A Man Escaped: Criterion Collection
April 4, 2013
Inspired by the experiences of Andre Devigny, a French lieutenant in World War II who managed to escape from Fort Montluc prison in German-occupied Lyon in 1943, Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped (1956) is regarded as one of the best prison-break films...
Ministry of Fear: Criterion Collection
March 19, 2013
Fritz Lang was a German filmmaker in exile thanks to World War II. He saw making an adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel The Ministry of Fear as a way to contribute to the war effort and demonstrate his democratic credentials. However, the studio made...
The Fall of the Essex Boys
February 8, 2013
The Fall of the Essex Boys is the latest collaboration between producers Jonathan Sothcott and Simon Phillips, and easily represents their best work so far. Hot on the heels of The Rise & Fall of a White Collar Hooligan (2012) Essex Boys is headed...
The Man Who Knew Too Much: Criterion Collection
January 17, 2013
When Alfred Hitchcock made The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), he had come off of two consecutive failures, Rich and Strange (1931) and Waltzes from Vienna (1934), and was eager to return to the thriller genre. With screenwriters Charles Bennett and D.B....
Following: Criterion Collection
January 2, 2013
Shot on a bare-bones budget of approximately $5,000, Following (1999) is the auspicious feature film debut of writer/director Christopher Nolan. Shot sporadically over a year on black and white 16 mm film stock, it would introduce many of the themes that...
Purple Noon: Criterion Collection
December 20, 2012
It has been more than 50 years since Rene Clement’s adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith thriller, The Talented Mr. Ripley, was released in theaters. Entitled Purple Noon (1960), it has been eclipsed in the popular imagination by Anthony Minghella’s...
Rashomon: Criterion Collection
December 18, 2012
When Akira Kurosawa made Rashomon (1950), he had left Toho Studios and made movies for three other companies before returning. It was with one of these other studios that the director made this film, but it wasn’t easy. He had a hell of a time getting...
2 Movie Double Feature
December 6, 2012
Before he hit the big time with The Mummy (1999) reboot, director Stephen Sommers cranked out a nifty little B-monster movie called Deep Rising (1998). It had nothing more on its mind than to deliver an entertaining thrill ride and for the most part achieves...
4 Movie Collection: Action
November 27, 2012
The paper-thin plot of The Replacement Killers (1998) concerns a deadly assassin by the name of John Lee (Yun-Fat) who is hired to kill a cop’s son. But John suddenly develops a conscience and decides to spare the boy’s life. This doesn’t sit too...
The Game: Criterion Collection
October 1, 2012
After the success of Seven (1995) expectations were high for David Fincher’s next film. He had risen from the ashes of the Alien 3 (1993) debacle and produced a critical and commercial hit when everyone least expected it. What would he do next? Never...
