Australia
March 4, 2009
After his debut film Strictly Ballroom (1992), writer/director Baz Luhrmann never looked back, creating lavish, ultra-stylish musicals William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Moulin Rouge! (2001), and let’s not forget that $5 million Chanel...
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
February 27, 2009
Robert Weide is best known for his work on brilliant HBO sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm. How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008) is his feature film directorial debut where he tries to bring some of the misanthropic magic from that television show...
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
February 2, 2009
While many cite Clerks (1994) as the best thing Kevin Smith has ever done, for my money Chasing Amy (1997) will always be the highlight of his career. It is the one film where he achieved just the right mix of his trademark raunchy humour and heartfelt...
Magnificent Obsession: Criterion Collection
January 26, 2009
Technicolor melodramas don’t get much better than the ones Douglas Sirk made: All That Heaven Allows (1955), Written on the Wind (1956) and Imitation of Life (1959). It was Magnificent Obsession (1954), however, that paved the way for those later masterpieces....
Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Centennial Collection
January 9, 2009
Based on the novella by Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) is one of those classic, quintessential New York City films, like Sweet Smell of Success (1957), The World of Henry Orient (1964), and Manhattan (1979). These films are all snapshots...
Fanfan la Tulipe: Criterion Collection
December 5, 2008
Adapted from a beloved French story dating back to an 1819 song, Fanfan la Tulipe (1952) is a French swashbuckling bodice-ripper, an action-adventure film as if written by Oscar Wilde – in other words, all kinds of amusing double entrendes and bawdy...
Sabrina: The Centennial Collection
December 2, 2008
Based on Samuel Taylor’s play, Sabrina Fair, Sabrina (1954) was Audrey Hepburn’s follow-up to Roman Holiday (1953), her very successful Hollywood film debut. On this next one, she would be directed by Billy Wilder and starring alongside Humphrey Bogart...
Roman Holiday: The Centennial Collection
December 1, 2008
With only play to her credit, Audrey Hepburn was cast as the star of Roman Holiday (1953) after first choices Elizabeth Taylor and Jean Simmons were unavailable. Having never taken any acting classes or had any formal training, she went on to win the...
Chungking Express: Criterion Collection
November 24, 2008
Chungking Express (1994) is a film obsessed with time. Not only are its characters consciously aware of and thinking about time passing, but the film itself plays around with the slowing down and speeding up of time. The camera lingers on close-ups of...
La Ronde: Criterion Collection
October 15, 2008
Vienna, 1900 and the author of La Ronde (1950) appears on a stage with a fake backdrop of the city, addressing the audience. He walks past the set and begins to establish the story and the two main characters: Leocadie (Signoret), the prostitute, and...
