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When birthday time rolls around for the good ol’ U. S. of A, tradition dictates we set something alight and watch it go boom. Useful tip: just make sure the thing that explodes has left your hand in time; don’t dampen the festivities by losing a digit (or two). And if you really want to play it safe, eschew launching those rockets yourself, and get your fireworks on film instead.

From the socially unacceptable, to the downright deviant, taboo topics make for dramatic movies. What we can’t, and wouldn’t, do in life, film plays out for us, revealing not only the forbidden acts, but also the hidden motivations behind them.

Ralph Fiennes, while recently chatting about his part in “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” let it slip that’s he’s set to play M, replacing Dame Judi Dench as the head of British Secret Service, in the upcoming Daniel Craig Bond film. Shooting is set to begin in October, in time for the 2015 release of “Bond 24” (a working title, we hope).   Why should this announcement from Ralph get us all worked up? Well, in addition to the fact that he seems an excellent choice to succeed Dame J., confirmation of a new Bond movie means... new Bond Girls!   Whether these ladies start out on Bond’s side or against him, they all succumb to his charms eventually (except the really bad ones who just use him for rough sex and then still try to kill him – you just can’t trust some women.)

With the gradual passing of opening movie credits, we also lost a vital element that distinguishes many so-called “classic” movies: the original music score, including a heroic, memorable opening theme. What’s the last film you remember that had a score you could hum while walking home from the theater — a piece of music you knew you'd always remember and associate with the film?

With Halloween approaching, we’re saluting one of the great horror movie icons, Boris Karloff, originator of the Frankenstein monster. Reminding us again of how far removed the illusion of movies can be from reality, Karloff the man was the total opposite of the characters he immortalized on screen.

With the 91st Academy Awards upon us, the time feels right to recognize the crucial role that movies have played in our lives, particularly in troubled times.

Movies with similar titles often show up next to each other on the shelf, or line up in a search, but are usually very different animals—animals you don’t want to get mixed up.