When you publicly bill yourself with anything containing the word “Noir,” you find people have some expectations of you. Fellow enthusiasts often believe you have watched many obscure films. Non-film fans will assume you are a geek who spends a lot of time watching weird movies. And almost everyone expects you to have read Eddie Muller’s landmark tome Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir. Well you see, not all of us are what we seem. I’m rather lacking in the obscure film catalog on my Letterboxd. I do spend a lot of time watching movies…gotta fess up there. But I’ve never read Dark City. Be ..read more

Can you believe, this is my 5th year attending film festivals? My first was in 2014 attending TCMFF in Hollywood. Having just returned from Noir City Seattle and getting ready to head out again for TCMFF 2019, it feels like a good time to reflect on why I enjoy spending weeks of my life in movie theaters. The Visual When you watch a film (any film) on the big screen, it is a fully immersive experience. Your phone is off and forgotten and for 90 or so minutes, it’s just you and the film. Having the excuse to shut off the outside world and focus on just one experience makes that experience all t ..read more

If you read multiple accounts of the fest from different people, you’ll quickly realize the range of options available for creating your schedule. We all attended the same event, but our picks are wildly different and it’s rare for two festival-goers to have the same exact selections. This versatility is one of the aspects I appreciate most about TCMFF. Sure, they feature films from the 70s-00s. But they aren’t the only option. And at the same time, there are 2-3 other films from the 30s-60s playing that still make creating a schedule for myself a game of Sophie’s Choice. Thursday, April 6 The ..read more

As you will have gathered if you followed along with the #TCMFF posts on Twitter and Instagram, the Turner Classic Film Festival is really all about connecting with other fans. Of course it’s thrilling to see our favorite stars larger than life on screen in vintage restored theatres. But the experience just wouldn’t be the same without the hordes of like-minded kooks who clap and cheer with abandon at the sight of Guy Kibbee’s name in the opening credits. Thanks to Twitter, Instagram and this blog, I’ve come to know a lovely collection of people who share this passion for classic fil ..read more

Each year, when I return home after my week-long sojourn among the flickering films and swaying palms, I inevitably face a peppering of questions about what took place. It’s rather a hard experience to describe in a few sentences for a quick conversation. So hopefully, I can do a bit better here. This year, my dear friend Kate and I stayed an entire week. We arrived in L.A. on Monday, giving us two and half days before the festival began on Thursday. The extra time pre-fest gave us a chance to grocery shop (a must for those not fond of living on popcorn and hot dogs for four ..read more

Well hi there, friends! I come to you today with a fabulously exciting collaboration between the prolific milliner Tanith Rowan and I.  I stumbled upon Tanith’s blog in late July and became enamored with her monthly Whimsy project and stunning handmade hats. She announced in her newsletter an idea for creating a set of vintage-inspired Halloween costumes and I jumped at the chance to be a part of it. We exchanged general ideas and set about sketching in the beginning of August. In all, we both came up with 10-12 individual designs and then we narrowed down to 3 for production. And that na ..read more

Friday, March 27. Friday opened bright and early with The Dawn of Technicolor presentation in the Egyptian theatre. Historians and co-authors David Pierce and James Layton gave a stunning glimpse of the early two-strip technicolor process and the films made during that time (1915-1934). Restored snippets of films (mostly lost in their entirety) played after introductions with behind-the-scenes images and facts by Mr. Pierce or Mr. Layton. It astounded me to realize how much light was required to capture clear images on film. We saw photographs of the sets which were nothing but stages in a ca ..read more

Thursday, March 26 During my stay in LA, I shared a room with two of the kindest ladies you could ever hope to meet: Laura and Kendhal. Staying with them afforded an opportunity to get to know them better and I cherish our times together. Thursday morning, Laura and I met Kristina for breakfast and spent the morning together making sure she learned her way around. Kristina designed and sewed her own formal dress for The Sound of Music red carpet event and we enjoyed several fabric and sewing discussions in our travels while I attempted to contain my glee in discovering a fellow fabric-nerd. Yo ..read more

Why hello there! Betcha thought I’d given up blogging, didn’t you? The lack of posts stems from an odd life dominated by a demanding job. My love of writing and exchanging thoughts with all of you remains intact. After a month of working with one day off per week to prepare for my absence, I packed up two of my best hats and headed out to the land of glamour to experience four days of movie heaven known as the Turner Classic Film Festival. As you may remember, I attended last year (and only wrote one measly post about the experience then…bad Casey) and the trip fulfilled every expectation I ha ..read more

I can’t believe my first trip to the Turner Classic Movie Film Festival was already a month ago. It all flew by and I spend a great portion of my days now wishing I could go back and relive the experience. Where’s Rod Taylor when you need him? Let’s begin this account of my exploits. The Official Non-fleshie Selfie The main purpose of this trip was meeting my four Non-fleshie pals: Kate, Millie, Nicola and Sarah. We’ve known each other for 5 years online, corresponding over our classic film loves (Dana Andrews, Hedy Lamarr, Jeffrey Lynn, Julie Christie, DFJ, Dirk Bogarde, Natalie Wood) and a ..read more