Marilyn Monroe didn’t exactly embrace her image as a dumb blonde. Notably, she once quipped, “He [Arthur Miller] wouldn’t have married me if I had been nothing but a dumb blonde.”
Read More
Doing research for this blog is kind of addictive. I'm currently reading various biographies from the Classic Hollywood era. And looking back at the important moments in their lives gets me thinking about my own...
I began with Carole Lombard, a woman who overcame some severe stumbling blocks, including a car accident that visibly scarred her face.
Read More
Many people believe that objects can bring fortuitous events of love, fertility, fortune, and prosperity….
If a man and a woman see a ladybug at the same time, they'll fall in love.
Some cultures advocate for hanging red lanterns around your bed to bring luck to your marital bed.
Wear rose quartz to attract love and passion into your life.
Fill a bunch of vases with peonies (or line your walls with paintings of them).
But if you are in search of love this Valentine’s Day, maybe you should follow Marlene Dietrich’s advice.
Read More
Well, there are the best ones and then there are the most popular ones. And while box office data speaks, what speaks louder these days might just be search volume on Google.
I took a peak behind the scenes to see which of the many classic Hitchcock films you asked Google about the most. If was a bit difficult because so many of these movie titles have double meanings for words that have nothing to do with Hitchcock.
But here is my best shot at Hitchcock movies, ranked, using at least a teeny bit of science and data.
Read More
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier is one of my all-time favorite novels. I was thrilled when I discovered Netflix was creating a Rebecca remake if a bit dubious. Could anything ever compare to the ultimate Rebecca by Hitchcock?
Read More
Spring in a Small Town is my first encounter with a classic Chinese movie. It is included on the 1001 Movies to See Before You Die list, which is how I first discovered it. I found it to be beautiful and poetic, and I was entranced by its lead actress, Wei Wei.
Read More
The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix is experiencing a ton of popularity, but it is having an unintended effect. It is inspiring an uptick of women chess players.
Classic actresses were ahead of their time, I guess. They had to spend a lot of time waiting between scenes. So what did they do? Became women chess players and mastered the Queen’s gambit (and other chess moves, I am sure).
Read More
It's that time of year again -- what's on your list of things to get done in 2018?
Much has been written about New Years. The psychology behind it, the shoulds and should nots. I had no idea what I could possibly add to the conversation, to be honest. We all know the basics on how to keep them:
- Make them achievable.
- Set short-term milestones.
- Have an accountability partner, or app.
- Enjoy the journey.
- And so on...
Summer is on! I hope you are all catching a bit of sun, even if it is in your own backyard. In these challenging times, I have personally been finding a lot of comfort in cinema—I have been consuming a menagerie of films from the 1001 Movies to See Before You Die List and let me tell you, that has been keeping me busy!
A lot of the films are pulled from the silver screen, and I have been learning a lot about classic film directors. A few of my recent favorites include 42nd Street with its Busby Berkeley choreographed dance routines that are out of this world, Make Way for Tomorrow with its depression-era setting, and Brief Encounter with its tragic romance. Warning, the latter two are def tear-jerkers.
Read More