Cinema in Paradise

023:23 minutes/seconds into Bus Stop, the essence of the film reveals itself to you. If you’re a fan of Marilyn Monroe’s earlier work (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The… Read more “Bus Stop Proved to Be Marilyn’s Respite from the Overbearing Studio System”

“Somewhere between Westward Expansion and before the boom of the talking motion picture, Norma Jeane Mortenson was born.”

Love with the Proper Stranger is a film that doesn’t receive enough recognition. Released in 1963, it stars Natalie Wood as Angie Rossini, a Macy’s salesgirl, and… Read more “Robert Mulligan’s 1963 film, Love with the Proper Stranger, still emits a bold and timeless prescience”

“‘Who is Johnny Marco?’ an Italian reporter asks. It’s a question that’s been eating him up inside, we can tell. Johnny Marco is Hollywood’s bad boy movie star and he’s having an existential crisis. We see him post-interview in the back of a limo heading down Sunset Boulevard. He needs to decompress and wants anonymity. There’s only ever one place to go during times like these if you’re lost in the belly of the beast that is Hollywood. In order to transcend this cataclysmic breakdown, one only needs to check into the Château Marmont.”

It was plagued by drama. On-set tensions were high between leads Walter Matthau and Barbra Streisand. Director Gene Kelly and costume designer, Irene Sharaf, fought excessively. It… Read more “Why Hello, Dolly! is My Quintessential Post-Pandemic Musical”