Kiss Me Deadly: Criterion Collection
June 22, 2011
After the classy film noirs of the 1940’s, Robert Aldrich’s adaptation of Mickey Spillane’s hardboiled crime novel Kiss Me Deadly (1955) was as tough and uncompromising as its protagonist Mike Hammer. The film reflects the Cold War paranoia that...
Burn, Witch, Burn!
June 17, 2011
Known originally as The Night of the Eagle in United Kingdom, Sidney Hayers’ film was retitled Burn, Witch, Burn! (1962) when it was released in the United States by American International Pictures (AIP). Based on Fritz Leiber’s 1943 novel Conjure...
Sweet Karma
June 16, 2011
Sweet Karma (2009) attempts to do what Eastern Promises (2007) did for the Russian mafia in England, only by setting it in Toronto, Canada, and with a smaller budget and minus the big name talent. So, instead of Naomi Watts, this film has Playboy Playmate...
Pale Flower: Criterion Collection
June 13, 2011
Masahiro Shinoda is considered to be one of the filmmakers that pioneered the Japanese New Wave of cinema and with Pale Flower (1964) he created a moody film noir, a story of a doomed love affair between two gambling junkies. Shonda got his start as an...
Defiance
June 6, 2011
Defiance (1980) is an early Jerry Bruckheimer production, back when he was interested in making gritty crime films like American Gigolo (1980) and Thief (1981). Unfortunately, Defiance was given a limited released where it promptly bombed at the box office...
Solaris: Criterion Collection
June 2, 2011
Along with Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972) is one of the best examples of the successful blending of hard science fiction with philosophical and spiritual musings. Both films are towering epics released...
THE TREE OF LIFE in Theaters Friday, May 27th!
May 31, 2011
—————————– Official site: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thetreeoflife/ —————————– Written by: Terrence Malick Produced by: Bill...
Drive Angry
May 31, 2011
Continuing his string of paycheck movies, Drive Angry (2011) is actually closer to the gonzo Nicolas Cage of old than the diluted actor we’ve come to expect in films like Next (2007) and Knowing (2009). With Drive Angry, he’s made a full-on, balls-out...
Patty Hearst
May 27, 2011
Coming off the commercial and critical failure that was Light of Day (1987), Paul Schrader went on to direct Patty Hearst (1988), a low budget docudrama about the kidnapping of Patricia Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) in 1974. Based on...
Diabolique: Criterion Collection
May 26, 2011
Diabolique (1955) was director Henri-Georges Clouzot’s seventh film and saw him at the apex of his critical and commercial success in France. It was the second part of a cinematic one-two punch that included The Wages of Fear (1953) and established...
