Why Orson Welles Makes Me Sad

Orson Welles in Touch of Evil

Orson Welles is a genius.

It is a simple idea that many, myself included, believe to be true. Over the course of his career, he found exciting ways to captivate audiences and make you care about the magic of the arts. From his early days producing radio dramas like "The War of the Worlds" to Citizen Kane and beyond. The fact is that you can look at his body of work and find a treasure trove of art that, even if you don't like it, can appreciate its craft. However, there's a certain something that comes as a downside of being a curious cinephile like myself: you learn too much. For whatever reason, I see Welles' career more as a tragedy than a triumph, and it at times depresses me to think of what he inevitably became. While I respect the man's work, including and up through his untimely death shortly after F for Fake, I also have trouble thinking of him too much for a lot of other reasons. He was an artist, but also sort of a jerk.

Best Song: "It Goes Like It Goes" (1979)

Scene from Norma Rae

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

8 Reasons That Madeline Kahn Was a Great Actress

Madeline Kahn in Paper Moon

There is one thing nowadays that I don't think is well known: Madeline Kahn was one of the best actresses of her time. No, seriously. While you are likely to remember Diane Keaton or Meryl Streep, there were few performers who were as charismatic, mixing drama with comedy, and song with dance. The two-time Oscar nominee had a fantastic career that was cut short at the age of 57 in 1999 from ovarian cancer. On the occasion of what would've been her 73rd birthday, I am here to remind everyone of her many achievements in entertainment and explain to you why she was one of the greats.

Theory Thursday: "Muppet Treasure Island" Was the Last Good Muppet Movie

Scene from Muppet Treasure Island

Welcome to a weekly column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way.