I Married a Witch – 1942

Veronica Lake is an iconic actress who peaked pretty early and never quite lived up to her own legend. Her most well-known role may have been Sullivan’s Travels, but here in I Married a Witch she shines as Jennifer, a witch returned from the grave intent on ruining the life of her accuser’s descendant. The […]

Ghostbusters – 1984

There are movies that feature great comedians and films that feature great comedy. Ghostbusters has a little bit of both, which works to its benefit. The film focuses on a trio of parapsychologists who seek to prove the existence of ghosts. There are a lot of great moments in this movie, including the Stay-Puft Marshmallow […]

The Truman Show – 1998

The Truman show offers an interesting commentary on the nature of media. The film is a bleak representation of television and more importantly, of the viewers themselves. In the twenty years since the Truman show first came out, the obsession with reality television has consumed the American people. This film creates a world where a […]

Arsenic and Old Lace – 1944

There’s a lot of truth to the idea that screwball comedies were better in the forties, because really they were. Cary Grant is a great actor, but he isn’t his usual reserved self in this film. Here he’s an exasperated man trying to cover up a series of murders committed by his elderly aunts. His […]

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World – 1963

When Stanley Kramer drove a thief into the desert and let him flip his car and die, he started a chain reaction of destruction that created a hilarious romp with unforseen consequences. The film takes the idea of buried treasure and modernizes it by having a thief hide treasure and he reveals the location to […]

Election – 1999

As my love affair with Alexander Payne continues, I have chosen to watch Election. An indictment of high school cliches and of the democratic process, this film pits a socially conscious high school teacher against an overachieving student. The plot mostly revolves around Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) slowly derailing his own life in order to […]