Category Archives: movies

When Dali Met Disney

Posted on November 3, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Destino is an animated short film released in 2003 by Walt Disney Feature Animation. What makes this short animated film noteworthy is that its production originally began in 1945, 58 years before its eventual completion in 2003. The project was … Continue reading →

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The Tell-Tale Heart

Posted on October 31, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

What better time than Halloween for a story from America’s father of psychological horror. And what better example than The Tell-Tale Heart. Among the numerous of Poe adaptations for stage, screen and television, there are at least 20 versions of The … Continue reading →

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“The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.”

Posted on October 8, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I must admit that I am more than a bit curious to see the latest film version of the sci-fi classic Dune. Although David Lynch’s Dune is regularly panned, I enjoyed it with some reservations when it was first in theaters. My first exposure … Continue reading →

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Alice, Aldous, and Walt

Posted on September 26, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I recently discovered that Walt Disney commissioned Aldous Huxley of all people to write a script for a Disney film of Alice in Wonderland. Although this may seem surprising, it turns out that Huxley wrote a number of screenplays for Hollywood films … Continue reading →

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Five For Friday

Posted on September 10, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I just discovered this never before published novel by Simone de Beauvoir. It seems that it was deemed “too intimate” to be published during her lifetime. Inseparable has been described as a story of the power of female friendship and … Continue reading →

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The Original Headless Horseman

Posted on August 16, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

When you are a bookseller potentially everything can remind you of a book that you’ve sold. Not long ago I saw a story online about the recent release of a new film adaptation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight … Continue reading →

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We can have our pick of seats…

Posted on August 8, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

“Edward Hopper’s New York Movie” by Joseph Stanton We can have our pick of seats. Though the movie’s already moving, the theater’s almost an empty shell. All we can see on our side of the room is one man and one … Continue reading →

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If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

TIL that Mary Shelley actually wrote her groundbreaking novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus while she was living in Bath, England. I also discovered that the new Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein, opened in Bath last week. The multimedia museum … Continue reading →

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there is no happy ending

Posted on June 10, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

It’s hard to believe that it’s been three years since we lost one of its most entertaining, likable, and exasperating cultural personalities. Anthony Bourdain was one of those special people who found a way to engage folks from all walks … Continue reading →

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Was Mordor actually in Siberia

Posted on April 11, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I haven’t watched much classic Soviet-era Russian television, but I imagine that little of the content was as weird as the recently rediscovered version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Embedded below are parts 1 and 2 of the … Continue reading →

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