The 50th Seattle International Film Festival is celebrating the half-century mark with a typically adventurous roster of films, including a selection of intriguing archival offerings. In addition to screening in theaters from May 9-19, select films can be viewed via streaming from May 20-27. Unfortunately the latter option does not include the archival movies, but the option is nevertheless welcome as a way to increase access to this fascinating and diverse festival.
My top picks for classic film fans can be viewed here:
I have been extremely occupied with my YouTube channel lately. Every time I finish a video, I get a new idea and can't resist getting started again.
I made the above video about Joan Crawford because I was struck by how dramatically her image changed throughout the years. Much more than the change of appearance that comes with aging and changing times, she transformed her persona in a remarkable way.
The goofy monsters video came from my pure love of these inventive, if not usually terrifying sci-fi movie creatures and is also an appreciation of what great fun genre movies can be.
While I'm not personally a fan of smoking weed, I find the ill-informed hysteria reflected in classic movies about getting high both fascinating and hilarious. I knew YouTube would demonetize this one, but it was too interesting a subject to resist.
There's nothing like an epic party to up the excitement in a movie. This video is both about the fun of those celebrations and how much they have changed over the decades.
While many classic film fans know that Theda Bara was a famous movie vamp, I don't think quite as many know just how many more movie vamps there were in the silent era. This video is a brief introduction to those early movie vamps and also offers a look at the way the archetype was later parodied in 1950s films.
