“I love to laugh. It’s the only way to live. Enjoy each day — it’s not coming back again!” — Doris Day May 13, 2019 became the day I had been dreading for years when, after 97 years of sharing her impossibly bright light with the world, Doris Day passed away. All I wanted to… Read more »
In 1918, an amnesiac soldier named Smith is still recovering at an English asylum after months of dealing with shell shock. No family has claimed him; in one agonizing scene, an elderly couple are shown Smith to see if he’s their son, both sides horribly disappointed that he isn’t. Taking a walk in the foggy… Read more »
As Robert Preston cuts her hair, Julie Andrews tries to clarify the charade that they are going to perpetuate: “A woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman?” Preston gleefully responds, “It’s so preposterous, no one would ever believe it!” This is the simplified foundation of Blake Edwards’s Victor/Victoria (1982), a comedy… Read more »
When it comes to the movie musical, there are two giants whose presences are inescapable: Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. The impact of these legendary men cannot be overestimated — from movies to TV shows to music videos to commercials, Astaire and Kelly are still influencing pop culture and reaching new audiences every day. However,… Read more »
In 1957, a Hollywood princess and a legendary director went to Paris and created a Technicolor dream of a musical. In 1963, they revisited Paris to play a thrillingly dangerous game of cat and mouse. Finally, in 1967, they made southern France their backdrop to the bittersweet journey of a crumbling marriage. For three unforgettable… Read more »
An iconoclastic talent, Barbara Hammer has been leaving her mark on cinema for over five decades. The author of numerous thought-provoking, audacious works, Hammer has received many awards and honors, while also breaking barriers with her exploration of such topics as lesbianism, aging, the female body, and mainstream portrayals of women and homosexuality. Later this… Read more »