Ultra Swank - Retro Adventures

Film

Video

Klara lives in San Francisco, very near the Hotel Vertigo, so she couldn’t resist putting together this video for Alfred Hitchcock and ‘Vertigo‘ fans. Klara explains that it made sense to make a video project out of it and track several of the locations from the film – especially for folks who aren’t able to travel here and see these locations up close, and in...

Stanley Donen’s Arabesque
Written by James Vaughan in Film

Stanley Donen’s Arabesque

arabesque def: 1. a sinuous, spiraling, undulating, or serpentine line or linear motif. Nobody liked the screenplay. After three writers tried to make it better, it was worse! But director Stanley Donen knew, that if the audience would be staring at Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren the whole time, maybe the story really wasn’t all that important. The romantic thriller ‘Arabesque’ was released in 1966. ...

Video

Sometimes, the opening titles for a movie are far more a work of art than the movie itself. It might seem like a simple task to present the director, producer(s), actors and the production crew in a defined container. But think about it. In a time frame of usually only a few minutes, not only do you have to make sure that the right people...

The Best of Everything – The Original Sex & The City

A publishing house typing pool is the seething heart of the aspirations of a cadre of working girls, marking time until they marry Mr. Right and settle down. Caroline Bender (Lange) battles her career aspirations and fear that she will morph into scary book editor Joan Crawford. It’s the original Sex in the City. Rona Jaffe’s novel, The Best of Everything, is about four girls (and their...

Destination Berlin – Six Movies Where Berlin is the Star

Sometimes, the city in which a movie is set plays a role more important than that of the main characters and, over the years, New York and Paris and London have provided lively settings for many popular films. But what of Berlin? With its combination of old world glitzy decadence and the stark deprivation of modernity, Berlin captured the imagination of many filmmakers throughout the...

Destination London – Five Movies Where London is the Star

Sometimes, the city in which a movie is set plays a role more important than that of the main characters and, over the years, many filmmakers have been drawn to the old school majesty of London. Here are a few films where London—a city of striking contrasts— makes an appearance. Indiscreet (1958) “How dare he make love to me and not be a married man!” So...

Three Classic Movies to get you into the Holiday Spirit

Christmas is around the corner and to make the wait for Santa’s arrival less excruciating, here are three classic movies from bygone years that are sure to get you into that special holiday spirit and festive mood. Which are your favorite Christmas movies from the past? Holiday Affair (1949) This is a romantic comedy about Steve Mason (Robert Mitchum), a department store clerk in New...

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