Mr. Movie Man

The recent violence in Washington, DC, reminded the Curmudgeon of several movies with political themes; e.g., “All the President’s Men,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” and, on a darker note, “Seven Days in May” and both versions of “The …

As you may have heard, the Curmudgeon barely survived a vicious attack by his old enemies: ulcers, pneumonia, embolisms, and a few other medical problems. He is happy to report that his fangs are recovering nicely and his …

The Curmudgeon managed to track down a DVD of a film he had missed in the early 1990s, probably because it never made it to the Houston market or received little attention when it arrived; this is ironic because …

The Curmudgeon has learned, much to his regret, that there is more than one virus lurking at the threshold. When he’s too weak to read or watch a DVD, you know life is sour. After seven days of …

The Curmudgeon, in his formative years, was culturally deprived because his parents did not consider films directed by Alfred Hitchcock fit his tender sensibilities. The first Hitchcock work he ever saw was the CBS show, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.” No …

Several readers have been prodding the Curmudgeon to read the mystery novels of Canada’s Louise Penny. They are worth reading, but it is necessary to read the 16 books in chronological order; Penny’s subplots often take three or four …

The Curmudgeon is rarely at a loss for words, particularly sarcastic words, but the untimely death of Chadwick Boseman from colon cancer left him reeling. Boseman’s brief life has had an impact far beyond anything we can yet …

For once, the Curmudgeon found a film about which he cannot spew venom even though it was the target of considerable vituperation in 1960, Burt Lancaster’s version of Sinclair Lewis’s “Elmer Gantry.” Sixty years later, the film still packs …

The Curmudgeon has long been aware that he is a little too fond of massive epics, be they biblical, historical, science fiction, and other sub-genres prone to excess. One that he hasn’t fussed about during this summer of our …

The recent horror in Beirut caused the Curmudgeon to think about various films about the Middle East and its problems. It was a serious shock when he discovered that Otto Preminger’s adaptation of Leon Uris’s “Exodus” is not …