In front of a deep blue background, a vivacious redhead appears, full of anguish and yearning as she sings about the rock star she idolizes being drafted into the army. This is the hypnotic beginning to 1963’s Bye Bye Birdie, and for many, it was the moment Ann-Margret became a bona fide star. A triple… Read more »
Steve Martin called him “my greatest mentor in movies and in life.” Norman Lear remarked that he brought “pure joy” to everything he did, while Billy Crystal deemed him “a nice genius” and Dick Van Dyke gushed that he was “the greatest human being I ever met in my life.” In the worlds of television,… Read more »
“It’s one thing to learn to watch movies ‘professionally,’ but it is another to live with those movies that watched us grow up and saw us — prematurely hostage to our coming biographies — already entangled in the snare of our history.” — Serge Daney (1992) Literary depictions of the experience of childhood tend to… Read more »
When I first became enamored of classic Hollywood, there were a handful of actors who were responsible for introducing me to this new wonderful world. At the time, the one who shone the brightest was Marilyn Monroe; today, she is still someone I cherish. To belatedly celebrate Ms. Monroe’s June 1st birthday, I’ve decided to… Read more »
Every month A Place for Film will bring you a selection of films from our group of regular bloggers. Even though these films aren’t currently being screened at the IU Cinema, this series will reflect the varied programming that can be found at the Cinema, as well as demonstrate the eclectic tastes of the bloggers…. Read more »
Magical. That shouldn’t be the word that describes a film about a sleazy arrangement that allows executives to use an employee’s apartment for lurid affairs. The title The Apartment should bring to mind booze, broads, and empty promises. Instead, it makes us think of a fragile romance that slowly, achingly enables two people to grow… Read more »
