Each month, the CMBA profiles a classic movie blog written by one of our members. This Month, we are featuring Stela Zoric, who writes at Those obscure objects of desire.
1. Why do you blog?
We live in a world of abundant data, data that has never been easier to access. But real information? Something worthwhile? That has always been, and will always be, more difficult to obtain. Since I started exploring the vast spaces of the internet (it was in 2000 and I was in elementary school), I have developed a deep appreciation for all bloggers who put their time, effort, and energy into creating concrete, wonderful observations from a mass of data.
I read a lot of everything back then but got hooked on Old Hollywood. It was a logical turn of events that I would veer more and more in that direction. And, after years of consuming so much content, I decided to create a blog. Thus, my blog is a combination of Hollywood (my interest) and a form of creativity. An inner creativity, deeply embedded in all of us. If I can help someone even a little bit, it’s enough for me. Not to mention that satisfying one's creative urges is a delight all in itself. Thus, I blog to provide people with creative, and hopefully quality, content, the same I receive from their valiant efforts. It's always a game of give and take, and we should rejoice in both swings of the pendulum—savor what others have written, and write for others yourself.
2. Besides classic movie blogging, what are some of your other passions?
Lots and lots! Always learning! I am a huge lover of all arts, but literature and paintings are my favorites! I am a voracious reader and very much enjoy Victorian literature and early 20th-century literature. I am also a big fan of 90s games, am learning Chinese, take courses at a school of philosophy, and practice pole dance. There is so much more, but I prefer not to overwhelm you too intensely...
Gone to Earth - I mostly like Jennifer Jones and find her filmography intriguing. This movie is a special favorite of mine—it's simply pure magic! And I mean it both as something remarkable and occult.
Deep Red - I am a HUGE giallo fan, so let's select one of the best giallos ever made. Argento at his absolute peak. A must-watch. Perhaps the movie with the most incredible atmosphere I have ever watched. And the locations are stunning. The twist at the end left my jaw on the floor. Pure genius!
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence - David Bowie perfection! And Ryuichi Sakamoto was an absolute revelation! The music, the story, the mise-en-scène, the subtext—it’s all wrapped up and tied to perfection by a master director (Nagisa Oshima). And the music! So phenomenal!
The Big Combo - Jean Wallace plus Richard Conte make this movie for me. Jean's scenes, especially the one with the famous innuendo (won't write it outright, take a peek yourselves), delighted me so much! And Conte's brand of menace is other-worldly and so excessively masculine I was almost hypnotized. While it's too low-budget to be a must-watch classic, and Cornel Wilde is a wood-adjacent actor, these two make it an enduring minor classic.
The Thomas Crown Affair - This is pure, top-class elegance made with a sleek hand into a deceptively simple movie. Or is it? I find this one of the best psychological movies of the 60s, and every serious student of Jung should watch it.
Dragonwyck - Gene Tierney! Love love love! I adore her in this movie. And Vincent Price kills it from scene one to the last scene. The gothic sensibility doesn't distract from the dark, smoky quality this movie nails down so perfectly. I am generally unhappy with how few quality gothic horrors were made in this period, but gems like this one keep me afloat.
Definitely the not-so-elegantly named The Journey, from 1959. I have never met anyone who watched or even heard of this movie, despite its stellar cast (Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, Jason Robards, Robert Morley). And this makes me a bit melancholic! It's such a fine movie, with many layers, and it contains wildly opposing sensibilities—one dainty, delicate, not unlike the brush of butterfly wings, the other blunt, savage ruthlessness—so well drawn out in its two clashing main characters. While the movie's most prominent layer, that of political critique, may be strong, well-written, and very much relevant even today, it's the dark side of the mirror that has caught my fancy. Yes, I mean the forbidden fruit/love! Deborah Kerr is my favorite actress, and this is my personal favorite out of her whole filmography. In terms of Deborah "power," what a movie! Deborah and Yul are aflame and radiate such passion I can't help but watch them again and again! Just for the two of them, this is more than worth the effort.
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