I was doing some research on the history of French cinema for an upcoming series of reviews and I came across this charming little advertisement from 1916. I guess this was sent to theater owners to encourage them to show Fantomas.
Would I show Fantomas is I got this in the mail? I sure would! I’d even hire someone to dress up like Fantomas and deal cards outside the theater. If only I had been born 100 years earlier…
Hi, everyone! Lisa here with today’s music video of the day!
So, I’ll be honest with you. The main reason that I picked today’s video is because Dallas is my hometown. I love it and I love the fact that this song is not only about Dallas but it was actually filmed here as well.
One thing you’ll notice about any video, movie, or TV show shot in Dallas. There’s always going to be at least a few shots of the Bank of America Plaza in the background. That’s the building that non-Dallasites tend to refer to as being “that big green building.” There have been so many nights where I looked over my shoulder, saw that building behind me, and I somehow knew everything would be okay.
Enjoy!
The hour is late so I won’t say too much about this poster for this 1971 film. According to the Grindhouse Database, this movie only has a 46 minute running time so it must have been 101 very quick acts of love.
I like the fact that the quote from “Dr. Ann Foster” doesn’t actually say anything about the movie, just the subject matter. Why, it’s almost as if Dr Foster was just some randomly quoted person who, in all probability, never actually saw the movie!
Happy birthday, Erin Nicole!
That’s right! Today is Dazzling Erin’s birthday! One of the reasons why I love working on this site is because I get to work with my sister. Not only has she always been there for me (which is not as easy as you might think) but she’s always willing to listen to my ideas, no matter how crazy they are, and I know I can always depend on her to either help me make those dreams come true or to patiently explain to me why it might not be a great idea to try to schedule a new film review to post every minute over a 24 hour time period. (That was originally my plan for Halloween until I was gently reminded that would amount to 1440 posts in one day.)
Along with doing artist profiles, Erin is also usually the person who picks our artwork of the day. (Val Troutman was inspired by Erin’s artwork of the day to start our music video of the day feature.) She’s also an excellent photographer in her own right, as you can find out by cliking on this link!
I picked today’s music video because it’s for a song that’s prominently featured in a film that Erin and I absolutely love, 2002’s Bend it Like Beckham. The video for Inner Smile features Sharleen Spiteri, the lead singer of Texas, doing her best Elvis Presley impersonation. The video itself is disguised to look like one of those Elvis documentaries that occasionally pop up on PBS but, if you watch it carefully, there are hints that we’re not actually seeing Elvis. (Keep an eye on the belt that Sharleen holds up at one point.)
This video was directed by Vaughan Arnell, who has been directing videos since 1984! (On the imvdb, he’s credited with 49 videos in total.)
As is noted at the end of the video, this video was actually filmed in front of a live audience with Sharleen in full Elvis costume.
Also, I know someone’s going to say that the main reason that I like this song is because the group is named Texas. Well, sure, that’s definitely not a bad thing. However, the band itself is Scottish.
Enjoy!
Well, it’s that time.
Every Thanksgiving, I come up with an even-numbered list of things for which I’m thankful. I know some people are saying that we shouldn’t be thankful for anything this year. These are the people who say that, because they’re miserable, it’s somehow offensive that everyone else isn’t miserable.
But you know what?
Fuck that.
No one tells me what to believe or whether or not I can celebrate a holiday. That freedom is something that I’m very thankful for! Here’s a few more things that I’ve been thankful for this year:
2. I’m thankful for our readers. Seriously, you are the ones who make all of this worthwhile. We currently have somewhere around 28,000 subscribers and to each and every one of you, I say, “Thank you.” Thank you for reading and thank you for commenting. Just as I hope I’ve introduced some of you to some new movies, quite a few of you have also inspired me to take a second and third look at some of the films I’ve reviewed.
3. I’m thankful for all of the brave women (and men) who have shared their stories in an effort to make this world a safer place.
4. I’m thankful that this was the year of Twin Peaks. On this site, starting with the original series and extending all the way through the end of the Showtime revival, we shared our thoughts on everything Twin Peaks this year. Years from now, we’ll still be debating why Laura screamed.
5. I’m thankful that this has been a great year for genre films. While so many of the year’s “prestige” films fell flat, 2017 will always be remembered as the year of War of the Planet of Apes, Wonder Woman, The Lego Batman Movie, Beauty and the Beast, Split Kong: Skull Island, Get Out, It, Spider-Man, The Big Sick, Logan, and Thor: Ragnorak.
6. I’m thankful for networks like TCM, which introduce classic movies to new viewers.
7. I’m thankful for my friends in the Late Night Movie Gang. Every Saturday night, we watch a movie. Sometimes the movie is bad and sometimes, the movie is really bad. But we always have a blast.
8. I’m thankful that, in just another few weeks, I’ll be able to see The Disaster Artist.
9. I’m thankful for the artists who, in this time of rampant conformity, are still fighting to maintain their own unique and individual vision.
10. I’m thankful for Chinese food. Seriously, who doesn’t love Chinese food?
Happy thanksgiving!
(Andy Warhol, 1985)
Originally, when I was thinking about what I wanted to say in this post, I was going to open by saying that, right after the 4th of July, Thanksgiving is the most American of all holidays.
But, actually, that’s not totally true. Though Thanksgiving may have been first been celebrated in the States, many nations have days specifically set aside for giving thanks. Canadian Thanksgiving has been celebrated since 1879. Some people in The Netherlands, from which many of the pilgrims originally came, celebrate the holiday. Liberia observes Thanksgiving on the first Thursday of November. In Grenada, a Thanksgiving holiday is observed on October 25th.
That said, Thanksgiving always makes me think of America. Later today, I’ll be at my uncle’s, having a huge meal. Because the weather’s getting cold, we’ll probably eat inside. If we did happen to go outside to eat, we’d be eating in the shadow of an American flag, one that’s much larger than the one in this picture. That’s right — on Thanksgiving, my uncle actually lowers his Texas flag and replaces it with an American flag. That’s the power of this holiday.
(Rest assured, at midnight exactly, the Texas flag will go back up.)
As for today’s artwork of the day, this picture was taken by Andy Warhol in 1985, two years before he passed away. As with much of Warhol’s work, it somehow manages to be both earnest and satiric at the same time. It was this combination that made Warhol such a uniquely American artist.
Enjoy this uniquely but not solely American holiday!
Apparently, the most difficult thing in the world is to try to find a good music video for Thanksgiving!
Seriously.
First off, there really aren’t that many Thanksgiving songs and those that do exist don’t have music videos. If there had been an official music video for Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant (which Gary wrote about yesterday), I would have shared it. But, as far as I can tell, there isn’t.
I nearly went with Alanis Morrisette’s Thank U but then I realized how much that song annoys me so I decided not to. If Natalie Merchant’s song, Kind and Generous, had been called Thank You, I would have used it but, unfortunately, it’s not.
I eventually went with God Only Knows because it’s the type of song that can bring tears to your eyes and I recently rewatched Boogie Nights and I love how the song is used in the film. And, to be honest, it’s a song that captures the feeling of Thanksgiving, even if it’s not really a Thanksgiving song.
So, I used it. I can’t really tell you much about this video, other than music videos in the 60s and 70s were considerably more straight-forward and less flashy than what we’re used to today. It’s a simple video but it works for the song, I think.
Enjoy and happy Thanksgiving!
This poster is for a 1971 film called Terror From Under The House. I haven’t actually seen this film. Normally, I would look at this poster and assume that it must be about a monster living in a basement but this is 70s exploitation that were talking about. Just because its featured on the poster doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily going to be in the film.
Apparently, Terror From Under The House was just one of the many titles used by this film. It’s also known as:
The main thing that I noticed about this poster was that apparently, audiences were forced to accept the “Free Screaming Teeth of Terror” as proof that this movie was so frightening that watching it could lead to death. I’m not sure what exactly that means but this film was rated PG so, honestly, how scary could it be?
Someday, I’ll watch it and let you know.
Hi, everyone! Lisa here with today’s music video of the day!
Today’s video is Calvin Harris’s Acceptable In The 80s. This song, which appeared on I Created Disco, was Calvin’s first hit, reaching the number 10 position on the UK Singles Chart. I like the song and I like the video, which features big hair, bright colors, and some memorably weird imagery that I’m not even going to try to interpret.
“It was acceptable at the time…”
Hmmm, that’s something we’ve all been hearing a lot this year.
Enjoy!
This poster is for the 1958 film, The Bonnie Parker Story. That’s right — this film predates the better known Bonnie and Clyde by about 9 years. Dorothy Provine was cast in the title role and, judging from this poster, it looks like her Bonnie was even more dangerous than Faye Dunaway’s! Apparently, in this film (which I haven’t seen yet), Clyde was renamed Guy.
(Bonnie and Guy doesn’t quite have the right ring to it, does it?)
Anyway, it’s a good poster, one that is direct and in your face. That’s something I always appreciate about any film poster. Plus, there’s that tag line!
Cigar smoking hellcat of the roaring twenties!
Hell yeah! Now that’s a tag line!
