Saturday, August 1, 2020

Amber Valletta


Today's Cat


Jennifer Jason Leigh


A day in the life, Feb 18


A day in the life, Feb 18, objet trouvé

Sanna Bäckström


New York


Harold Feinstein Reflected Self-portrait in Beauty Parlor Window, New York City 1964

McKenna Hellam


ph: Jack Waterlot

First Lines: Paolo Bacigalupi - Ship Breaker


Nailer clambered through a service duct, tugging at copper wire and yanking it free.

Amber Pyper


Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)



The surviving members of the resistance face the First Order once again, and the legendary conflict between the Jedi and the Sith reaches its peak bringing the Skywalker saga to its end.

This final Star Wars episode  has a heavy load wrapping the whole saga up in feature length and unfortunately packs too much in to make this a thoroughly enjoyable sci-fi adventure; however, along its convoluted way, there are lots of sets of breathtaking visual appeal.

Lakshmi Menon


ph: Bikramjit Bose

Friday, July 31, 2020

Today's Cat


Grace Gao


A day in the life, Feb 17


A day in the life, Feb 17, Regensburg evening

Elisabeth Erm


New Stuff: Anna Högberg Attack


Maria Palm Lyduch


ph: David Abrahams

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)




A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy from the perspective of Liz, his longtime girlfriend, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.

Zac Efron gives a convincing portrayal of the serial killer Ted Bundy - as the charismatic, intelligent guy he appeared as to the public and as seen by his girlfriend; beyond this performance, however, the movie misses to give any depth or insight into the killer's character and the crimes, but rather ticks off the events as they happened.

Molly Bair


ph: Sarah Moon

New Stuff: Bürotresen statt Home Office


Kate Winslet


Night Tide (1961)



A young sailor falls in love with a mysterious woman, performing as a mermaid at the local carnival, but he soon comes to suspect the girl might be a real mermaid, who draws men to a watery death during the full moon.

Interesting, but ultimately disappointing phantasmagorical tale is successful creating a mysterious, dream-like atmosphere hinting at more than it delivers.

Halliwell (no star): "Cheaply made and very derivative romantic fantasy which seemed to hold a promise never fulfilled."

Maltin**1/2: "Odd, dreamy little drama is strangely compelling, though not a horror film, as often promised."

Lily Donaldson


Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Yuan Bo Chao


ph: Craig McDean

Hollywood (2020)



A group of aspiring actors and filmmakers in post-World War II Hollywood try to make it big - no matter the cost.

An interesting premise is carried out with excellent period detail and a superb cast, but over the time its sugary political correctness seems more like a whitewashing rather than an ironic criticism of Hollywood history, which was obviously the intention; nevertheless, lots to enjoy along the way.

Fran Summers


ph: Brianna Capozzi

Today's Cat


Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Blanca Padilla


A day in the life, Feb 16


A day in the life, Feb 16, sign

Kim van der Laan


New York


A photo by Marvin Newman, New York City, 1956

Anna Karina


First Lines: N. K. Jemisin - The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms


I am not as I once was.

Jamilla Hoogenboom


Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)


A teenage couple accidentally awakens an alien after hitting it with their car.

Sci-fi comedy, clearly aimed at a teenage audience, isn't really that funny; the biggest joke are the freaky alien costumes.

Maltin (no star): "Science fiction with comic overtones, though done with so little finesse that it is difficult to know what is intentionally funny and what is accidentally so."

Maltin*1/2: "Slow-paced, minor sci-fi comedy...Cheap, but has some atmosphere and Paul Blaisdell's outlandish aliens."