The Elsewhere Files

Things you should be doing instead of checking SBBN:

Fitzcardboardaldo: Herzog’s classic rendered in cardboard. Follow it up with the making-of documentary The Corrugation of Dreams.

Charles Laughton spent time in Texas in 1953 with his one-man show, as well as working on a revelatory new interpretation of Othello. The BFI has more, as well as some footage from a local TV station doing a special on Laughton.

Elaine May and Mike Nichols gave an interview to Vanity Fair back in January, and it was amazing. If you missed it a few months ago, read it now. You won’t regret it.

W.B. Kelso at 3B Theater embarked on a Glenda Farrell Project a few months ago, and it is fabulous. Classic film lovers do not want to miss this.

Raymond De Felitta’s post at Movies ‘Til Dawn about then-famous, now-forgotten torch singer Helen Morgan.

And finally, from several months ago, Slashfilm’s article about the original photo doctored for the final scene of The Shining. I would have loved to have seen the whole photo and not just a detail, but why ask for the moon when I have the internet?

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Some recent posts of mine at Spectrum:

Revisit: Under the Volcano (1984): The more I see this film, the more I love it. A flawed masterpiece, certainly, but Finney’s performance is indescribable, yet the exact definition of why I love film. Yeah, there’s your oblique faux film criticism for the day. Bask in it.

Remake/Remodel: Out of the Past (1947) vs. Against All Odds (1984): When I first learned AAO was a reworking of Out of the Past last year, I couldn’t believe it, but on a re-watch it became all too obvious. What a strange remake.

And a few reviews of recent releases:

The English Teacher (2013)
What Maisie Knew (2012)
Midnight’s Children (2012)
Ain’t in it For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm (2012)

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A state of the blog post should be arriving in a couple of weeks, and if all goes well, an actual review instead of these Elsewheres and Raiders recaps.