“Better than the Movie”?
Posted inBlog Posts Classics Reviews

“Better than the Movie”?

Hey everyone, Mark here, new-comer to The Good the Bad and the Podcast and co-host of the James Bond: Here and There series. Though this site is largely dedicate to cinema, we would be remiss in not giving a little attention to those wonderful packets of plot and profundity that provide so much fodder for movies: books! And if you’re anything like me, the number of books in your house that you haven’t read greatly outweighs the number you have. Well, I decided to do something about it, and set out to read 100 books in a year. “You’re insane!”…
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD: AN ODE TO CAREY MULLIGAN
Posted inBlog Posts Classics Reviews

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD: AN ODE TO CAREY MULLIGAN

Carey Mulligan, you saucy minx. I have seen Thomas Vinterberg’s gorgeous adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd twice now, and I have to say right up front: I love it. The cinematography, the score, the costuming, the casting choices…in my mind, they’re all aces. Never have lens flare and sheep-laden greenery looked so beautiful. As a movie playing out on screen, I think it hits almost every right note…but as a story, I do have a few minor qualms with it. FFTMC is often described as Thomas Hardy’s “most pastoral” novel, which kind of begs the question: Why exactly was it resurrected…
8 MOMENTS I TRULY LOVED KATHARINE HEPBURN
Posted inBlog Posts Classics SilverScreenSiren

8 MOMENTS I TRULY LOVED KATHARINE HEPBURN

In honor of Katharine Hepburn’s birthday this week, I’ve been thinking about some of my favorite KH moments both on and off-screen. There are certain obvious snippets people remember her for outside of her movies: her abiding love of trousers in a markedly skirt-wearing portion of the century (pants were more comfortable, damnit!), her less relatable and more question-mark-inducing love of Spencer Tracy (Why, Katharine? Why?), and her drawling, haughty manner of speech. Quite honestly, there are many Golden Age actresses I prefer to watch most of the time–she is often a little too “in your face” for me–but there…