul Gallico’s 1958 novel. It is Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, and it is aimed for the sometimes-neglected audience of older women. The film arrived in theaters mid-summer, and is now available for streaming and on disc.

If you have seen past creations of Australian director Baz Luhrmann, such as The Great Gatsby and Moulin Rouge!, you will have a good idea of what auteurist visuals to expect in his latest film extravaganza, Elvis. Elvis has been available for streaming on HBO Max and as a high-priced rental or buy on Prime Video. Now one can own it on disc. This is a vibrant movie that can be seen over and over without losing entertainment value.