Yearly Archives: 2009

Why we get the movies we do

Posted on December 8, 2009 by Bill Wren

Ignoring artistic merit for the moment, let’s look at movies strictly from the financial point of view. From what I can tell (and I’m no accountant), your best ROI (return on investment) is low budget. That seems to make intuitive … Continue reading →

How do you make movies about nice people?

Posted on September 21, 2009 by Bill Wren

Having been the really big little movie of a year or so ago, Juno (2007) hardly needs another review and so, other than to say I liked it a lot and consider it one of the better movies of the … Continue reading →

Leopards and actors and Cary Grant

Posted on August 2, 2009 by Bill Wren

I rewatched for the nth time (I’ve lost track) Howard Hawk’s Bringing Up Baby (1938). Apart from being great fun each time I watch it, this time was a bit different having read Marc Eliot’s book, Cary Grant: A Biography, … Continue reading →

This cockeyed caravan: Preston Sturges defends fluff

Posted on July 28, 2009 by Bill Wren

I watched Sullivan’s Travels (1941) yet again last night because, as the main character John L. Lloyd ‘Sully’ Sullivan (Joel McCrea) says: “There’s a lot to be said for making people laugh. Did you know that’s all some people have? … Continue reading →

I finally watched Slumdog Millionaire

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Bill Wren

Although it has been sitting on the sidelines in the “to be watched” pile, I’ve kept putting off watching Slumdog Millionaire. I think it has largely been due to all the media attention it received, especially pre-Oscar and then post-Oscar. … Continue reading →

Two men, one Hitchcock

Posted on July 19, 2009 by Bill Wren

I recently finished reading Marc Eliot’s Jimmy Stewart: A Biography. Because I was reading it, I also watched a lot of Jimmy Stewart movies, which I’ve posted about before. Now I’m reading (or, rather, re-reading) Eliot’s Cary Grant: A Biography. … Continue reading →

What Topper meant to Cary Grant

Posted on July 19, 2009 by Bill Wren

Although the movie Topper, despite it’s summer success in 1937, could hardly be considered a big movie, not in the Hollywood terms we usually speak of, it was a key movie in the career of Cary Grant (and for those … Continue reading →