Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, his first German-language film since his original Funny Games from 1997, is a searing, enigmatic allegory, a depiction of horror and cruelty overtaking a small German town on the eve of World War I. The film is powerful
The title characters of Eric Rohmer's 4 Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle can be seen as Rohmer's incarnation of his New Wave contemporary Rivette's Celine and Julie. Reinette (Joëlle Miguel) and Mirabelle (Jessica Forde) are, in fact, the Celine
Then please join me, Max Reddick, Rippa and Michele on Blog Talk Radio tonight, Sunday the 24th....we would love to hear your thoughts!Blog Talk Radio – FTSR 1/24/10 9:00pm est – 60 minute show this weekListener/Guest Dial In: 914/803-4881This week’s
[This review has been cross-posted at Decisions At Sundown, a blog started by Jon Lanthier and dedicated exclusively to the Western genre. I cross-post all of my Western reviews with this blog, where I am one of several contributors.]For a Few Dollars
Stanley Kubrick's The Shining undoubtedly deserves its reputation as one of the cinema's creepiest, and most artful, horror films. Adapted loosely from Stephen King's novel about a hotel caretaker who loses his mind over the course of a long and isolated
The Book of Eli opens this weekend...and Denzel Washington plays yet another rigid character who expresses his emotions through his hatwear, eyewear and stubble. That's been a recurring theme throughout the Oscar winner's career, as evidenced by this
The Lady and the Duke is one of Eric Rohmer's atypical ventures into historical drama. The interesting thing about Rohmer's period films — like the theatrical, literary Perceval le Gallois or The Marquise of O... — is that they are generally far more
Yes, I am a bad girl. I admit it. But really and truly, when I am away, I really miss you guys. I wish there was some kind of device that would write all of the Black Cinema thoughts in my head automatically....but alas, there isn't, so you are stuck
The Conformist is Bernardo Bertolucci's melancholy, lovingly crafted portrait of Italy's fascist era, and the pressures forcing individuals to accede to oppressive political regimes. Marcello (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is a weak man whose only desire is
It is with great sadness I report that the French New Wave auteur Eric Rohmer has died at the age of 89. One of the greatest careers in the cinema has come to an end after 25 theatrical features and numerous short films, documentaries and TV productions.
Crime Wave is a powerful, economical noir from director André de Toth, a taut film, the brilliance of which lies in its wealth of details, filling in the edges around this familiar tale. Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson) once made a mistake and did a five-year
The latest installment of the Conversations has now been posted at The House Next Door. In this piece, Jason Bellamy and I turn our attention to David Cronenberg's 1996 adaptation of J.G. Ballard's Crash. We talk about the film's relationship to the
[This review has been cross-posted at Decisions At Sundown, a blog started by Jon Lanthier and dedicated exclusively to the Western genre. I cross-post all of my Western reviews with this blog, where I am one of several contributors.]El Dorado is a sneaky
Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control is a confounding, enigmatic, puzzling film, a sustained series of non-sequiturs strung together. It's a film built around contemplation and repetition, around the slow, deliberate examination (and re-examination)
