Kingdom of Heaven
January 13, 2006
There’s a moment in Kingdom of Heaven where our hero Balian asks his enemy Saladin what the city of Jerusalem is worth to him. “Nothing,” he replies. “Everything.” This paradox is the prevailing problem with the film itself;...
Steve McQueen Collection
November 11, 2005
The one word that is always used to describe actor Steve McQueen is cool. He was the essence of cool. The movies he made were always considered the epitome of cool. He was a hard working, hard playing rebel who had the kind of dangerous charisma that...
Troy
July 19, 2005
Since the surprise success of Gladiator (2000) there have been several sword and sandal epics that have tried to replicate its glory. None have come close. One of Hollywood’s most recent attempts has been Troy (2004), a fast and loose adaptation of...
Dr. Strangelove: 40th Anniversary Special Edition
June 22, 2005
With the recent events in Iraq and the current state of leadership in the White House, Stanley Kubrick’s savage black comedy about nuclear war, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb (1964), is more relevant than ever....
The Battle of Algiers
June 9, 2005
Shot with unflinching detail and in a realistic, documentary style, The Battle of Algiers (1966) documents the Algerian struggle for independence from the occupying French from the years 1954-1957. The Criterion Collection has assembled an impressive...
The Wild Geese
April 21, 2003
The unmistakable voice of Joan Armatrading is heard over Maurice Binder’s opening credits as classic British movie The Wild Geese begins. Based on the book by Daniel Carney it concerns a bunch of middle-aged mercenaries hired by a suspicious businessman...
