That’s a wrap, 2023-wise!

Merry Chri- oh wait, that was last week. So here we are, 2023 is over. No more. Finito. Goodbye. OK, let’s not be dramatic. So, what on earth happened?

2023 was a great year for me. In the summer, I made my short film, OPEN HELL, which I wrote and starred in. It was an incredible experience. We had sooo much fun and I’m still buzzing. The movie will hopefully be coming out next month. I’ll keep you all posted!

In the blogging world, things have been fabulous. The Garden was voted 18th best classic movie online blog, and The Losers of Film Noir was chosen as THE best film noir blog! That was really special, and it was great to see so many of my blogger friends on both lists as well.

I’ve gained a few more followers across the blogs and people have been donating on Buy Me a Coffee as well, so thank you guys sooo much, that really means a lot!

On a less positive note, I’ve lost few friendships, which I wrote about on Medium. I’m still recovering from that, but on the plus side I made some amazing friends as well.

All in all, it’s been a good year. Some ups and downs, but overall good. Looking forward to seeing you in the new year.

Happy 2024 and stay safe!

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Four Classic Movie Families I Would NOT Like To Spend Christmas With

Two years ago, I wrote an article about four families I would like to spend Christmas with. Classic movie families, that is. And because there is a yin and a yang to everything, here are the four classic movie families I would NOT like to spend Christmas with.

King Henry II and family, The Lion in Winter (1968) – Henry II (Peter O’Toole) and his folk are so insanely dysfunctional, I think I would lose my mind in 5 minutes. Between him and Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn) insulting each other left, right and centre, and their children fighting over who gets to be in power, and a mistress- actually nevermind, I think I would probably have a boatload of fun with all that drama.

The Dodsworths, Dodsworth (1936) – Every time I think about this movie, my heart breaks. Walter Huston gives his greatest performance as a married man who realized he and his wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton) want different things in life. Wonderful film, but boy, is it heavy.

The Ambersons and the Morgans, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) – This is one of the original soap opera-type movies and a brilliant one at that. It follows the Ambersons and the Morgans across generations and it is as grand as they come, but the drama, love triangles, heartache and betrayal would be too much for me to bare.

The Pollitts, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) – I’ve talked about how much I love this movie many times on the socials. And one of the reasons I love it so much is because the Pollitts are absolutely mad. They gather for Big Daddy (Burl Ives)’s birthday and, being a Tennessee Williams play, secrets come out and drama ensues. Love it, wouldn’t want to spend a day with them.

Stay tuned for the Christmas edition of AND THE OSCAR DOESN’T GO TO…