31 Days of Oscar: Dimitri Tiomkin

(Courtesy: dimitritiomkin.com)

Russia is known for a lot of things. Some good, some bad. One of the good things is its music and composers: Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, and for cinephiles--film composer Dimitri Tiomkin. He was as prolific a composer as you'll find, and was nominated for an Academy Award a total of 22 times, winning the golden man four times-- for High Noon (Best Original Song and Best Score), The High and the Mighty, and The Old Man and the Sea. His nominations and wins may not be as numerous as those racked up by John Williams, but just looking at the "Known For" highlights that IMDB shows should be enough to convince you of his greatness nonetheless...

The Sexiest Hot Messes in Movies

Ah, the hot mess. They're so...hot! I've compiled a little list of some of my favorite hot messes in films and tried to rank them from simply hot mess to the heat from 1,000 suns kind of mess. Read on and let me know who you think I've missed down in the comments. There are some spoilers ahead, so beware.

Laurel & Hardy's Way Out West Is My Happy Place

There are few things outside of my family that give me great joy, but Laurel and Hardy are definitely on that list. They are the ultimate comedy duo, putting all others to shame. TO SHAME! And of all the L&H films and shorts, Way Out West is tops on my list.

Christopher Walken: The Anti-Christ and the Archangel

When I saw the announcement for The Great Villain Blogathon, I knew right away what I was going to do: Christopher Walken. Who else could play an Archangel just as villainous as the "Anti-Christ"? Only Walken.

Paths of Glory: A Review

There are war movies and there are movies about war. War movies have great battle scenes, tons of action, heroes (and anti-heroes), and perhaps not much for political or philosophical commentary. Hell, some war movies can even be funny. Right, 1941? Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1957) is a movie about war--about the dirt of it, the fatigue of it, and the inhumane philosophies and ideologies of which war is comprised.