Wendie Jo Sperber Archives -

It Was 50 Years Ago Today: I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)

Feb 11, 2014 Wade Sheeler 2

February marks the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ historic 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and their first tour of America. This watershed moment in American popular culture is being celebrated worldwide, and the […]

Corridos and Fairy Tales – Storytelling in The Princess Bride and The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez

Nov 27, 2018 0

In recent months, the Criterion Collection has released two films from the 1980s that are about the art of storytelling. The first, Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride (1987), is a beloved Hollywood classic, based on [...]
Andrei Rublev and What Hate Has Wrought

Nov 2, 2018 0

[This review was begun the same day as the Oct. 27, 2018 Tree of Life shooting.] They killed eleven Jews in Pittsburgh today, gunned down in their synagogue as they prayed round their holy scriptures. [...]
There’s HOPE For Us Yet: Bob Hope from Kino Lorber

Feb 5, 2018 0

I may get some hits for this, but I posit that classic film fans generally do not have as great an affinity for the popular movie comedians of the 30s and 40s, as they do [...]
Fire Walk With # Me Too: A Personal Retrospection on Twin Peaks

Jan 8, 2018 0

Reviewing a movie you’ve seen a million times over an almost twenty year period is a hard task, especially when it comes to something that has become a large part of your life and that [...]
Dame in the Game: Gloria Grahame

Jul 19, 2017 2

Gloria Grahame may not seem to fit alongside the women we typically feature in this column — she didn’t found her own company, become a director, break any particular barriers, or do significant philanthropic work. [...]

Cinemondo Is an All New World Cinema Series

Dec 5, 2018 0

Link TV, the national independent non-commercial satellite television network, is premiering a new weekly international film series this Thursday called CINEMONDO that brings cinema from around the world to foreign movie fans.
LOST LA: Dream Factory

Dec 19, 2017 0

I’m a nut for L.A. history, and when that history melds with the early days of Hollywood, I’m in 100%. So I was very excited to screen LOST LA: The Dream Factory. Most confounding, was my [...]
An Afternoon at the Silent Clowns Film Series

Jun 14, 2017 2

The Bruno Walter Auditorium is home to the Silent Clowns Film Series, which boasts itself as “New York’s longest-running regularly scheduled silent film showcase.” For twenty years now, the series has provided the public with [...]
The Retro Set Virtual Alt-Fest: Saturday Edition

Apr 8, 2017 0

Welcome to the Retro Set Virtual Fest: Saturday Edition! Join the party and follow the links below – no matter where you are! This year, you can watch the films at the same time we do. [...]
TCM Film Fest Special Feature: Line up wth Raquel Stecher

Apr 7, 2017 0