ptklein
@ptklein.com
Film historian and cultural critic. Movie theaters, cinema spaces, and filmgoing cultures. Radically optimistic. Writing at www.howtoreadmovies.com, Metro Weekly, Film Atlas, and elsewhere. Cohost @ColdWarCinema.com. He/Him/His.
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ptklein
@ptklein.com
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New episode is live!
This week we discuss Don Siegel's 1956 sci-fi classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, unpacking the complicated (and often contradictory) political allegories from both the left and the right. Check it out!
coldwarcinema.com/s2-ep-8-inva...
This week we discuss Don Siegel's 1956 sci-fi classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, unpacking the complicated (and often contradictory) political allegories from both the left and the right. Check it out!
coldwarcinema.com/s2-ep-8-inva...
Pod people pod! Pod people pod!!
I’m back on @coldwarcinema.com with @jasonachristian.bsky.social and @tonyjballas.bsky.social this month talking about Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the blacklist, conformity, and communism. Give us a listen:
I’m back on @coldwarcinema.com with @jasonachristian.bsky.social and @tonyjballas.bsky.social this month talking about Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the blacklist, conformity, and communism. Give us a listen:
You’ve probably seen a joke like this one in an old movie about Democrats and Republicans having their own Thanksgiving days. But why do these gags exist in the first place?
It’s the Franksgiving controversy! In 1939, FDR moved Thanksgiving to accommodate an extra week of holiday shopping.
It’s the Franksgiving controversy! In 1939, FDR moved Thanksgiving to accommodate an extra week of holiday shopping.
November 27, 2025 at 2:03 PM
You’ve probably seen a joke like this one in an old movie about Democrats and Republicans having their own Thanksgiving days. But why do these gags exist in the first place?
It’s the Franksgiving controversy! In 1939, FDR moved Thanksgiving to accommodate an extra week of holiday shopping.
It’s the Franksgiving controversy! In 1939, FDR moved Thanksgiving to accommodate an extra week of holiday shopping.
Calling all oomfs to say good morning
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Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987, John Hughes)
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Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987, John Hughes)
November 27, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Calling all oomfs to say good morning
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Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987, John Hughes)
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Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987, John Hughes)
All of them 🥰
What movie are you most thankful for? (not necessarily your favorite!)
November 27, 2025 at 3:59 AM
All of them 🥰
Only serving Jared Leto’s hard kombucha at Thanksgiving dinner heads up
November 27, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Only serving Jared Leto’s hard kombucha at Thanksgiving dinner heads up
How many styles of cranberry sauce do you serve
November 26, 2025 at 8:26 PM
How many styles of cranberry sauce do you serve
Gmornin early birds who up getting their worm
November 26, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Gmornin early birds who up getting their worm
When you turn away from a piece of challenging writing for a day and then come back to it and it finally makes sense >>>
November 25, 2025 at 4:58 PM
When you turn away from a piece of challenging writing for a day and then come back to it and it finally makes sense >>>
U-S-A!! 🇺🇸 U-S-A!! 💥 U-S-A!! 🇺🇸
The British mind cannot comprehend Macy and her giant balloon parade for Thanksgiving
November 25, 2025 at 2:48 PM
U-S-A!! 🇺🇸 U-S-A!! 💥 U-S-A!! 🇺🇸
The other problem is that sometimes they’re a waste of time 😭
The problem with watching movies is they end so you just gotta keep watching other movies
November 25, 2025 at 2:59 AM
The other problem is that sometimes they’re a waste of time 😭
No one will ever do Losing My Mind better than Barbara.
November 25, 2025 at 12:06 AM
No one will ever do Losing My Mind better than Barbara.
Mutter mutter mutter mutter, quick, Jerome, get the president! There's a crazy person on my TV screen!
I clicked on this video because I love this production of Merrily We Roll Along, and something so bad happens in the first ten seconds that I am now forming a commission to investigate. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAlV...
November 24, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Mutter mutter mutter mutter, quick, Jerome, get the president! There's a crazy person on my TV screen!
The performance of another figures prominently in both Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, released in 1958, and Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot, released the following year. Though varied in generic treatment, mid-century American film culture sees drag as a matter of life and death.
In this essay I will…
In this essay I will…
If I could ever figure out a legit way to discuss Some Like It Hot and Vertigo all in one breath, I could probably get blocked by half of Bluesky.
November 24, 2025 at 7:32 PM
The performance of another figures prominently in both Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, released in 1958, and Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot, released the following year. Though varied in generic treatment, mid-century American film culture sees drag as a matter of life and death.
In this essay I will…
In this essay I will…
Received a very nice note from a senior scholar in the field and I’m on top of the world tbh
November 24, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Received a very nice note from a senior scholar in the field and I’m on top of the world tbh
okay which one of you is running social for A1 steak sauce
November 24, 2025 at 2:40 PM
okay which one of you is running social for A1 steak sauce
If you saw Wicked: For Good this weekend, did you catch its cheeky reference to Charlie Chaplin’s globe dance in 1940’s The Great Dictator?
November 23, 2025 at 4:07 PM
If you saw Wicked: For Good this weekend, did you catch its cheeky reference to Charlie Chaplin’s globe dance in 1940’s The Great Dictator?
Good morning 🧟♂️
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Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931).
One of cinema’s greatest entrances and most enduring images thanks to the man behind the monster, Boris Karloff, born William Henry Pratt on this day in 1887.
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Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931).
One of cinema’s greatest entrances and most enduring images thanks to the man behind the monster, Boris Karloff, born William Henry Pratt on this day in 1887.
November 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Good morning 🧟♂️
___
Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931).
One of cinema’s greatest entrances and most enduring images thanks to the man behind the monster, Boris Karloff, born William Henry Pratt on this day in 1887.
___
Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931).
One of cinema’s greatest entrances and most enduring images thanks to the man behind the monster, Boris Karloff, born William Henry Pratt on this day in 1887.
Reposted by ptklein
HBD to Boris Karloff, born on this day in 1887 as William Henry Pratt.
The man at the heart of the monster show, Karloff’s performances—especially his anguished, whimpering turn in Bride of Frankenstein—remain some of the most arresting and affecting on screen.
The man at the heart of the monster show, Karloff’s performances—especially his anguished, whimpering turn in Bride of Frankenstein—remain some of the most arresting and affecting on screen.
November 23, 2024 at 3:17 PM
HBD to Boris Karloff, born on this day in 1887 as William Henry Pratt.
The man at the heart of the monster show, Karloff’s performances—especially his anguished, whimpering turn in Bride of Frankenstein—remain some of the most arresting and affecting on screen.
The man at the heart of the monster show, Karloff’s performances—especially his anguished, whimpering turn in Bride of Frankenstein—remain some of the most arresting and affecting on screen.
Reposted by ptklein
Jurassic Park, like Jaws, is a clairvoyant warning about capitalism run amok. Which is a major part of why it’s a perfect film that none of the sequels or spinoffs can match.
Jurassic Park is a perfect example of a great movie whose message is ignored and diluted by a studio that sees dollar signs only. A three-decade franchise that should have been one movie only.
November 23, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Jurassic Park, like Jaws, is a clairvoyant warning about capitalism run amok. Which is a major part of why it’s a perfect film that none of the sequels or spinoffs can match.
Having an heretical opinion!!
November 23, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Having an heretical opinion!!
A little 2-D 3-D research this evening:
November 22, 2025 at 10:41 PM
A little 2-D 3-D research this evening: