Miracle Movies 2019 Recap: The Year in Film

Hello!!!  And welcome to our annual recap of the past year in film.  You know how in most year-end retrospectives, they start off by saying what a good year it's been?  Well, we're not going to try and pull the wool over your eyes.  2019 wasn't exactly a banner year.  In fact, there was a …

Buster Keaton and the Essence of Genius (Part 3)

This is the third and final segment in our look at the career of Buster Keaton. You can see the two earlier chapters HERE and HERE. Many people have called Buster Keaton a “genius.” Yet toward the end of his career, the man himself called that very idea a bunch of malarkey. (In actuality, he …

Buster Keaton and the Essence of Genius (Part 2)

YESTERDAY, we described the early part of Buster Keaton’s career and tried to provide some background as to why he was uniquely suited to create some of the greatest comedies of the silent era.  Today, we'd like to continue showcasing some of the classic films "The Great Stone Face" was responsible for. As we've seen, …

Buster Keaton and the Essence of Genius (Part 1)

Early cinema techniques were so primitive, it’s sometimes hard for modern audiences to appreciate the achievements of some of the early film pioneers. So, in this edition of Miracle Movies, we’d like to rectify that situation…at least in the case of one particular individual. It also doesn’t hurt that this person was responsible for creating …

The Thinking Man’s Spectacle (Part 4)

Welcome to the fourth and final post in this particular series. You can see the previous posts here. Toward the end of his life, David Lean had an opportunity to sit down and chat with another of the world's greatest filmmakers: Swedish director Ingmar Bergman.  During their meeting, Bergman described how he made his films.   …

The Thinking Man’s Spectacle (Part 1)

In previous posts, we alluded to three of the most successful British directors in film history.  We’ve already talked about two of them: Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Powell.  And we thought it was way past time to give the third cinema giant his due. His name, of course, is David Lean.  And simply put, he’s …

It’s a Universal Picture!

Now, it's time to do a post about a topic we've wanted to write about for a long, long time.  It's going to be a foray into some of our most cherished cinematic memories.  A world populated with cobwebs, creaking coffins, misty moors, electrical laboratories, and spooky castles.  A place where even a man who …

Miracle Movies 2018 Recap

Hello!  And welcome to the annual Miracle Movies recap for 2018.  Another year has come and gone.  Which means it's time to take our annual look back at the year in film.  For the 8th year in a row, we'll be looking back at the titles which caught our eye in the preceding 12 months... …

The World Wouldn’t Be In Such a Snarl… If Marx Had Been Groucho Instead of Karl

Woody Allen once famously remarked that Groucho Marx will still be funny a thousand years from now.  We have to agree.  Some things are just timeless.  And even though Mr. Marx left our company over 40 years ago, we feel he has definitely earned his place in film history - and is clearly deserving of …

Running Blades

Understanding the crucial value of production design,  Hollywood has honored the best achievements in art direction every year since the Academy Awards were first handed out in 1927.  But today, we want to talk about one film in particular which set a new standard eye-popping visuals and which broke new ground in the field of …