Welcome to the Rileys
January 31, 2011
You have to give Kristen Stewart credit. She’s managed to parlay the phenomenal success of the Twilight series and using her newfound box office clout to get several independent films, like Adventureland (2009), The Runaways (2010) and Welcome to the...
Broadcast News: Criterion Collection
January 21, 2011
After the success of the Academy Award-winning Terms of Endearment (1983), James L. Brooks spent a few years to research and write what could possibly be his most personal film to date: Broadcast News (1987). Drawing from his years in television, including...
Secretariat
January 18, 2011
After failing to win an Academy Award in 2002 for her brave performance in Unfaithful (losing out to Nicole Kidman in The Hours), cynical pundits surmised that Diane Lane took on the role of Penny Chenery, the owner of the legendary race horse Secretariat,...
The Naked Kiss: Criterion Collection
January 14, 2011
As Robert Polito wisely observes in the DVD liner notes for the Criterion Collection edition of The Naked Kiss (1964), Samuel Fuller’s film fuses the melodrama of Douglas Sirk with the pulpy prose of Russ Meyer. The result is what Polito calls a “noirish...
Shock Corridor: Criterion Collection
January 13, 2011
Samuel Fuller was one of the quintessential genre directors working in Hollywood during the 1950s as he brought his trademark two-fisted gusto to genres like the film noir (Pickup on South Street), the war film (The Steel Helmet), and the western (Forty...
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
December 22, 2010
It has been over 20 years since Wall Street (1987) was released in theaters and, at the time, it was blamed for cashing in on the stock market crash that wiped out more than a few people’s fortunes. The financial landscape has changed radically since...
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
December 20, 2010
To say Head (1968) is a cinematic oddity is an understatement. Intent at topping The Beatles at their own game, The Monkees appeared in a film that Bob Rafelson directed and co-wrote with none other than Jack Nicholson and that was even more experimental...
Cronos: Criterion Collection
December 6, 2010
Cronos (1993) marked the auspicious feature film debut of Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and introduced the world to his unique worldview that fused his love of dark fairy tales with the macabre. The film was the culmination of Del Toro cutting...
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
December 2, 2010
With The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010), producer Jerry Bruckheimer was associated with a rare box officer underperformer. While doing well overseas, the film failed to capture a large audience in North America. Even before its release, the film was plagued...
The Expendables
November 30, 2010
For fans of action films from the 1980s and early 1990s, it has always been a pipe dream to see their favourite action stars team up or, better yet, battle each other. Think of it as the cinematic equivalent of fantasy football. With The Matrix (1999),...
