Reds: 25th Anniversary Edition
October 23, 2006
The 1970s saw the rise in prominence of the director in Hollywood and this resulted in many movies being pushed through the system that wouldn’t normally have been made. However, by the time of the Heaven’s Gate (1980) debacle, the rule of the director...
Baby Boom / Mr. Mom (Double Feature)
May 4, 2006
Just in time for Mother’s Day comes a repackaged double feature about the “joys” of motherhood, specifically the highs and lows of child-rearing from the female and male perspectives. Both of these films, made during the 1980s, are also fascinating...
Manhattan
February 20, 2006
After the phenomenal success of Annie Hall (1977), Woody Allen confounded the expectations of his critics and fans with Interiors (1978), which saw him doing his best Ingmar Bergman impression. It was his first dramatic film and while critical reaction...
Annie Hall
January 31, 2006
Prior to Annie Hall (1977), Woody Allen was known as a comic, cutting his teeth in stand-up comedy and paying his dues as a comedy writer. When he started making films, his early efforts were flat-out comedies and farces like Bananas (1971). It wasn’t...
The Family Stone
December 7, 2005
The Family Stone (2005) belongs to the eccentric family comedy sub-genre where a straight-laced protagonist that the audience can identify with meets a clan of lovable oddballs usually in the context of a holiday setting (see Home for the Holidays, Pieces...
The Godfather Part II
November 18, 2005
Fresh from the phenomenal success of the first Godfather film (1972), Francis Ford Coppola quickly followed it with Part II (1974), a sequel that many consider superior to its predecessor. However, over the years the two parts meld together so seamlessly...
The Godfather Part III
November 9, 2005
Why? This is the question that many people asked themselves before and after seeing Francis Ford Coppola’s third (and hopefully last) installment of The Godfather saga. The first two parts were such perfect meditations on violence and the absolute corrupting...
The Godfather Trilogy
May 12, 2003
There are times I feel that I’ve just simply seen too many films. Particularly bad films, the kind of film that just saps your enthusiasm for it all. I’d convinced myself that I liked bad movies, that I actually derived enjoyment from watching...
Something’s Gotta Give
April 12, 2002
Something’s Gotta Give is what I call a proper romantic comedy. It’s unabashedly romantic without feeling the urge to descend into mawkish sentimentality. It’s also very funny but cleverly written so not just reliant on comic set pieces....