In 1959 the Heights Art Movie Theater in Cleveland showed the French film Les Amants (The Lovers). The theater manager, Nico Jacobellis, was promptly arrested for showing obscenity, convicted, and fined $2,500. Justice served! Menace to society punished! Not so fast. In 1964, when Jacobellis v. Ohio went before the United States Supreme Court,...
A couple weeks ago, I review Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ, the 1880 novel by Lew Wallace, and last week, I review the 1959 movie starring Charlton Heston. This was in preparation to this year’s remake, starring Jack Huston and Toby Kebbell. I anticipated this movie with tempered excitement, because most Hollywood remakes are...
In 1955, the American poet Allen Ginsberg published Howl and Other Poems. He published it with City Lights Books in San Francisco. In 1957, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the publisher, faced obscenity charges for publishing and distributing the book. The title poem, “Howl,” in particular was considered obscene. But it has since become a classic America...
This coming week will see the remake of Ben-Hur, the 1959 classic movie of revenge and redemption. Naturally, I’m curious of the remake, but I’m also wary. I want it to be good, but it seems doubtful that it could be Charlton Heston good. In anticipation of the remake, I read the original book...
I’m on a quest to understand movies; in fact, it’s one of the reasons I write movie reviews. By writing about a movie, I find greater understanding and appreciation of it. Though I will never be an expert in film, film history, film deconstruction, increasing my knowledge about such topics is not only educational,...
Chances are, if you live on Earth, particularly in the United States, when I say Ben-Hur, you think Charlton Heston. He starred in the 1959 movie that might’ve been the favorite of your grandmother. It might even had been a favorite of your parents. Perchance even you consider it a favorite Classic. Since the...
One strength of a television series like Game of Thrones is its ability to explore character. Characters have several episodes, several seasons, to develop and change. We call this transformation character arc. When I binge watch a television series, it tends to be the plot that keeps me watching, one episode after the next....
Believing that readers might gain more benefit from my blog if I let them know what’s coming, I decided to begin each month with a summary of what I’m working on and what blog articles to expect in the coming weeks. It is my intentions to post new content on Wednesdays and Sundays. Lately...
Last August I set out on a project to read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes cannon, from the first book to the last. It was my intentions to read and review a book each month. Following that schedule, I should’ve finished this project in April, but I encountered a couple hiccups along the...
