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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 21h

On MAD LOVE, Karl Freund’s best movie as director

This serves Freund incredibly well, as his particular instincts for light and shadow perfectly frame Lorre’s bulging eyes, bald head, and sweaty brow within these spaces. MAD LOVE’s focus on the doctor and his obsession with Frances Drake’s Yvonne steers Colin Clive’s Stephen Orlac into almost incidental territory, which is perhaps fitting for Clive’s apparent weariness as a performer. Another challenge to the film’s generally effective tone is the inclusion of Ted Healy, former leader of The Three Stooges, who understandably acts as though he is in a different movie. But in its most leering moments, MAD LOVE enters a deranged space that is, if not chilling, then disturbing in some kind of warped psychosexual way. It’s a shame that Freund’s directorial career ended here, as it heralded a returned skill, one that could treat Code-stretching material with exciting symbolism and striking imagery. But he continued as a phenomenal cinematographer for decades more, and as a swan song for Karl Freund the director, MAD LOVE is an undeniable cult classic.

Image from Mad Love of Peter Lorre’s Doctor Gogol laughing in a neck brace, sunglasses, and a hat

Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 1d

I recently watched MAD LOVE, famed cinematographer Karl Freund's last film as director. I'd already seen the other films he made in that lesser known role in a brief-ish period, so I wrote about all the movies he directed*.

*that are surviving/accessible

trettleman.medium.com/the-karl-fre...

The Karl Freund Movies Ranked

Karl Freund is one of the most important cinematographers of all time, and besides being “important,” he was responsible for some of the…

trettleman.medium.com

Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 1d

There have never been more podcasts and yet quite a few I've been listening to for, like, a decade or so have ended in the past couple years. Today, WTF ends too. What a show that shaped my brain. I'm still months behind so it won't hit me that it's over for a minute, but oof.

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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 3d

Here is an excerpt of my conversation with Rayna Denison about GAUCHE THE CELLIST for The Complete Catalog: Studio Ghibli. Links in quoted post!

Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 4d

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/22PL...

Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...

Spotify – Web Player

open.spotify.com

Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 4d

Studio Ghibli E4 of The Complete Catalog is live! Later in the season, you're going to hear a lot of quotes from Rayna Denison's book Studio Ghibli: An Industrial History. So jump on here for my discussion with Rayna about a pre-Ghibli work from Takahata, the beautiful GAUCHE THE CELLIST! Links 👇

Image from Gauche the Cellist, in which the title character plays his instrument for a crowd of animals underneath a shaded tree in the countryside

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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 5d

Here is an excerpt of the 1908 season intro of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever. Links in quoted post!

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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 6d

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/17k9...

Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1...

www.the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your top five for 1908 if they're already particularly locked in!

1908 E1 - Yes, Griffith Is Here

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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 6d

1908 E1 of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever is live! The season begins with my usual brief bit of historical context, which I frontload with the acknowledgement that D.W. Griffith is now in the picture (since that has become a benchmark for many, myself maybe included). Links 👇

An image from Emile Cohl's Fantasmagorie, a drawing of a small human character on the trunk of an elephant

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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 7d

On SILVER BLEEDS THE BLACK SUN…, AFI’s new album

After my lukewarm reaction to AFI’s albums of the 2010s, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how vital they sound in the ’20s. SILVER BLEEDS THE BLACK SUN… is an incredibly effective bit of Gothic post-punk, pulsing with a dark theatricality and catchy hooks (best exhibited on “Marguerite”). The record demonstrates the band’s tendency to explore different aspects on the rock/punk/pop spectrum, and in this case, it comes to great fruition. SILVER BLEEDS THE BLACK SUN… is a reminder that AFI, which has been putting out albums for 30 years, can still evolve while maintaining the morbidity, and at times anger, of their younger years.

The cover of AFI’s Silver Bleeds the Black Sun, showing a black and pink sun meeting each other on a pink background

Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 8d

AFI has a pretty surprising new album out called SILVER BLEEDS THE BLACK SUN. The band's still got it! I added my thoughts on it to my piece on the group.

trettleman.medium.com/the-afi-albu...

The AFI Albums Ranked

Punk/hardcore/plain ol’ rock band AFI (not American Film Institute, as my movie-oriented brain thinks, but A Fire Inside) has charted an…

trettleman.medium.com

Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 11d

Here’s an excerpt of my conversation with Andrew Osmond about Isao Takahata’s Chie the Brat for The Complete Catalog: Studio Ghibli. Links in quoted post!

Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 11d

Peanuts turned 75 and I’ll reiterate that I have Charles Schulz art on my body forever, so it may be clear how I feel about that comic strip (and TV specials).

Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 11d

Studio Ghibli E3 of The Complete Catalog is live! Animation journalist Andrew Osmond joins me to talk Chie the Brat, an underseen yet delightful gem of Isao Takahata's career.

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/0Zsh...

Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Still from Chie the Brat depicting the title character rolling up her sleeves and brandishing a bat

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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 12d

Here are the five most selected films for The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever: 1907!

Thank you to my guests for the season:

@mattpagefilm.bsky.social
@lizclarke100.bsky.social
Sean Guinan
Agata Frymus
Randy Haberkamp

List of the five most selected films for The 5 Best Films of Year Ever: 1907. #1 - The Policemen’s Little Run, Ferdinand Zecca. #2 - The Irresistible Piano, Alice Guy-Blache. #3 - The Haunted Hotel, J Stuart Blackton. #4 - The Dancing Pig, unknown. #5 - Vancouver, William Harbeck

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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 13d

Jane Goodall was an early hero. Those images of her with those chimps, hearing her voice talking about the beauty of nature and other creatures. Big impact when I was quite young. Big impact that she's dead, although of course what a long inspiration life.

Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 13d

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5gUP...

Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1...

www.the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to see every film submitted for the 1907 season!

1907 E7 - Old Styles Reign Supreme

open.spotify.com

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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 13d

1907 E7 of The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever is live! I use the brief season finale to wrap up some of the themes and share the five most-selected films from the guests and listeners. (Already) old-school genres reigned supreme! Links 👇

An image from The Policemen's Little Run showing a bulldog mix holding a pork chop and wearing a policemen's cap

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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 15d

On DOWNTON ABBEY: A JOURNEY TO THE HIGHLANDS, the best of the series’ specials and movies

So while A JOURNEY TO THE HIGHLANDS doesn’t conclude in a way that the other Christmas specials do (as in, happily), this midway point of the series perfectly represents its themes regarding the changing of the guard and the degradation of the cushiest of positions. Furthermore, the titular trip to Scotland offers some tremendous shots, something in common with A MOORLAND HOLIDAY and I suppose the show in general, which is very good at setting picturesque views to swelling music. A JOURNEY TO THE HIGHLANDS maybe isn’t the single best “episode” of DOWNTON ABBEY (although clearly, I and others don’t quite consider the specials as straight ahead “episodes” exactly), but when it comes to the movie-shaped experiences the series has come to offer, it’s the best blend of comforting aesthetics, likable characters, and (some might say cheap) drama.

An image from Downton Abbey: A Journey to the Highlands, showing horse-drawn carriages pulling away from a castle

Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 15d

I went and saw the supposed "last" movie in the series, DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE. It got me thinking about the films and then the movie-shaped specials. So I wrote about them all.

trettleman.medium.com/the-downton-...

The Downton Abbey Specials and Movies Ranked

DOWNTON ABBEY (2010–2015) and its characters have my heart in spite of all the show’s conservative instincts (maybe overtone?). The period…

trettleman.medium.com

Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 17d

Here is an excerpt of my conversation with Austin Clark for The Complete Catalog. Links in quoted post!

Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 18d

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7439...

Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...

Spotify – Web Player

open.spotify.com

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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 18d

Studio Ghibli E2 of The Complete Catalog is live! @aesopb3ef.bsky.social and I talk about LUPIN III: THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO. Hayao Miyazaki's feature directorial debut seems the product of immaculate conception, but more than 15 years of TV work led to this fluid 1979 film. Links 👇

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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 19d

Here is an excerpt of my conversation with Randy Haberkamp for The 5 Best Films of Every Year Ever. Links in quoted post!

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Tristan Ettleman @ettletodd.bsky.social · 21d

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/7r21...

Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1...

www.the5bestfilmsofeveryyearever.com/list to submit your own top five for 1907! Be sure to do 9/29 because for the season finale, I'll be consolidating the most selected films.

1907 E6 - Randy Haberkamp

open.spotify.com

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