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...
The 39 Steps: Criterion Collection
July 16, 2012
Alfred Hitchcock had been a fan of John Buchan’s 1915 novel The Thirty-Nine Steps and had wanted to adapt it into a film for some time. The book was an engaging espionage thriller. However, when it came to film his own version, which was released in...
Shallow Grave: Criterion Collection
June 25, 2012
Shallow Grave (1994) announced the arrival of a formidable trio of Scottish filmmakers: screenwriter John Hodge, producer Andrew Macdonald and director Danny Boyle. Their calling card was a nasty little thriller starring then relatively unknown actors...
Deadly Intent
December 12, 2011
Deadly Intent (1989) is one of those forgettable thrillers you happen to catch on television late one night, enticed by the cast of interesting character actors, and then promptly fall asleep partway through because it is so predictable. It was directed...
Love, Cheat & Steal
November 18, 2011
During the 1990’s, neo-noirs were all the rage with some good (The Hot Spot), some not so good (Malice) and some great (L.A. Confidential). Lie, Cheat & Steal (1993) falls somewhere in the middle with its cast of B-movie stars and paint-by-numbers...
Carlos: Criterion Collection
October 3, 2011
Notorious international terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez a.k.a. Carlos the Jackal came to prominence in the 1970’s and 1980’s with several politically-motivated bombings, kidnappings and hijackings in Europe and the Middle East. He eventually became...
