Directed by Andy Muschietti It is one of the best Stephen King adaptations I have ever seen. That might be hyperbole, and it's certainly subjective, but this film captured the same feeling I get from a Stephen King novel. The Shining might be a better movie, but it's a different story, while tv remakes like those … Continue reading It (2017)
Month: June 2018
F for Fake (1973)
Directed by Orson Welles "Art is a lie." That's a line delivered by Orson Welles near the end of the film and the biggest takeaway I found from F for Fake, a documentary that strings together multiple stories of forgery. Orson Welles is front and center in the story. He introduces us to the characters, mingles … Continue reading F for Fake (1973)
Overlord (1975)
Directed by Stuart Cooper Overlord makes poetry out of existing war footage. Around half of the 83 minute film pulls from sometimes grim but certainly striking footage of bombs, bodies and gunfire. The other half patches together a brief narrative about a doomed young soldier named Tom. These two halves are woven together in a … Continue reading Overlord (1975)
Tully (2018)
Directed by Jason Reitman Tully, the third collaboration between writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman, is a story about motherhood. Like Juno and Young Adult, this is a human comedy, sensitive to its characters and what plagues them. The humor in these movies feels real, sometimes painfully so. The Charlize Theron character in Young Adult might feel … Continue reading Tully (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Directed by the Russo Brothers It didn't hit me until the end of this movie that The Avengers really is the new Star Wars. Now, this may seem either obvious, given the scope and fan loyalty of the franchise, or ridiculous considering there are still new Star Wars movies released every year. Still, it seems clear that this … Continue reading Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Spellbound (1945)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock Spellbound is a Hitchcock thriller about psychoanalysis, the first mainstream Hollywood movie to tackle such a topic. That being said the psychoanalysis angle is just the way into this thriller. As Hitchcock himself said the film was "just another manhunt wrapped up in pseudo-psychoanalysis." It's a love story between Dr. Constance Petersen … Continue reading Spellbound (1945)
The Spiral Staircase (1946)
Directed by Robert Siodmak The Spiral Staircase takes place almost entirely within a large manor on a stormy night. Helen takes care of the bedridden Mrs. Warren within the estate. She wanders among the help and the other Warrens, all upper class elites. Helen is also mute, and so she silently observes the ways all … Continue reading The Spiral Staircase (1946)
On Dangerous Ground (1951)
Directed by Nicholas Ray The first third of On Dangerous Ground is a film noir. Filmed almost exclusively at night on the slick, sparsely-populated streets of New York, the story follows three detectives led by our unsympathetic antihero Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan). The black and white film is harsh all over. Jim acts more like a … Continue reading On Dangerous Ground (1951)
Scandal (1950)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa Have you seen Glengarry Glen Ross? It's that sales movie where Alec Baldwin delivers that "always be closing" speech about hitting your numbers. From my experience the quote is often taken out of context. This is one hell of a motivated guy, but the people whom he's speaking to, the main … Continue reading Scandal (1950)
Rashomon (1950)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa So Rashoman is one of Akira Kurosawa's most famous films, maybe his second after Seven Samurai. Screened at the Venice Film Festival, it was the first of Kurosawa's to be seen widely by western audiences. It won best foreign film at the 1951 Academy Awards and like later Kurosawa films (Yojimbo and Seven Samurai) … Continue reading Rashomon (1950)
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