Tag: film
Star Wars: Three Notes on Why The Force Awakens So Successfully
By now, anybody who cares is more than a little familiar with the concerns and expectations facing Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Could Disney and J.J. Abrams create a film that obeyed the aesthetic, narrative and mythological sensibilities of the Star Wars series? Would this film overcome the awkward and unsatisfying nature of the prequels…
The Cinematography of Matyas Erdely: ‘Son of Saul’ and ‘James White’
In 1976, singer-songwriter Al Stewart released “The Year of the Cat,” and went from being a cult-favourite to an international success. One of the reasons Stewart cited for his surge in popularity was the work of producer Alan Parsons. Stewart admitted he had never cared all that much about the technical, musical component of his…
Reviewing Jeremy Sims’ “Last Cab to Darwin”
When I first saw Jeremy Sims’ Last Train to Freo (2006), a low-budget Australian thriller about four strangers travelling home in a single train carriage, I was struck by Sims’ ability to maintain an impressive amount of suspense throughout the film’s concise running time. But I was also a little underwhelmed by the characters in…
The Cinema of William A. Wellman: A Film Primer
The die, in hindsight, may have been cast in 1968, when iconic American film critic Andrew Sarris, published his iconic book “The American Cinema.” In it, he included William A. Wellman in his chapter called “Less Than Meets the Eye.” Wellman was in good company, lumped in with Billy Wilder and William Wyler among others.…
Women of The Wild Bunch: Peckinpah, Misogyny and a Credible Moral Code
You know you’ve got a good marriage when your wife agrees to watch The Wild Bunch (1969) with you. I must say, I was quite surprised that she made this decision in the first place. Trudi’s sole previous experience with the films of Sam Peckinpah was watching the disturbing, controversial Straw Dogs (1971) years ago—a…