Category Archives: blogging

Dear Cinema Santa: 2018 Edition

         Dear Cinema Santa:  2018 Edition     Once again dear friends (and you folks in Vermont) it is that time to weigh in on the past year’s accumulation of greedy impulses and dissatisfaction with the world … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, blogging, Boston, Christmas, holidays, humor, Mai Zetterling., Movies, theater, vermont, women, writing | 5 Comments

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow: A Death of the Day of CFU

 Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow: A Death of the Day of CFU     It was a long time coming. The January 11 cessation of the very existence of the CFU (Classic Film Union) branch of the TCM website, came as not … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, blogs, cinema, Culture, Film, Film Reviews, movie reviews, Movies, writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Chandler’s Mission to Mars: You Too Can Be an Astronaut (don’t forget your toothbrush)

     With all of the recent excited chatter (well… maybe not so much, but play along) concerning a possible one-way voyage to the Red Planet (Hopefully, this is not another name for “Commies in Space”!), it behooves the minds … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, blogs, Boston, Culture, Film, humor, Movies, science | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

AUGUST 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, VOL. 222

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN EDITION:  AUGUST 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, Vol. 222 Welcome back to America’s favorite waste of time and space (that’s SCIENCE 101, baby), the CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, brought to you by those wonderful folks who foil … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, blogs, cinema, Culture, education, Entertainment, Film, Film Reviews, humor, Movies, Puzzles, Reviews | Leave a comment

State of the Cinema: Why Movies Seem as Bad as They Probably Aren’t

They Shoot Bad Movies, Don’t They?     First of all, if we follow the general route of the Internet and limit our discussion on the current state of Cinema by primarily spotlighting the most commercial and (not coincidentally) the most … Continue reading

Posted in 3-D MOVIES, blogging, blogs, cinema, Culture, Film, Film Criticism, Movies, Uncategorized, writing | Leave a comment

JULY 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, VOL. 1776

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N EDITION: JULY 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, VOL. 1776      It’s time to pull out the Coppertone, ship those vile, unwanted kids off to summer camp where they’ll learn life lessons in hiking through poison ivy and the competitive … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, blogs, comedy, Entertainment, Film, Film Reviews, holidays, Italy, movie reviews, Movies, parenting, Puzzles, Reviews | Leave a comment

CLASSIC FILM IMAGES PHOTO QUIZ: VOL. 690

SINEMA CINEMA, FOREPLAY EDITION: MARCH 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, VOL. 690 Despite the resultant smoking craters, scattered casualties and ruined lives left in permanent disarray by way of recent unfortunate events- no we’re not referring to the unrest in … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, blogging, blogs, books, cinema, erotica, Film, Film Reviews, grindhouse, History, humor, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Romance, sex, women, Woody Allen, writing | 1 Comment

A View From the Cheap Seats: “The Movie That Changed My Life” edited by David Rosenberg

     With the wealth (actually gluttonous overabundance) of film books published examining, probing, criticizing, reinterpreting, psychoanalyzing, and performing generally obscure, obtuse and cryptic academic microsurgery-some so labyrinthine in the expression of an aesthetic philosophy, they might as well be expressed … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, book reviews, books, Culture, Entertainment, Film, Film Reviews, History, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, women, writing | Leave a comment

Classic Film Images Photo Quiz: Vol. 121

“OUT, DAMNED SPOUSE!”: FEB. 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, VOL. 121      Painful as it may be to admit, the only reason for men and women to interact is to give a boost to Jane Seymour’s post-acting career as a … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, clint eastwood, Film, humor, Movies, Puzzles, Romance, sex, women, writing | Leave a comment

Classic Film Images Photo Quiz: Vol. 2014

YOU’VE NEVER LOOKED BETTER, NOW THAT YOUR FACE IS PARALYZED WITH BOTOX:  JANUARY 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, VOL. 2014      Here we are again with America’s favorite waste of time, the monthly Classic Film Images Quiz, brought to you … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, blogging, cinema, Culture, Drive-In Movies, Film, Film Reviews, humor, Jean-Louis Trintignant, John Wayne, movie reviews, Movies, Puzzles, Reviews, women | 1 Comment

A Cinema Wish List for Santa

    Time again for major disappointment. It’s no secret that Chandler’s been a bad kid once again and will get the sock of coal (or the promise of a continued career of Jennifer Aniston, which is infinitely worse as coal … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, Boston, Christmas, cinema, Film, Film Reviews, holidays, humor, movie reviews, Movies, theaters | Leave a comment

MONTHLY PHOTO QUIZ VOL. 1941

“I’M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP, MISTER DEMILLE.”:  DECEMBER 2013 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ , VOL. 1941 (100% SELFIE-FREE) This month’s festive photo quiz has the good fortune of containing socially redeeming content (we actually have to do this every now … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, Christmas, cinema, Culture, Film, Film Reviews, horror, humor, movie reviews, Movies, Puzzles, Raquel Welch | 1 Comment

2013 EDITION: ULTIMATE MOVIE QUIZ- OUR HOLIDAY GIFT TO YOU

     The featured film is courtesy of those good folks at the Film School at Smarterin University, replacing- for the moment -Chandler Swain Reviews’ monthly Movie Photo Quiz. Featured are over two hundred films. Your task. Identify them. In order. … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, books, comedy, dance, Film, Film Reviews, History, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Musicals, writing | Leave a comment

STATE OF THE ART: To Re or Not To Re; ‘Tis a Question of Film “Revisits”

     To listen to Internet movie sites, one would think that the greatest offense now being committed by the American film industry is the perceived proliferation of the “remake”; so heinous a cultural offense to the millions of films buffs … Continue reading

Posted in black cinema, blogging, books, cinema, Culture, Film, Film Reviews, History, Movies, silent movies | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

And so begins the holiday season…

COULD “SCROOGE” BE A FILM CRITIC? Given his noxious nature as an unrepentant miserly skinflint, ill mannered, callously opinionated and completely dismissive of others feelings, could not old Ebenezer be an ideal model for the professional film critic? To read … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, books, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Culture, Film, holidays, humor, Movies, Thanksgiving, writing | 3 Comments

On the Red Carpet: Adventures in Being Nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award, or: How to Succeed in Film Criticism Without Really Trying

      Mail, either of the snail or “e” variety, has never held a hallowed place in the headquarters of this site (though, to be honest, this headquarters is lacking a great deal of the amenities that would appoint a proper … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, Film, Movies, Reviews, updates, writing | 9 Comments