This archive gathers film essays originally written for classic film blogathons—focused on actors, performances, and iconic roles, often tied to literary adaptations or seasonal themes. While separate from my primary historical and fiction work, these pieces remain part of my long-standing engagement with story, character, and cultural memory.
Maverick is the perfect western for people who don’t like westerns: witty, character-driven, and full of charm, gambles, and hijinks.
In 3:10 to Yuma, Dan Evans and outlaw Ben Wade face moral trials in the Old West. The remake adds shades of grey, exploring integrity, redemption, and the nature of good and evil.
Lucille Ball shines in a suspenseful film noir as a dance hall girl tracking a mysterious serial killer. Stylish, tense, and full of 1940s flair.
Arwen’s journey in The Lord of the Rings showcases love, sacrifice, and courage. Peter Jackson’s films give her a powerful, expanded role, deepening her story and her bond with Aragorn.
Lorna Doone tells a story of love, virtue, and forgiveness. John Ridd’s unwavering goodness and Lorna’s gentle courage create a period drama that inspires hope and moral integrity.
Emma is less a romance than a story of influence; how Emma Woodhouse and Mr. Knightley sharpen, correct, and improve one another.
Mary Carson is the true force of The Thorn Birds: a jealous, defiant matriarch whose ambition and brutal honesty expose the cost of false morality.
Baby Face scandalized Hollywood by letting a woman seize power without apology and dared to ask if survival must be a sin.
Last Night in Soho turns nostalgia into a trap, revealing how fantasy, bias, and moral absolutism can distort the truth.
In Nightmare Alley, Lilith Ritter isn’t just a femme fatale; she’s the unseen force that turns Stanton Carlisle’s ambition into ruin.
