26/02/2024

Umirayushchiy Lebed - The Dying Swan (1917)

 Andrey Gromov plays the artist Valeriy Glinskiy













A grief-stricken ballerina becomes the obsession of an increasingly unhinged artist.

30/01/2024

Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)

James Remar plays artist James Preston

We observe Preston's studio from the perspective of a gargoyle on the opposite building.
Preston works on a sculpture in his studio.

When a part of the sculpture accidentally breaks, he destroys the whole thing.

We see Preston weeping at his workbench in a wide shot of his studio.

Preston finds out he has been dumped by his artist's agent and goes to his local bar to drown his sorrows. 

He leaves the bar along with the bartender at the end of the night. The bartender is attacked and killed by a horrifying gargoyle in an alleyway behind the bar. The gargoyle tells Preston it will spare his life if he never tells anyone what it looks like.

After this happens Preston obsessively draws images of the gargoyle.








Preston's girlfriend's connections secure him a solo show in a prestigious gallery. Here, a visitor admires his artwork.

Preston talks with his beautiful new girlfriend at his exhibition. She tells him her friend who runs the gallery has sold a piece of his work for $23000





Tales from the Darkside is a comedy horror anthology film, the section titled 'Lover's Vow' stars James Remar as Preston the artist

Lover's Vow
Preston is a struggling artist. He lives in a studio with a skylight, through which a large stone gargoyle on the neighboring building, peers down. Preston's agent calls, asking to meet with him at a bar a few blocks away. The agent tells Preston that his artwork is unpopular and not selling. Dejected, Preston drinks heavily and at the end of the night, the bar owner who is a friend of his, offers to walk him home.

Along the way, Preston stops to relieve himself in a back alley, when his friend sees and shoots at a gargoyle monster. The creature attacks, severing his hand and then decapitating him. Terrified, Preston tries to run away, but the creature corners him and speaks, agreeing to spare his life if he swears never to reveal what he has seen. The monster scratches Preston's chest, saying "Cross your heart?", then vanishes.

Preston runs into another alley where he bumps into a lone woman named Carola. She claims to have become lost while going to meet friends and was searching for a taxi. Preston convinces her to call a taxi from his apartment, where Carola cleans the gargoyle-inflicted wound on his chest, and they have sex with each other.

Preston's life soon improves, and his struggling art career becomes wildly successful, mostly thanks to Carola's connections. They eventually marry and have two children. Preston is still tormented by memories of the gargoyle though, and his vow of silence weighs heavily on him. On the tenth anniversary of him first meeting Carola, Preston breaks down and tells her about the monster. Carola appears uncomfortable by his revelation and then emits a heartbroken wail, "You promised you'd never tell!", revealing herself as the creature that killed his friend.

With Preston's vow broken, Carola can no longer remain human and begins transforming back into a gargoyle. Their children are screaming in the bedroom as they also transform into gargoyles. Carola, now fully transformed, wraps her wings around Preston and the couple proclaim their love for each other, but with the vow broken, Carola is still reluctantly forced to kill him by biting his neck, before flying away with her gargoyle children. The final scene shows the three gargoyles now turned to stone and sitting upon the building ledge, staring down at the city with sorrowful expressions.

29/01/2024

The Oblong Box (1969)

Rupert Davies plays the artist Joshua Kemp

Sir Julian admires a portrait by Joshua Kemp while commissioning the artist to paint his wife.



During his visit to Joshua Kemp's studio, Sir Julian notices a portrait sketch hanging on the wall. Upon inquiry, Joshua reveals that it is a sketch of an unidentified man his dog found dead in the nearby river. Sir Julian expresses his interest in purchasing the piece, but Joshua insists on giving it to him as a gift.



The setting of the movie is England in 1865. Sir Edward Markham (played by Alister Williamson) has undergone a grotesque disfigurement during an African voodoo ceremony as a punishment for his wrongdoings against the local people. His brother Julian (played by Vincent Price), who is plagued with guilt, keeps him confined to his room.

Vincent Price as Sir Julian Markham comes to commission the artist Joshua Kemp to make a portrait of his wife

29/12/2023

Jerome (1998)

Drew Pillsbury plays artist Wade Hampton




Wade picks up an old broken umbrella from the road presumably to use in his scrap metal sculptures.




Wade's friend Lonnie shows the piece titled 'Calamity Jane' that Wade sent him from prison. 


Wade Hampton, an aspiring sculptor (played by Drew Pillsbury), had been stuck in a factory job for 15 years. He decides to pursue his artistic dreams in Jerome, Arizona, where a community of artists awaits him, leaving his California life behind. Wade’s road trip takes a dark turn when he offers a ride to a hitchhiker named Jane (played by Wendie Malick) in the middle of the desert. Wade becomes entangled in a murder that could have serious consequences for his life.

In the movie, we only get to see one of Wade’s sculptures titled “Calamity Jane,” which he created while in prison.

30/11/2023

Disconnect (2012)

Paula Patton plays artist Cindy Hull


Cindy Hull is a grieving mother who has an online business as an artist selling her papercuts





Disconnect on IMDB

A drama centered on a group of people searching for human connections in today's wired world.
Cindy Hull is a grieving mother who has an online business as an artist selling her papercuts