Review: “News of the World”

“Maybe, just for tonight, we can escape our troubles and hear of the great changes that are happening out there.” It’s hard not to chuckle a bit when Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) tells this to a group of people gathered to listen to him read them the news, before launching into a story about […]

Holiday Classics: “White Christmas” (1954)

Irving Berlin’s song “White Christmas” had been out for around twelve years by the time a new movie musical of the same title that revolved around his music was made. Directed by the great Michael Curtiz, the plot of “White Christmas” is derived from the 1942 musical “Holiday Inn”, which also starred Bing Crosby and […]

Holiday Classics: “Carol for Another Christmas” (1964)

“Carol for Another Christmas” is one of the most interesting adaptations of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. It was director Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s first foray into television after a profilic film career, and was based on a script by Rod Serling of “The Twilight Zone” fame. The TV movie was the first in a series […]

Holiday Classics: “Beyond Tomorrow” (1940)

In the grand scheme of classic holiday films, the 1940 drama “Beyond Tomorrow” remains largely forgotten. It’s rather a shame, because it’s quite a charming story, about three wealthy but lonely businessmen—George (Harry Carey), Allan (C. Aubrey Smith), and Michael (Charles Winninger) who find themselves without guests on Christmas Eve. Each man decides to throw […]

Review: “Promising Young Woman”

Almost every year, a movie comes along that—for better or for worse—feels completely fresh, bold, and unpredictable. “Promising Young Woman,” the debut feature film from writer/director Emerald Fennell, is that movie for 2020. A timely and provocative revenge thriller that serves as a scathing indictment of a misogynistic society that protects abusers, “Promising Young Woman” […]

Holiday Classics: “In the Good Old Summertime” (1949)

While its title suggests the opposite, “In the Good Old Summertime” is a musical set primarily during the Christmas season. In fact, it’s a remake of the Ernst Lubitsch comedy “The Shop Around the Corner”, which is also considered a holiday classic. The setting of this version of the story is moved from 1930s Budapest […]

Holiday Classics: “A Christmas Carol” (1938)

MGM’s low budget 1938 version of Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol” is probably the most glamorized version of this dark tale. You all know the story: grouchy Ebenezer Scrooge (here played by Reginald Owen) is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, prompting him to change his ways. While this […]

Holiday Classics: “Susan Slept Here” (1954)

It’s a minor miracle that “Susan Slept Here” is as charming as it is. Consider the plot: thirty-five year old Hollywood screenwriter Mark Christopher (Dick Powell, who was more like fifty when this film was made) is suffering writer’s block as he tries to make the transition from writing comedy to drama. On Christmas Eve, […]

Holiday Classics: “The Bishop’s Wife” (1947)

“The Bishop’s Wife” is a lovely little comedy that isn’t unlike “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which was released the year before. Only in this movie, the focus is every bit as much on the angel as it is on the man he’s providing guidance for. Cary Grant plays the angel Dudley, who answers Bishop Henry […]

Holiday Classics: “Meet Me in St. Louis” (1944)

The Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane song “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is a standard during the holidays, and has been ever since Judy Garland first sung it in the 1944 MGM musical “Meet Me in St. Louis”. But if it wasn’t for Garland, it probably would have been a much different song. Martin […]