Tag: cinema
Anjelica Huston on James Joyce: A Shout in the Street
Mention the name James Joyce to most people, and they’ll be able to tell you that he was a brilliant Irish writer. There’s even a good chance they’ll be able to point to a copy of his much-revered masterpiece Ulysses on their bookshelf. But it’s also likely that they’ve never worked up the courage to…
Sex and Tragedy: Hollywood’s Hypocritical Treatment of Gay Characters
Why does it always seem that mainstream American filmmakers are perfectly fine with showing homosexual relationships and even gay sex onscreen … as long as the characters don’t wind up with individuals of the same genders at the ends of the movies? A look at a selection of relatively high-profile pictures tells a rather perturbing…
Musical Snares, Part II: ‘Excalibur,’ Wagner and the Context of Melody
Anyone care to explain why music from Richard Wagner’s seminal opera Tristan und Isolde, which tells the story of the doomed love between Arthurian Knight of the Round Table Sir Tristan and the already married queen Iseult, is used to accent scenes featuring the fellow warrior Lancelot and his lord’s wife Guinevere in John Boorman’s…
Five legendary directors who made their debut 50 years ago
1968 was a dynamic year in cinema. French cinema. Important new movies from Godard, Truffaut, and Chabrol. Even more revolution happening off screen. Many young French directors staged a revolution at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. One of the godfathers of the French New Wave, Henri Langlois, was fired from his long-time post as head…
Forgotten Classics: Radio Flyer
You’ll see many movies in your lifetime. Some, like The Godfather, you’ll remember for a lifetime. Others, like Mr Woodcock, might leave you horrified that you actually paid money to see them. And then there are the movies that have stuck with you, even though they flew under everybody else’s radar. That’s what this series is…