I’ve recently had evidence that computers do indeed make people more stupid. I’ve been out to the movies twice in the past two weeks, both times to my most accessible theatre, Silver City Polo Park. The first time was for Pompeii (in 3D). I thoroughly enjoyed it, but then I’ve liked quite a lot of […]
The work of the great English cinematographer Oswald Morris, in both colour and black-and-white, added enormously to the films he worked on. He had a long and fruitful association with John Huston (his work on Moulin Rouge in 1952 pushed the boundaries of what Technicolor was supposed to be able to do), and also shot […]
Wanting to make a comedy to end all comedy, in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, serious-minded Stanley Kramer produced a bloated compendium of comedy styles which stubbornly refused to be funny.
Criterion follows up last year’s Safety Last! with a richly produced edition of Harold Lloyd’s biggest hit, The Freshman.
In what Miyazaki has announced is his last feature, the great animator tells the story Jiro Horikoshi, who designed Japan’s devastating WW2 fighter, the Zero. Visually stunning, the film seems to avoid moral questions implicit in its subject.
Reading great critics of the past – Agee, Farber, Kauffmann – sheds interesting light on the ways our perception of film history has been formed.
Three recent disks showcase performances by interesting actors in less-than-reputable movies: Klaus Kinski in Crawlspace, Udo Kier in The House on Straw Hill, and Peter Cushing in Corruption.
The great French filmmaker Alain Resnais died March 1st at the age of 91, leaving behind a remarkable body of emotionally and intellectually resonant work.
Harold Ramis, who died on February 24, seemed like a modest guy with a quietly effective comic talent as a performer and a pleasantly old-fashioned style as a director.
Criterion’s excellent edition of King of the Hill (1993) and The Underneath (1995) throws some interesting light of the development of Steven Soderbergh as a filmmaker.