Crime · Music & Musicals · Reviews
Early Jeanne, Early Louis, Early Miles: Louis Malle’s Elevator to the Gallows
“Paris at night in black-and-white with Miles on the soundtrack? It’s a perfect fit.”
Actors & Personalities · Documentaries · Music & Musicals
It Ain’t Me Babe: On Dylan and Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There
I’m not the one you want babe / I’ll only let you down.”
The Volleyball in the Void: Tom Hanks Is Cast Away
Pascal . . . Kierkegaard . . . Nietzsche . . . Zemeckis?
Bright Sights: Recent DVDs: The Italian, Traffic in Souls, Privilege, Wings, The Ascent, Tropical Malady, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, J’Accuse
The Italian (Reginald Barker, 1915) and Traffic in Souls (George Loane Tucker, 1913) The Italian of producer Thomas Ince’s 1915 film is Beppo Donnetti, played by George Beban in a performance[…]
The Last Mistress: An Interview with Catherine Breillat
“When I make movies, nothing is limited.”
Books · Experimental & Underground
Books: Art in Cinema: Documents Toward a History of the Film Society
Art in Cinema: Documents Toward a History of the Film Society, Scott MacDonald. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2006. Hardcover, $63.50, 465pp. ISBN: 1-592-134254 Reading the more or less official correspondence of a film[…]
The First-Class Jewels: An American in Paris and Gigi
Two golden-age musicals get the deluxe treatment
Synecdoche, Mon Amour
How to describe the films of Charlie Kaufman . . . Ingmar Bergman with laughs? Close, but that makes Kaufman sound too much like Woody Allen, a useful comparison maybe,[…]
Til The End of Time (1946)
Before standardizing the topography of noir with Murder My Sweet, Edward Dmytryk made the nervy little “coming home from the war” film Til the End of Time. A lower budgeted[…]
Two Films About the Middle East – Body of Lies/Persepolis
There are three basic types of spy stories: 1) the one about the ultra-skilled professional spy who is almost always successful, e.g., James Bond; 2) the one about the civilian[…]
Ebert Hit Eject
Unless you’ve been living in a film industry bubble the last few days, you’re probably aware of Roger Ebert’s now (in)famous review of Tru Loved, which he wrote based upon[…]
Service Equals Citizenship!
Why should you sign up immediately with the National Guard (besides so you can sneak around the back door of the recruitment office and into Iraq?), cause you can[…]
Harry’s Wager
The final presidential debate was about domestic policy, as it should be — we’re in a financial crisis. But, I’ve been thinking more about foreign policy lately. There are huge[…]
The Frauds and the Fabulous
This month sees the DVD release of old Night Flight favorite, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FABULOUS STAINS (1981). A young Diane Lane leads the fledgling and titular punk band, which[…]
Robin Wood Retires
Everyone who writes about film can name other writers about film who have influenced them. For me, the big three are Andrew Sarris, Raymond Durgnat, and Robin Wood. Wood, author[…]
Classic Film Smackdown!: MCGINTY vs GODFREY
The Great McGinty, Preston Sturges’ directorial debut and one of my personal favorites from his all-too-brief filmography, was on TCM the other night and I caught it from about the[…]
MOONTIDE, Morgan & Remorae
It’s been lowtide for good classic DVD releases since… since last freakin’ spring! Warner Brothers is dumping the dregs out like a fish peddler on a rainy Sunday night –[…]
The Commodification of Anna Faris
I first noticed Anna Faris in the Scary Movie franchise in which she parodieamong other things, Neve Campbell’s role in Scream. Following that, Faris provided expert comic relief playing supporting[…]
Ten Cents a Dance!
TCM had another one of their Stanywck days today, and tivo nabbed me TEN CENTS A DANCE (1931). Stanwyck is on a great slow burn here, starting out as a[…]
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