Category Archives: Movies

February 27

Elizabeth Taylor and the Holocaust: The Story of Montage by Jean-Luc Godard

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On the 27th of February 1932, Elizabeth Taylor was born in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, England. She was born with a rare condition called distichiasis, which in her case manifested itself as double rows of eyelashes around her eyes. She was blessed by nature with something that most women would normally dream of – a […]

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February 26

Silent Cinema Gems: ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’

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On the 26th of February 1920, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the first German Expressionist film and one of the earliest horror movies in history, had its première in Berlin. The film was directed by Robert Wiene and based on a screenplay by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. “In film history, few films have cast a […]

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February 19

“Blue is Darkness Made Visible”: Derek Jarman’s Descent into Death

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Today is the 20th anniversary of the death of English film director, stage designer, artist, gardener, author, and active advocate for gay rights, Derek Jarman. Considered one of Europe’s greatest independent film-makers, he died on the 19th of February 1994, after a six-year battle with AIDS.  In his films Jubilee (1977) – arguably the first […]

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February 05

Kim Ki-young and His Korean Femme Fatales

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On the 5th of February 1998, Korean film director Kim Ki-young and his wife Kim Yu-bong were killed in a house fire in Seoul, South Korea. The death came unexpectedly and in the moment of Kim Ki-young’s artistic ‘resurrection’ and rehabilitation as one of the most significant Korean film directors. In fact, after a period […]

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January 25

Godzilla: The Nuclear Monster

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On the 25th of January 1970, Eiji Tsuburaya, the Japanese special effects director, died in Sukagawa, Fukushima, Japan. Known for his immaculate experimentation in the field of cinematic special effects in his time, Tsuburaya brought new quality into the Japanese science-fiction genre. He began his career in filmmaking as a cinematographer at the Nippon Cinematograph […]

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January 21

How ‘Three Songs about Lenin’ Finished Dziga Vertov

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Today we celebrate the 90th anniversary of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s death. The famous communist leader, politician and political theorist died on the 21st of January 1924, aged 53, at his estate at the Gorki settlement (later renamed Gorki Leninskiye). He was one of the leading political figures and revolutionary thinkers of the 20th century. His […]

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January 20

Hollywood’s First Outdoor Talkie Western

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On the 20th of January 1929, the movie In Old Arizona was released on the wide cinema screen. This American Western directed by Irving Cummings and Raoul Walsh prides itself in being the first major feature film to use the new technology of sound whilst being filmed in outdoor locations. Although its plot, acting and […]

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December 21

Subliminal Messages in Disney’s ‘Snow White’?

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On the 21st of December 1937, the first full-length cel-animated feature film by Walt Disney Productions, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The film, based on the German fairytale by the Brothers Grimm, was a great international success, earning $8 million following its initial release. […]

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December 20

It’s a Wonderful Life!

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A taster of Christmassy things to come! On the 20th of December 1946, Frank Capra’s film It’s A Wonderful Life had a preview showing for charity at New York City’s Globe Theater, a day before its official premiere. “This was Frank Capra’s 1946 exploration of small-town America and its faith or lack of it in the […]

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December 11

Art and Insanity: Séraphine Louis, Naïve Genius

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On the 11th of December 1942, a naïve painter, Séraphine Louis, also known as “Séraphine de Senlis“, died in a Villers-sous-Erquery hospital in northern France, although according to her mentor, Wilhelm Uhde, she died at Clermont’s lunatic asylum in 1934. It is questionable then whether Uhde wanted to withdraw from being associated with the mentally ill painter or […]

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