Tag: cinephile
Three Great Movies Set in Las Vegas
When it comes to movie locales, Las Vegas isn’t a bad bet. From its gangster roots to its embrace of vice and shotgun weddings, Sin City has become one of Hollywood’s favorite datelines. Let’s take a look at some of the best movies filmed in the world’s most popular entertainment hub. Ocean’s 11, 1960 The…
Ten Great Spaghetti Westerns NOT directed by Sergio Leone
For most people, the term Spaghetti Western applies almost solely to the films of Sergio Leone, particularly those starring Clint Eastwood. But the reality is that close to 600 Westerns were produced in Europe between 1960 and 1980, and during it’s peak, Italy was churning out more than 40 Spaghetti Westerns a year. Of course,…
The Evolution of the Slasher Film
In my 120 Years of Horror post, a clear path was mapped from the advent of film making to the current milieu dominating the horror genre; the slasher was a late bloomer within this genre. By the 1950s film making was fast moving away from the familiar tropes and formulae of literary horror adaptations. Audiences…
Switching on to Reality: Byamba Sakhya’s ‘Remote Control’
A teenager runs away from the drunkenness and poverty of his rural home and moves into the city. It’s not an uncommon story, sadly, but in the hands of Mongolian director Byamba Sakhya, Remote Control becomes both a survival story and an exploration of the line between fantasy and reality. Tsog bivouacs himself on the…
Criterion Discoveries: Five Gems from the Cinematic Vault
This is the first in a series of articles about Criterion Discoveries for CURNBLOG. Over the last 30 years, Criterion has established themselves as the benchmark for curating classic, art-house film. As the years have passed and media delivery has changed from video to laser disc, DVD, Blu-Ray, and now digital streaming, they’ve remained relevant.…