Classic movie blogs! Love 'em? Hate 'em? Write your own?

[CBHagman]

Every now and then I hear a figure on how many blogs there are here in the United States alone,, and I truly wonder who has time to read all of them.

But what I've wondered about is blogging on film, particularly classic Hollywood, and it turns out there are some interesting sites in that regard. Thanks to James Wolcott's blog (a one-stop shop for snark and arcane cultural references, IMHO) at the Vanity Fair website, I've had a gander at the following:

Self-Styled Siren

It'll Take the Snap Out of Your Garters

I might also mention Another Old Movie Blog.

So are any of you reading classic movie blogs and/or frequenting classic movie websites? Better yet, are you writing your own? Dish here.

[Longhorn]

1. I haven't read any true classic movie blogs

but sometimes I read the message boards for classic movies at imdb.com. Usually, the posters are judging the movies from today's standards without much appreciation for the context of when the movie was made. I'll look forward to checking out the sites you mentioned. I enjoy the comments in our group but there's just not enough of us to keep the conversation consistently going!

Thanks! :hi:

[CBHagman]

2. Yes, that's definitely a problem with IMDB.

Yes, Longhorn, I've noticed that as well. Get a load of those message boards where people try to recast a classic Frank Capra or Billy Wilder film, or find fault with some particularly zingy script. Oh, and some people are bored senseless by classic movies. Sigh.

But as I always like to say, my father and his classmates loved How Green Was My Valley back in the day, and just try to imagine a screenwriter pushing a sentimental family drama to a bunch of studio executives, on the promise that teenaged boys will flock to the theater. Not in these CGI and Grand Theft Auto days, huh? Sigh.

Curiously, I found a much higher standard of discussion at one of the Danny Kaye-related IMDB message boards. I can't recall which one it was (possibly The Court Jester). I don't mean to imply that Danny Kaye fans are anything other than witty and erudite people, but given the variety of message boards and the vast array of movie fans, I always expect IMDB to have slightly more of the in-depth discussions and a little fewer of the "OMG, so-and-so looks like so-and-so" type of discussions.

[Matilda]

3. The most thoughtful and erudite discussions on IMDb are often found in the Reviews.

(I confess, I've written some reviews, but from a personal and subjective viewpoint, not from any
great filmic wisdom). Some of the reviewers clearly have a deep knowledge and understanding of
film techniques, and are interesting to read, although I've always been puzzled by the fact that
in spite of many high ratings, films often end up with quite low rankings, so I don't take too much
notice of the ratings at the top of each film's page, but look to see what people actually have to
say in the reviews.

I do look at the discussion boards, and occasionally join in, but generally they're not worth the
effort. I think we have more interesting and wide-ranging discussions here on our own little
forum! And I don't mind that it moves a bit slowly, because it makes it easier for me, coming from
a different time zone, to join in; something that's difficult to do on the faster-moving forums.