At last, I can reveal my new book: “Hollywood Victory,” the story of the American film industry during World War II, is out from Hachette’s @Running_Press and @TCM on November 2. You can pre-order it here: runningpress.com/titles/christi… “Hollywood Victory” is a narrative of the stars, directors, and moguls who aided the war effort through war bonds drives, morale-boosting shows, and, in the case of Clark Gable, Henry Fonda, and Jimmy Stewart, among many others, even enlisting for active duty themselves.

Before I shut down for the holidays, a few thoughts on #StarWars #TheLastJedi.. Where to begin? Well, to start, it’s the first blockbuster I can remember that demands you scan all edges of the frame. A wide screen has rarely been used this dynamically. Not to get all David Bordwell on you guys but most blockbusters still do center their action in the middle of the frame regardless of the widescreen format, so what Rian Johnson does is incredible - worthy of Kurosawa, Tati, Preminger, film's masters of widescreen aesthetics.