“The cinema is an invention without any future.” ― Louis Lumière
It’s rare that screenwriters become known as well as a director, but over twenty years ago Charlie Kaufman began a three-film run that made him an adjective (although “Kaufman-esque” also pertains to playwright George S. Kaufman, so they’ll have to share). His debut screenplay, released as a film in 1999, was Being John Malkovich, directed […]
Read More Review: Being John Malkovich (1999)This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Toshiro Mifune, one of Japan’s greatest actors, known most especially for his sixteen films made for Akira Kurosawa. The Criterion Channel is running a retrospective, and I’m discussing the five best known. I’ll start with the most recent, Yojimbo. Yojimbo was released in 1961, and many […]
Read More Five Films By Akira Kurosawa Starring Toshiro MifuneIt’s interesting to note that The Grifters, released in 1990, was the first film for Stephen Frears following Dangerous Liaisons. The settings couldn’t be more different–eighteenth century France or modern day Los Angeles, but both had an underlying sense of betrayal and cruelty. A twisted love triangle, The Grifters centers around three characters: Roy (John Cusack) a small-time […]
Read More Review: The Grifters (1990)I mentioned in my review of The Lady From Shanghai that the climactic scene, a shootout in a hall of mirrors, has often been copied or parodied, no more so than Woody Allen’s 1993 film, Manhattan Murder Mystery. That got me to dig it out of my collection and give it another look. It is certainly not on […]
Read More Review: Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)M was Fritz Lang’s first sound movie, and it is extremely talky for a film from 1931. But even though it could have stood a lot of trimming, it still has some powerful scenes that have made it a classic through the years. Lang was a key part of German Expressionism, as he had previously […]
Read More Review: M (1931)Back to Peter Bogdanovich, who followed up his Oscar-winning film The Last Picture Show with something almost completely opposite, 1972’s What’s Up, Doc? It was an homage to screwball comedies of the 1930s, particularly Bringing Up Baby. That earlier film featured Cary Grant as a buttoned-up academic whose life is turned upside down by a daffy dame, Katharine Hepburn. In What’s […]
Read More Review: What’s Up, Doc? (1972)Orson Welles was always bedeviled by studios who messed with his vision. That could be the case with 1947’s The Lady From Shanghai, which is a very uneven film, but contains moments of greatness. The story goes that Welles needed money for a stage version of Around The World In 80 Days and promised Columbia pictures president Harry […]
Read More Review: The Lady From Shanghai (1947)We’ve reached the point where major films are having their 100th anniversary. One of those is The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari, which is one of the most influential films of all time–it is basically the beginning of German Expressionism. Directed by Robert Wiene, The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari is one of the first horror films, but more […]
Read More Review: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)In the first scene of The Day Of The Locust Tod Hackett takes a look at his new courtyard apartment in Hollywood. There is a crack running in one wall from an earthquake. The previous tenant covered it with a sampler, but he exposes it, and instead inserts a rose into it. This is the metaphor for […]
Read More Review: The Day Of The Locust (1975)It was a momentous year. The moon landing, Woodstock, Chappaquiddick, and the Manson family murders all happened in just one summer. Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Lopez were born; Judy Garland died. And at the Academy Awards it was another year that saw a sharp dichotomy, as films that were cutting edge were nominated alongside pictures […]
Read More 1969: I’m Walkin’ Here!1968 was a tumultuous year all around the world. It was the year of the Tet Offensive, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the My Lai Massacre, and the riots in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention. Yet the Oscars did not reflect this turmoil. Of the five films nominated for Best […]
Read More 1968: Please Sir, I Want Some MoreYesterday was the fortieth anniversary of the release of National Lampoon’s Animal House, so I popped my DVD into the machine and watched it for the umpteenth time. It is one of my favorite comedies of all time, and is one of the biggest earning films, based on ratio of cost to box office, in […]
Read More Review: National Lampoon’s Animal HouseFifty years ago this month one of the most written about films ever made was released. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, was a film unlike any other, and I don’t think there’s been one like it since then. I’ve seen it at least three times, but I still don’t understand all of it, and […]
Read More Retro Review: 2001: A Space OdysseyAfter the success of Rebecca, Alfred Hitchcock and Joan Fontaine reteamed in 1941 for Suspicion. It was also the first of four films he made with Cary Grant, and was the highest grossing picture of that year. Fontaine won an Oscar, but just watching it again last night I marveled at the talent of Grant. […]
Read More Hitchcock: SuspicionScared away by the horrid reviews, I passed on seeing the newest version of The Mummy. But I did not despair, for in my DVD collection is the original film, released in 1932, and directed by Karl Freund. It certainly does not have the action of the new film, it hardly has any action at […]
Read More Review: The Mummy (1932)
Gone Elsewhere 