Rewatched with the kids and husband this week and boy does the musical number Circle of Life interposed with the opening sequence gives me goosebumps. STILL. The Lion King terrified me as a child, watching Mufasa die and Simba deal with his grief and self-inflicted blame as he grows into adulthood. The once-lush and verdant pride rock exhausted of its vitality when Simba returns—apocalyptic but with the promise of life renewing again. Nature is never fully defeated—give it time and…

Why need dialogue when the acting is so good and the humour doesn’t miss a single beat? The hijinks!

Directed by Charlie Chaplin. Written by Charlie Chaplin. Produced by Charlie Chaplin. Starring Charlie Chaplin.* Who is an oaf of a tramp. Falls in love with gorgeous blind flower girl (sublime Virginia Cherrill). Ends up being dragged about town in an homoerotically charged-hot mess of a time with the man he saves one night—a drunk and suicidal wealthy millionaire (Harry Myers).…

I’m a sucker for trains so the fact there is a film about Marlene Dietrich AND Anna May Wong ON a train…it’s a wonder I haven’t watched Shanghai Express sooner. 

This is a film of aesthetics, full of gorgeous framing and black and white chiaroscuro—especially the shadows cast against the sliding doors, cigarette smoke upon soft gauze, the steam travelling across the screen like misty fog. At all times, the click clack of the train wheels is present and more…

Sean Connery’s Robin Hood is 40 (more like 50 given Connery’s balding head peppered with grey), weary of the Crusades and doing Richard the Lionheart’s dirty work. Upon escaping execution, he and Little John finally return home to England after 20 years where the fields are lush and green, Sherwood Forest is a verdant expanse and John Barry’s uplifting score soars over the landscape.

A mini reunion with Will Scarlet and Friar Tuck reveals that he is still kind of…