Welcome to Marquee Reviews!
Marquee Reviews offers film, theater, and other performing arts reviews by two noted St. Louis-based critics. Both Cate Marquis and Mark Glass are founding members of the St. Louis Film Critics Association.
ABOUT THE SITE
Movie Marquee
Featuring films reviews by Cate Marquis and Mark Glass. This section includes Marquee By Marquis Reviews by Cate Marquis.
Theater Marquee
Thins section features reviews of theatrical and performing arts in St. Louis, including plays, dance and circus arts, reviewed by Cate Marquis.
ABOUT OUR REVIEWERS
Mark Glass
Mark tells his own story:
Mark Glass was born in Kenya to Hawaiian parents who’d emigrated there to establish a conservatory for ukulele players. When the country’s monumental indifference kept the family from making ends meet, they relocated to Collinsville, Illinois, where Mark spent his formative years. An appalling lack of athletic ability steered him to sedentary pursuits – principally watching inordinate, if not unhealthy, amounts of television and movies, whenever he wasn’t kept late at school for detention. This regimen advanced his verbal skills almost as much as it ruined his eyesight. With no talent for acting, creative writing, or any vocation dependent on manual dexterity, he became an attorney, practicing for over 40 years in Beautiful Downtown East St. Louis, primarily representing injured workers against the Evil Empire of Big Business and Even Bigger Insurance. Since the late 1980s, he’s also reviewed films, among other journalistic pursuits, for many newspapers, magazines, radio stations and websites. He was a founding member and officer of the St. Louis Film Critics Association, serving as a judge for numerous local film festivals. And a lousy dancer.
Cate Marquis
Cate Marquis is a St. Louis-based film, theater and visual arts critic. She is co-founder and past director of the St. Louis Film Critics Association professional film critics organization, and a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, a national organization. Cate reviews films and theatrical productions for various St. Louis publications, including the St. Louis Jewish Light weekly newspaper (in print and at www.stljewishlight.com), the We Are Movie Geeks website (www.wearemoviegeeks.com), and is the editor of the St. Louis Marquee website (www.stlmarquee.com). She has served on numerous film juries, including at the annual St. Louis International Film Festival, and has been the guest speaker introducing films at the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival and the St. Louis French Film Festival.
Cate Marquis is also a film historian whose special focus is silent comedies. She has given presentations on early film history to a variety of groups, including Elder Hostel, American Association of University Women, and the St. Louis Wednesday Club. She has made her own short films, worked on a number of film productions, belongs to a number of film history societies, and has written articles on film history.
As the daughter of noted St. Louis artist Paul Marquis, who was twice president of the prestigious St. Louis Artists Guild, Cate Marquis grew up in art galleries, theaters and movie houses. She gained her love of films when her father introduced her early to film classics, including silents. She appreciates a broad range of films and genres but especially enjoys international films, classic and silent films. She believes strongly in promoting appreciation of outstanding cinema.
Marquis believes that film reviews should help the film fan decide if a film is worth their time and money. She believes in evaluating a film based on the audience it is aimed at and its own goals but is feels that an entertainment-only film had darn well better be entertaining. Her own tastes in films run the gamut from popular entertainment to art house but lean towards international and art house since she has a taste for good, original films, does not mind challenging material and is not afraid of subtitles. She values outstanding cinematography and innovative, effective, stylish films are among her favorites. Among her favorite directors are Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, the Coen brothers, Stanley Kubrick, and Akira Kurosawa.
She also has a weakness for puns, like in the name of this website – marquee, Marquis, pronouced the same – thanks to dad Paul Marquis.