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The Philadelphia Story (1940) – PFS Filmadelphia Classic
On Wednesday PFS presented The Philadelphia Story (click link for blog post on this film by legendary director Peter Bogdanovich) as the first Filmadelphia Classic of the new season. The Philadelphia Story used to be one of my very favorite film from the age of 12 to about 16 or so. My younger sister and I used to watched it quite often; thinking on it now, we must have been rather sophisticated kids, as its themes and dialogue would seem to have been over our heads. We never really discussed why we liked the movie so much; yes, we were in love with Cary Grant, but Houseboat or That Touch…
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Commentary – Country Strong
So after the PFS preview of Country Strong on Wednesday night, I was discussing the film with a staff member who felt the movie was too song oriented. I could tell he was not a Country Music fan, so I agreed with him and said I feel the producers of the film were more interested in selling a soundtrack than making a good movie, which I truly feel. What I didn’t say, was that I would be one of the people looking to buy said soundtrack. I was already on YouTube yesterday watching the music video of Gwyneth marching around in her red cowboy boots to the title track. And…
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19th Annual Philadelphia Film Festival Coverage – 11/4/08 Participatory Doc
11/4/08 – Obama/McCain Presidential Election Day, a date declared historic well before it ever happened. Director Jeff Deutchman commissioned friends across the globe to contribute to this unique living document by asking them to film the chatter, the atmosphere, the last minute voting push, the skepticism, the hope, the celebration, the feelings and reactions of people around the world on this day. At Monday’s Penn Bookstore Cafe Cinema discussion they used this film as an example of Omnibus filmmaking. Deutchman didn’t set a shooting schedule, or location shots, I don’t believe he shot any of the footage, although that would have been a good question for the Q & A…
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Lebanon, PA (19th Philly Film Fest)
Seeing Philadelphia as a backdrop in film should no longer be novel, after all Philly has become a real movie town! Still there’s always a sense of fun surrealism when seeing the streets you walk along everyday up on the big screen; so I wanted to see the movie Lebanon, PA for that reason, as I knew the opening scenes took place around Rittenhouse Square. I also wanted to see it because I like relationship films. Will (Josh Hopkins) a man who’s never kept in touch with his extended family, only 2 hours away, now finds himself being a part of his young, pregnant cousin’s life. To read complete commentary,…
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Commentary – Red
…once again the love affair between a graphic novel and Hollywood has been consummated to satisfaction. Bruce Willis plays Paul Moses who is a retired CIA agent. Although the back story for his early retirement is rather mundane and never becomes a plot point, the opening montage does a good job of showing us that although he’s living among average suburbanites, he’s not feeling content. The highlight of his month is pretending his pension check has not arrived, giving him an excuse to call Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker), a customer service, paper pusher who has no idea she even inadvertently works for the CIA. Their understated, flirtatious phone romance, picks…
