People often misunderstand Frank Capra’s classic Christmas film It’s A Wonderful Life. Released in 1946, it didn’t do very well initially in the United States. People found it too dark. Nowadays, many people find it too sentimental. I think both of these appraisals are a little wide of the mark. It’s both dark and sentimental,Continue reading “The Gentle Subversion of ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’”
Tag Archives: Family film
Frankenweenie(1984)
In many ways, the original short film version of Frankenweenie is a sharp satire on horror cinema and its tropes: after all, Shelley Duvall plays the Mom, which foreshadows the macabre undertow (isn’t she the archetypal horror film Mom as resilient Wendy Torrance in The Shining?) Written by Lenny Ripps and directed by a youngContinue reading “Frankenweenie(1984)”