Andyland, USA

First things first, Istanbul was Constantinople, but now it's Istanbul not Constantinople (nailed it). This week's column is about my little movie club's viewing of the 1971 film “They Might Be Giants” (Which is where the band took inspiration for their name). This was the one movie that I was completely unfamiliar with. My only connections to this film was that I had several people over the years recommend it to me. The film stars George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward. Scott plans a rich judge who has slipped into a world of fantasy following the death of his wife, and now believes that he is Sherlock Holmes. His brother is trying to get him committed, mostly to gain power of attorney and access to his money. The brother takes him to a clinic, where he finds himself talking to Dr. Mildred Watson. Yes, Dr. Watson. “Holmes” leads Watson on a wild hunt around the city, following “clues” that he is convinced will lead him to the final battle with arch nemesis Moriar...

The city was hot and muggy, like a dame who just went on her first picnic and discovered what true love meant. The corner coffee shops were full of the late night denizens. Sure, they could go home. But at home the coffee tasted only of regret and unicorn tears. There I was. Out in the middle of it all. Driving around the city streets with a head full of two dollar words and five dollar ideas. I was in a hurry, because my head wasn't the only thing full of something. There was the constant reminder of that piece of lead stuck between my ribs. I had been shot, and I was fading. Fast. This week Andy's Film Club watched Billy Wilder's 1944 Noir classic Double Indemnity , and hence I felt a particular desire to open this week's column about that film with some Noir flare of my own. Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson, Double Indemnity is one of two Noir masterpieces that Billy Wilder made. The other being Sunset Blvd. Double Ind...

Welcome to the first week of a little media experiment I call “Andy's Film Club” AKA “Geeky Oprah's Book Club”. To summarize incase you're not up to speed, it's friends watching movies of my choosing over Netflix, commenting on them in a Facebook group, and writing it all up in these here pages. I can't say if this will be a success or not, but regardless I hope it'll perk your interests towards some wonderful films, and be amusing. Our first film, is the 1935 Universal classic, The Bride of Frankenstein . I love The Bride of Frankenstein , it's one of my top ten favorite movies, and quickly became so when I saw it three years ago, shortly after seeing Frankenstein for the first time. Yes, I know, it took me a long time to finally see Frankenstein , and that's something I deeply regret. I only wish when I was younger someone had introduced me to the wonderfulness of Boris Karloff. It's also amazing that Bride is all that too rare of a b...

I was bored the other night, the cat was sleeping in another part of the house, and there wasn't anything of particular intrest on TV. This is how it came to pass that I found myself watching an episode of "House Hunters". You know "House Hunters", don't you? That TV series on the "First World Problems" network, HGTV. In case you've not seen in it, and you're not missing much, "House Hunters" is a series in which a young couple, usually newlyweds or soon to be weds, hunt for a house with the help of a realtor, and a price budget that could save some tribal villages from vanishing off the face of the earth. I would like to take a few moments and present my version of "House Hunters". Never seen narrator: Tonight on House Hunters, Dick and Suzy are a newly married couple, ready to take that great leap into owning a house. Let's hear how they met. Dick: I was doing a keg stand one night in college, and this cute ...

OK, let me get the awkward part out of the way first. Yes, this WAS supposed to be a column on my little movie club experiment watching The Bride of Frankenstein . But here's the thing. I forgot to tell everyone to start the week I meant to. I woke up on Memorial Day, and I found myself wondering “Hey! That's right, film club starts this week. So I need to write up...wait...oh no.” Blame it on a week of too much going on. Family members needing me to take them to doctor offices, students graduating, and my own uber excitement over the return of Arrested Development . Next week, movies, this week—which I'm sure some of you figured out from my double meaning title—is about the return of Arrested Development . Here's the cliff notes version for those of you who need to be caught up. Arrested Development is a sitcom that ran on FOX from 2003-2006. It was innovative, groundbreaking, and lead the way for a show like the recently departed The Office . Critics loved...