Reviews of films and television formats. Short or long.
INTRODUCTION Sergio Leone. Whenever I hear that name I think of cinema at its most exhillerating and wildly creative. His take on Westerns single handedly revitalized the genre in the 1960s. His unique Mediterranean – bred post modern, operatic eye for storytelling was something cinema needed very much at the […]
“You ain’t stopping at this hotel, kid. My hotel! The stars at night, I put ’em there. And I know the presidents, all of them. And I go where I damn well please. Even the chairman of the New York Central can’t do it better. My road, kid, and I […]
I was recently told that when telling others about how many films you have seen at a film festival, you are not supposed to count movies you saw in the market (i.e. the films shown to potential distributors) or retrospectives, but only films in competition. Since the three films I […]
The story goes that after seeing the Western High Noon (1952) together one day at the movies and disliking it, Director Howard Hawks and his friend John Wayne decided to make a better film that showed the camaraderie between a group of men faced with imposing danger. What Hawks created […]
In 2008 at the Berlin International Film Festival (aka the Berlinale; /ber-lee-nah-lae/) a Brazilian movie that depicted the work of Rio de Janeiro’s special police force BOPE won the prestigious golden bear award for best film. The police unit, which often shows up in Human Rights Watch reports and is […]
A few years back I watched Baaaadaaass! the semi-documentary about Melvin van Peebles‘ (GCDB) seminal blaxploitation film Sweet Sweetback’s Badass song. While it was certainly not my first blaxploitation film experience, it was a nice demonstration about how much of an impact that genre had and how relevant it still […]
Demi Moore is one furious female in G.I. Jane! After making his ‘women fighting back’ film Thelma and Louise, Ridley Scott decided to tell the story of another rebellious gal and it ended up being one of my personal favorite films from his entire filmography. Lt. Jordan O’ Neill (Demi […]
One of the most aesthetically captivating films to be released in the last few years is Gaspar Noe’s 2009 psychedelic melodrama, Enter The Void. From the start of the film which bombards you with a highly intense opening credits sequence you are plunged into an existential adventure the likes of […]
In tribute to the annual Sundance Film Festival here’s a review one of our favorite films starring Robert Redford. This film was shot in and around Sundance, Utah… “His name was Jeremiah Johnson, and they say he wanted to be a mountain man. The story goes that he was a […]
One of the most highly rewatchable films from the late 1980s is Rowdy Herrington’s Good Ol’ Boy action film ROAD HOUSE (1989). I remember seeing the preview for this film back at my first theatrical viewing of Tim Burton’s BATMAN. I wasn’t too impressed by Road House’s trailer at the […]