They Shot the Piano Player (2024)
Spanish director Fernando Truaba is one of those [...]
Archive for September, 2016
The Persistence of Disney, Part 12: Cinderella (1950)
After nearly a decade of sidelining his artistic yearnings in favor of World War II and frustrating limits of his budget, Walt Disney celebrated the birth of the new decade with his first narrative feature in eight years. It was not just a return to the form that he helped to create but it was […]
The Cave of Wonders Podcast Episode 1: “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”
Episode one of our Disney podcast looks into the tao of Disney and what it means to us and to our culture. Then, a discussion of Disney’s first animated feature, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Disney discussion begins at 2:26 Snow White discussion begins at 42:27. Doug: Website: http://talkmovietome.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/basementnoise Jerry: Website: www.armchaircinema.com […]
Viva (2015)
There is a frail tenderness in Jesus’ eyes that broke my heart. All through the Cuban drama Viva, I beheld those eyes with a sense of wonder. Played in a beautiful performance by Héctor Medina, Jesus is the kind of person to whom you can sense is always waiting for something. What that is, even […]
The Persistence of Disney, Part 11: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
From 1942 until 1949, Walt Disney’s animated output came in bits and pieces. That is, his features came in collections called “package films,” which were segmented anthologies of animated musical numbers. The events that led to this nearly decade long series of bits and pieces has much to do with the winds of change in […]
Snowden (2016)
Where you stand with Oliver Stone’s biopic Snowden depends largely on where you sit. If you believe that Edward Snowden was a hero who brought to light a corrupt government that was using post-9/11 paranoia as an excuse to become an omnipresent and all-intrusive Big Brother then the movie will be right up your alley. […]
The Persistence of Disney, Part 10: Melody Time (1948)
The package films in Walt Disney’s animated cannon made between 1942 and 1949 are an odd bunch at best. They’re a grab bag of artistic quality, commercial safety nets, animated experiments of limited appeal and in a few cases leftovers that were intended for Fantasia. The results are sometimes satisfying and sometimes just plain baffling. […]
The Persistence of Disney, Part 9: Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
Of all the Disney animated features, Fun & Fancy Free might have the dullest title of them all. It sounds like something drummed quickly up for a marquee. It is not only dull, but it is also a little misleading. The movie is not really about having fun or being fancy free except in the […]
Sidewalk Film Festival Retrospective #5: De Palma (2015)
Brian De Palma was one of the pillars of the New Hollywood that flourished in the late 60s and early 70s, the time when the studio system was breaking down along with the production code. The moviegoing public was getting bored with the dusty old product that the Hollywood elders were pumping out and so […]
