On a number of past occasions, I’ve written, in various contexts, about what I consider to be that most elusive of on-screen elements: a sense of place. “Sense of place” is the difference between a location serving as mere background, and being a character in its own right. It’s about getting the viewer’s head there, …
For most, Jacob “Jack” Klugman’s defining role was Oscar Madison, the quintessential white collar guy with a blue collar New York sensibility – loud, oafish, impulsive, a compulsive gambler and an inveterate slob – on the TV series adaptation of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, which ran on ABC 1970-75. Those among the AARP crowd …
The French gave us the word “demimonde” – literally, half the world. But what it has come to mean in English, or so says Webster, is “a distinct circle or world that is often an isolated part of a larger world.” Storytellers have always held a fascination with the dark side of human nature; that …