THE LATE SHOW AND OTHER TALES OF CELLULOID MALICE includes 8 short stories all with two things in common… Malice and Movies. Below are some of the movies that inspired me to write the stories. Pre-order at Amazon. Available March 3rd
Category: Film
Looking Back at 2019
With only a few days left in 2019, I thought I would look back a bit and share a few small accomplishments.
I sold the use of one of my photographs (Colburn’s Shoe Store) for use in an ad for Belfast, Maine realtor Martha Martin in The Republican Journal Newspaper.
A photograph I took way back in 1976 of the Baronet/Coronet theaters in New York City is used in Abel Ferrara’s recent documentary, The Projectionist which debuted at this year’s New York Film Festival. 
Published Bitter Ends, my second collection of short stories. Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo
Published, Make it Write, a short story. Available at Amazon and Kobo
My short story, (The Bombay Hook Incident), published in the on-line magazine A Millon and One.
I was interviewed by the online magazine NRReads.coed
Interviewed by Jeremy Richey for Soledad Arts Journal. Available at Amazon.
Looking Forward to the New Year
My latest collection of short stories, THE LATE SHOW: AND OTHER TALES OF CELLULOID MALICE will come out in the first half of 2020. As you can easily deduct, all the stories have a common theme. More details to follow.
My thanks to all who have stopped by my little abode. Here’s wishing for all a happy, healthy and peaceful 2020.
Book Cover Reveal: The Late Show
The Late Show and Other Tales of Celluloid Malice, my next collection of short stories will be out sometime in the first half of 2020. No hard date yet for the release, but I thought I’d share the book cover for now. More information will be coming.
New Film Book
I am a contributor to the latest Classic Movie Blog Association eBook, Femme/Homme Fatales of Film Noir. Available at Smashwords for free! Also available on Amazon for .99 cents with proceeds going to Film Preservation.
New England Crime Time
I recently posted a list of some of my favorite and grittiest of New York City films from the 1970s. This time around I thought I select some crime films from the combined states that make up New England. As you may suspect Massachusetts, Boston in particular, makes up the majority of the films and the grittiest. Not all these films are gritty or from the 70’s but they are films with criminal elements.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Massachusetts)
Dolores Clairborne (Maine)
Mystic River (Massachusetts)
The Stranger (Connecticut)
Gone, Baby, Gone (Massachusetts)
The Stepford Wives (Connecticut)
The Trouble With Harry (Vermont)
American Buffalo (Rhode Island)
The Departed (Massachusetts)
To Die For (New Hampshire)
The Boston Strangler (Massachusetts)
Shutter Island (Massachusetts)
My Gritty Dozen 1970’s NYC Crime Films
This list is a result of recently reading author David Gordon’s article on Crime Reads. Like David, I grew up and lived in New York during its grittiest down and dirty days. It’s a bit ironic that during New York’s ugliest days some of the best films set in the city were made during that time. I was already a movie freak, and while I liked a wide variety of movies I found myself attracted to crime films at a very young age. Two of the earliest I remember seeing on the big screen were Al Capone and Baby Face Nelson. While most parents took their under ten years of age kids to only Disney films, my folks took me to more adult movies too including gangster films.
Without further ado, here are my favorite crimes films from the 1970’s.
The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Klute (1971)
Shaft (1971)
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (!974)
The French Connection (1971)
Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
Death Wish (1974)
Elmore Leonard is Out of Sight
Arguably, Out of Sight is the best film adaption of the many Elmore Leonard crime novels to hit the screen. Some would argue for Jackie Brown, based on Leonard’s Rum Punch, and that’s a worthy debate to have. The Tarantino film has some fabulous performances particularly by Samuel L. Jackson as gun runner Ordell Robbie. But for me, Out of Sight is off beat, dark, smart and funny. It’s a film I could watch multiple times and never get tired of watching.
Below is a clip of the famous truck scene. After Jack Foley (George Clooney) escapes from Glades State Prison in Florida, with the help of his partner Buddy (Ving Rhames), U.S. Marshal Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez) happens along at the wrong time and ends up held hostage, forced to ride in the trunk of the getaway car with Jack.
The electricity between the two stars, the humorous dialogue, and the tight quarters of the trunk all quickly heat up the atmosphere. It’s one of my favorite scenes.
Edgar Ulmer’s Detour on TCM
If you like down and dirty film noir, set your DVR for 4:45pm (ET) to catch Detour. Edgar Ulmer’s bargin basement noir is poverty row film making that rises to the level of art.
You can read more about Detour and other noirs it in my ebook Film Noir at Twenty Four Frames per Second. Available at Amazon. BUT be sure to set your DVR!
Abel Ferrara’s New Film includes My Photograph
Back in the 1970s and living in New York City, I did a lot of street photography. Being a movie fanatic, I went thru a period of photographing the exteriors out many of the movie theaters around the city. Most are now long gone. One of those photographs was of the Baronet/Coronet theaters on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Those two theaters along with the Cinema One and Two were located on the same block, on 3rd Avenue between 59th and 60th street. Back then they most sort after theaters for filmmakers to showcase their films in the city. The Baronet/Coronet photo was taken in 1976. The film, playing in both theaters was Brian DePalma’s Obsession.
Since the age of the internet, I have posted the photograph online a few times. A couple of months back I received an email from a representative of film director Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant, King of New York, Ms. 45, Body Snatchers) who was currently making a documentary called The Projectionist. The film follows the experience of longtime cinema owner Nicolas Nicolaou and records the changes in the city’s theatrical landscape over the years. My photograph came to the attention of Ferrara, and he was interested in using it in his film.
I recently was officially notified that the photograph is included in the film and I am getting a screen credit. I am also hoping to get a screener of the film to review. As you probably suspect this is a low budget film that will play the Film Festival and College circuit. It won’t be coming to a local AMC or Regal cineplex near you or me. Its world premiere is this week as part of the Tribeca Film Festival and on May 6th the film will having a showing at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art).
Best Years of Our Lives on TCM
William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives will be on TCM Tuesday at 8pm. Veterans returning home from war find their lives are changed forever. Though this film is more than seventy years old, it is as relevant today as it was as 1946. There are still lessons to be learned.
Read about its influence in Lessons in the Dark. Available at Amazon.
John Greco Author/Photographer 