Welcome to BlogHub: the Best in Veteran and Emerging Classic Movie Blogs
You can rate and share your favorite classic movie posts here.
You can rate and share your favorite classic movie posts here.
Billy Wilder Interviews
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Brandy Dean on Jan 31, 2014
There’s a perennial chestnut Hollywood anecdote – one that Orson Welles called the greatest one-liner ever. The story goes that some wag at the funeral of feared and hated movie mogul Harry Cohn dared to ask aloud how it was possible such a huge crowd of mourners would turn out for a ma read more
Godard Forever: The Cinephiliac on Band of Outsiders
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Brandy Dean on Jan 31, 2014
Did you know that regular Pretty Clever Films contributor Toyiah Murray also has her blog, The Cinephiliac? It’s true! While Pretty Clever Films has been covering Godard Forever: Part One, the lavish Godard retro screening at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Toyiah has been covering Godard’s read more
Rare Oscar Micheaux Retro Comes to TIFF
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Brandy Dean on Jan 31, 2014
To note Black History Month, TIFF is screening a month long retrospective on pioneering African-American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, titled Oscar Micheaux: American Independent. It’s impossible to overestimate both the importance and neglect of Micheaux and precisely how rare the theatrical pre read more
One, Two, Three (1961)
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Toyiah Murry on Jan 30, 2014
During the rise and inevitable crushing fall of Nazi Germany, Jewish director and writer Billy Wilder escaped harm’s way when he left his native Austria and adopted home of Berlin for America to strike gold in the film business. After the end of Nazi reign, Germany struggled to pick up the pi read more
Godard Forever: The Cinephiliac on Contempt
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Brandy Dean on Jan 30, 2014
Did you know that regular Pretty Clever Films contributor Toyiah Murray also has her blog, The Cinephiliac? It’s true! While Pretty Clever Films has been covering Godard Forever: Part One, the lavish Godard retro screening at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Toyiah has been covering Godard’s read more
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Robert Liwanag on Jan 29, 2014
Some of cinema’s most iconic moments are relatively simple ones – Harry Lime appearing out of the shadows, Darth Vader revealing his secret to Luke, or lonely Travis Bickle rehearsing in front of a mirror. The Seven Year Itch has one for the books, too. Marilyn Monroe stands over a subway grating read more
“That Silly Little Dress” – The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Christina Stewart on Jan 29, 2014
As we wrap up the month of Billy Wilder here at Pretty Clever Films, let’s take a look at the costumes of one of his funniest sex comedies from the 1950’s, The Seven Year Itch. The film is based on the stage play by George Axelrod and had a bevy of censorship-related issues before the film could read more
12 O’Clock Boys
Pretty Clever Films Posted by John Munshour on Jan 28, 2014
*You can win a pair of passes to see 12 O’Clock Boys at Toronto’s Carlton Cinema!* “You will learn the right way to do all the wrong shit in Baltimore City, have a Ph.D in it,” says Steven, a former rider with the 12 O’Clock Boys, an illegal dirt bike group that are the subj read more
Top 5 Moments in Harvey
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Claire Dunderman on Jan 28, 2014
Harvey (1950) is one of my most cherished Jimmy Stewart films, but isn’t always immediately brought up during conversation about his films. Let’s remember some of the best moments between Elwood P. Dowd and his six-foot-and-three-and-one-half-inch pooka. Classic slapstick comedy of Vet read more
Win The Americans on Blu-ray Plus a Russian-styled Ushanka Hat
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Brandy Dean on Jan 27, 2014
Enter for your chance to win a Blu-ray copy of FX’s sexy, heart pounding, spy thriller and a Russian-styled Ushanka hat! The Americans, Season 1 blasts its way onto Blu-ray and DVD February 11th. There’s no better way to celebrate than by entering to win a Blu-ray copy of Season 1 to add to your read more
Avanti! (1973)
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Wade Sheeler on Jan 27, 2014
Jack Lemmon is either an acquired taste, or a taste that, enjoyed early on in life, grows sour and bitter over time. When I was a younger man, I really enjoyed Lemmon, but nowadays I find his mannerisms and acting tricks (and tics) tiresome. Some of Lemmon’s best work arguably was when he was NOT read more
A Gallery of Images from Avanti! (1972)
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Brandy Dean on Jan 27, 2014
Billy Wilder’s Avanti! (1972) A successful businessman goes to Italy to arrange for the return of his tycoon-father’s body only to discover dad died with his mistress of long standing. Read the original New York Times review of Avanti!
Roger Ebert on Avanti! read more
Turkish Delight (1973)
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Brandy Dean on Jan 25, 2014
Not many directors are quite so divisive as Paul Verhoeven. And while North American viewers might be uber-familiar with his controversial, big budget Hollywood offerings, we (like me, until recently) might be equally unfamiliar with his debut Dutch films, like Verhoeven’s second feature 1973 read more
Win Passes to 12 O’Clock Boys at the Carlton Cinema
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Brandy Dean on Jan 24, 2014
12 O’Clock Boys, winner of the Emerging Artist Award at Hot Docs 2013, opens at the Carlton Cinema in Toronto on Friday, January 31, 2014. You can enter to win a pair a passes so you and a pal can catch this doc To Baltimore locals, the 12 O’Clock Boys are hooligans – a group of u read more
47 Ronin: A Facebook Chat
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Jared Bratt on Jan 24, 2014
If anyone’s been following my “pretty clever” (or perhaps more aptly put, only moderately clever) submissions for the site, then you’ll know (and it’s been playfully brought to my attention) that I indeed do possess this “baffling affection” for the films ( read more
Sunrise: A Tale of Two Humans (1927)
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Brandy Dean on Jan 24, 2014
Sunrise will be released on Blu-ray on Thursday, January 23, 2014. Order yours from Amazon via this link to watch a great film and help Pretty Clever Films keep the lights on. There is an odd form of bias that simmers among even the snobbiest of film snobs when it comes to the topic of silent film. read more
Top 5 Folk Songs in Film
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Claire Dunderman on Jan 23, 2014
The recent folk spectacle Inside Llewyn Davis is making folks’ feet a-tappin’ to the likes of Oscaar Isaac, Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake. Including the newest Coen brothers’ film, folk has had a presence in a variety of prominent films. Harrowing, haunting, and fore read more
Vivre sa Vie (1962)
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Wade Sheeler on Jan 23, 2014
One of the exciting things about watching a lot of movies is discovering a gem. It’s easy to return to your favorites, as well as slog through a majority that are “so-so.” But then you come upon a great film, and it can remind you why you enjoy them in the first place. Vivre sa vie (My Life to read more
Une femme est une femme (A Woman is a Woman) (1961)
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Brandy Dean on Jan 22, 2014
Jean-Luc Godard’s 1961 feature Une femme est une femme (A Woman Is a Woman) might rightly be retitled A Musical is a Musical or, even more rightly, A Musical is Not a Musical. Or something. Godard himself, while expressing great affection for his third feature film, variously described A Woman Is read more
Paul Verhoeven Retro Comes to TIFF Bell Lightbox
Pretty Clever Films Posted by Brandy Dean on Jan 22, 2014
Many multiplex cinema goers may not know the name Paul Verhoeven, but betcha most know his movies – among them, Showgirls, Basic Instinct, Total Recall, RoboCop, Starship Troopers. It’s probably also safe to bet that those same movie fans are unfamiliar with Verhoeven’s earlier, a read more