Original Cinemaniac

Cult

15 Bitching Witch Movies

            Most of us remember the first movie witch that freaked us out. From the green-skinned Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz, to the evil Maleficent of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. Honestly, for me the thought that you could ride a broom and…
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Black Box Film Festival

            There are many news stories about post-Covid air travel. Particularly about unruly passengers punching the flight crew for having the temerity to tell them to buckle their seat belt or wear a face mask. Jean-Paul Sartre was right: “Hell is other…
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A Child’s J-Horror Primer

            There was a period beginning in the late 90s when Asian “J-Horror” was all the rage. Director Hideo Nakata’s Ringu became an international horror sensation and made us afraid of video cassettes and televisions. Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On: The Grudge made…
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Hollywood’s Hard-Luck Ladies

            I just finished a fascinating, heartbreaking book by Laura Wagner– Hollywood’s Hard-Luck Ladies, another one of those offbeat, great, movie books published by McFarland & Company. It chronicles 23 Hollywood actresses whose careers and lives sometimes careened off cliffs. They…
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Transgressive Gay Film Festival

            Every year around this time of “Pride” celebrations I try to set up a film festival in my apartment of movies that aren’t exactly what many would consider life-affirming or particularly queer-positive, but I consider radically gay. Not that I…
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