Clik here to view.
The Way of All Flesh
Every once in a while a low-budget independent film with a no-name cast will come along and captivate critics and audiences alike with its audaciousness, honesty and ability to transcend easy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Beware of Japanese Cats
The avenging cat witch ghost is the star of Nobuo Nakagawa’s Black Cat Mansion aka Borei Kaibyo Yashiki (1958). Every national cinema has their own homegrown subgenres and mythology when it comes to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clothes Make the Man
How much of your identity is reflected in the clothes you wear? For some, fashion is the truest form of self-expression. It is who you are…or who you want to be. Some of the greatest fashion designers...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Revolution WILL Be Televised
What would drive a peaceful, non-violent student protester to become a bomb maker in a subversive political organization? What ideology would cause an Ivy League college graduate to sever all contact...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Othello, King of Bebop
Attempts to bring Shakespeare to the masses can be ill-advised and most film adaptations of the Bard’s work are either faithful copies of the stage plays such as Laurence Olivier’s Henry V (1944) and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Ginger Met Ronald
Chemistry between actors is a curious thing. It can result in some kind of indecipherable but wondrous alchemy that crackles and pops or a concoction that simply refuses to strike fire like soggy...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Donald Shebib’s Feature Film Debut
The Canadian film industry has never experienced a time in their history where their regional cinema ignited an influential movement like the Nouvelle Vague films of France in the late 50s or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Lovely Bones
Often relegated to the ranks of sexploitation filmmakers, French director Jean Rollin has enjoyed a critical reassessment in recent years that he never experienced during his prolific filmmaking years...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Justice is Served
Now this is the sort of film title I’d like to see in an era where the rich are getting richer, the middle class is eroding and the poor are becoming a majority. But Millionaires in Prison (1940) is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lisbon: City of Dreams, City of Despair
The Covid-19 crisis has taken its toll on film distribution and exhibition as we know it and there is no guaranteed that attending films in the near future will resemble anything like movie-going prior...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The First Anti-American Spy Film?
That was how director Ken Russell described his production of Billion Dollar Brain (1967). Whether that claim is true or not, Russell maintained it was the main reason the third entry in the Harry...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Omar Sharif: The Youssef Chahine Years, 1954-1956
Omar Sharif stars in Dark Waters (1956) as a sailor who has been away at sea for 3 years and comes home to find his world has changed in this melodrama directed by Youssef Chahine. Long before Omar...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lucille Ball, Douglas Sirk and a Serial Killer
That unlikely combination in the header is just part of the quirky appeal of Lured, a 1947 mystery released by United Artists which is also equal parts comedy and romance. It was a remake of the French...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gojko Mitic, the All-Purpose Native American from Yugoslavia
Gojko Mitic plays the title role in the East German western, Chingachgook, the Great Snake (Chingachgook, die grosse Schlange, 1967), directed by Richard Groschopp. Westerns not made in the U.S. have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Home Alone
No one wants to think about growing old, becoming infirm and having to rely on others for assistance, particularly after a life of relative independence. While some are lucky enough to have family and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Burden of Brilliance
Who was Nikola Tesla? Some people know him as the scientific genius who created the alternating current (AC) electrical system which became the industry standard instead of Thomas Edison’s direct...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Toxic Love
Giuliano Gemma and Stefania Sandrelli play factory workers in Milan who become lovers in the tragic love story, Delitto D’amore (aka Crime of Love, 1974), directed by Luigi Comencini. Milan, Italy is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Down the Noir Highway
What could make a reputable insurance instigator go bad? A beautiful woman? Lots of loot? A sense of empowerment? For Joe Peters (Charles McGraw), it’s all of these things but it’s definitely a femme...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Balm for the Soul
The Japanese poster for The Burmese Harp (1956) In 1955 Kon Ichikawa was a well established filmmaker in Japan who was mostly known for satiric comedies like Mr. Pu (1953) and A Billionaire (1954) and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On the Road with Robert Kramer
Route One is a historic American highway with a rich history spanning three centuries. It starts in Key West, Florida and ends in Fort Kent, Maine and some of the cities along the way include Miami,...
View Article