CMBA Profile: Louise Brooks Society

The CMBA profiles one of our classic movie blogs each month. This month we're featuring Thomas Gladysz, of the Louise Brooks Society:
The Louise Brooks Society is one of the most prolific and professional of the blogs in CMBA. Almost every day, there are updates on the site, and the writing and information is top-notch. It's a blog with a very specific focus - a silent film goddess with a short career but an iconic image. Author Thomas Gladysz has been running the society for over twenty years now, and he never seems to run out of things to say or images to share Louise and her world. 

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CMBA Profile: Classic Movie Man

The CMBA profiles one of our classic movie blogs each month. This month we're featuring Stephen Reginald, of Classic Movie Man

A look at Classic Movie Man is like being invited to a great film festival. Stephen Reginald, the writer of Classic Movie Man, posts news about local screenings in Chicago, meetups, and presentations he's giving, and his love of classic film comes across in everything he writes. One section, "The Film Club," is dedicated specially to these kinds of local events. Stephen has also lectured on classic movies at the Facets Film School, and this article in Chicago Magazine makes it sound like these discussions were too fun to miss out on.

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CMBA Profile: Second Sight Cinema

The CMBA profiles one of our classic movie blogs each month. This month we're featuring Lesley from Second Sight Cinema.

 “Second Sight Cinema” is a blog with an attitude. Its writer, Lesley Gaspar, isn’t afraid to tell you her opinions, and she has the erudition to back them up with facts. Don’t show up to her class if you haven’t done the reading! But, if you’re here to learn, her posts will give you detailed accounts of films and personalities you thought you already knew, and you’ll come away with new information (and sources!) that will give you plenty to chew on. When Lesley writes up a film, you can be sure she’s researched it thoroughly and deeply. With all of that sheer knowledge, her feelings and passion for the cinema come through strongly as well.

A great example of her writing can be seen in her post “Disembodied: Waldo Lydecker, the voice in the Dark in Laura (1944)” which was her contribution to the “Great Villain Blogathon” of 2016. While using the bad guy as its lens, the article is really an in-depth discussion of nearly every aspect of the film. She takes issue with one of the heavyweights of film criticism, Roger Ebert, and is so convincing it’s hard to believe anyone would disagree.

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BANNED and BLACKLISTED, the 2017 CMBA FALL BLOGATHON

The Classic Movie Blog Association’s fall blogathon, Banned and Blacklisted, ran from November 15 -19. Participating CMBA members blogged on the broad ranging subject of banned films and blacklisted actors, writers, directors and others in the business of making movies. 

Contributing blogs are listed below on the dates their pieces posted.Please be sure to check out all their fine work - just click on entry titles (in bold) to go to each post:

Wed. November 15 

Backlots: Judy Holliday and the Hollywood Blacklist: Testimony to SISS, 1952
Caftan Woman: The Bohemian Girl (1936)
Film Fanatic: Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) 
Thrilling Days of Yesteryear: Salt of the Earth (1954)

Thurs. November 16
Another Old Movie Blog: Hollywood Fights Back, a Radio Protest
Classic Film & TV Cafe: Family Discord in Edward Dmytryk's Broken Lance (1954)
Critica Retro: Dalton Trumbo's Screenplay for The Brave One (1956)
Lady Eve's Reel Life: Fascism, Nationalism and the Banned Films of Marlene Dietrich
Twenty Four Frames: Censorship, The Pawnbroker (1965) and Me

Fri. November 17h
4 Star Films: Reign of Terror (1949), an Allegory of the Blacklist
Hometowns to Hollywood: Baby Face (1933)
The Movie Night Group: Golden Boy (1939) and the Blacklist
Old Hollywood Films: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Sat. November 18 
Film Noir Archive: Force of Evil (1948)
Outspoken and Freckled: Crossfire  (1947)
A Person in the Dark: Not Coming to a Theater Near You: Films Banned by State Censorship Boards
A Viewers Guide to Classic Films: Unconquerable Mae West: She Done Him Wrong (1933)

Sun November 19
Classic Film Observations and Obsessions: The Film Collaborations of Luis Bunuel and Hugo Butler in Mexico
Once Upon a Screen: Elia Kazan's Pinky (1949) 
Second Sight Cinema: Marsha Hunt: Living Well is the Best Revenge
Silver Screen Modes: Rififi: The Great Noir Caper
Stars and Letters: Lucille Ball's Brush with the Blacklist

 

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The Horrorathon Blogathon - Oct. 26th & 27th

Maddy of Maddy Loves Her Classic Movies is hosting The Horrorathon Blogathon on October 26th and 27th. As she writes in her announcement : 

In less than two weeks it will be Halloween; cue the scary music, flickering candles, screams, and people banging at your door thinking it’s fine to demand sweets. A perfect opportunity then for us to discuss those films that scare us.

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2017 CiMBA Awards Results

Congratulations to all of the winners of this year's annual CMBA Awards! Thank you to everyone who participated by submitting and to all who took the time to vote.

Best Film Review ( Drama ) :Self-Plagiarism is Style: Hitchcock, Grant and North by Northwest (1959) - ONCE UPON A SCREEN

Best Film Review ( Musical/Comedy ) :Me and My Pal (1933) - CAFTAN WOMAN

Best Classic Movie Article :A Government by Classic Movie Characters - ONCE UPON A SCREEN

Best Classic Movie Series :Crime Does Not Pay - THRILLING DAYS OF YESTERYEAR

Best Profile of a Classic Movie Performer :Louise Fazenda, Comic Venus - SILENTOLOGY

Best Classic Movie Event:What a Character! Blogathon - ONCE UPON A SCREEN

Best Blog Design :The Blonde at the Film

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CMBA Blog Profile: Silentology

The CMBA profiles our classic movie blogs each month. Today we're featuring Lea from Silentology: https://silentology.wordpress.com/

Silentology is a personal favorite of our blogs. Lea takes a fun and fresh approach to movies that a lot of people – even classic movie fans – think are old and dull, or hard to follow. It’s refreshing to see someone so young who is interested in movies that are so old. But, somehow, it makes perfect sense. Lea’s enthusiasm for early film springs from her own sense of wonder at new experiences and reminds us that what is truly classic is timeless and speaks to all generations. Her playfulness can be seen right now in the “Halloween” banner at the top of Silentology, where a red-eyed and fanged Buster Keaton examines a reel of film. The seriousness with which she takes historical research can be verified in her article on the “Big Four” of comedy, in which she examines a thorny question among silent movie fans.

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2017 CiMBA Award Nominees

The 2017 CiMBA Award nominees have been determined! There is an excellent selection of posts this year and it will be difficult voting to narrow down our winners.

Good luck to all of our nominees!

Best Film Review (Drama)

Self-Plagiarism is Style: Hitchcock, Grant and North by Northwest (1959)  - ONCE UPON A SCREEN
Maedchen in Uniform (1931) - SILVER SCENES
Thirteen Women (1932) - CELLULOID CLUB
Macbeth (1948) - THRILLING DAYS OF YESTERYEAR
Nosferatu (1922) - SILENTOLOGY
Stella Dallas (1937) - CARY GRANT WON'T EAT YOU

Best Film Review ( Musical/Comedy )

Unfaithfully Yours" (1948) - LADY EVE'S REEL LIFE
Me and My Pal (1933) - CAFTAN WOMAN
It's a Great Feeling (1949) - THE BLONDE AT THE FILM
Double Harness (1933) - CLASSIC FILM OBSERVATIONS AND OBSESSIONS
Get Your Man (1927) and the Importance of Film Preservation - BACKLOTS

Best Classic Movie Article

A Government by Classic Movie Characters - ONCE UPON A SCREEN
What I Learned from George Bailey - 4 STAR FILMS
The Legacy of Gone with the Wind - HOMETOWNS TO HOLLYWOOD
My Favorite Herbert Marshall Performances - CLASSIC FILM OBSERVATIONS & OBSESSIONS
Classic Movie Gift Guide - THE BLONDE AT THE FILM
A Rainbow of Silent Film - SILENTS, PLEASE!

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CMBA Profile: Silver Screenings

The CMBA profiles our classic movie blogs each month. Today we're featuring Ruth from Silver Screenings.

 

CMBA: What sparked your interest in classic film?

Silver Screenings: I’ve always had an interest in old movies, and I’m not sure where that came from. For instance, when I was a kid, I’d study the movie listings in our local television guide and try to memorize titles of older films. But as a teenager I discovered Laurel and Hardy, and they became my glorious introduction to old films. A local television station would air their shorts early Sunday mornings, and I fell in love: the comedy, the fashions, the vintage Los Angeles scenery and, of course, Laurel and Hardy themselves. Every Sunday morning I’d sneak downstairs to the family room and watch these films on mute so I wouldn’t wake the rest of the house. I had found gold.

CMBA: What makes a film a “classic” in your opinion?

Silver Screenings: I wonder if the word “classic” needs to be more sharply defined when it pertains to film. I’ve met a couple of people online who feel Hollywood’s best years were the 1980s, and they describe films from that decade as “classic”.

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CMBA Blog Profile: The Vintage Cameo

The Vintage Cameo

The CMBA profiles our classic movie blogs each month. Today we're featuring Emily from The Vintage Cameo.

http://www.thevintagecameo.com/

The Vintage Cameo is a kind of "classic" example of a classic movie blog. With a clean look and a focus on the major stars, Emily also takes the time to seek out some lesser-known gems and comments on TCM's offerings and festivals as well as the vivid locations of "Hollywood Haunts." Located in Los Angeles and working in film studies at the University, she brings strong contextual detail to her discussions of the movies she reviews. More than reviews of the movies, her discussions can also be reviews of particular screenings, the conditions under which modern Los Angelinos are seeing the movies their forebears knew and worked on in original release. Reading her blog is almost like going to the movies with an old friend, one whose knowledge and passion for the movies makes the experience all the better. 

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