Tag: film
America’s Long Road: Remembering Amanda and Lillian Randolph
We’ve come a long way. We have a long way yet to go. I recently revisited an important American movie from 1950. The movie is called No Way Out – a tense crime story revolving around race riots in an unnamed city. Joseph Mankiewicz directed and top-billed actors included Richard Widmark and Stephen McNally. But…
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…
The Best and Worst of Steven Spielberg: Assessing the Oeuvre of a Great Filmmaker
I still can’t get over the fact that Steven Spielberg directed Hook (1991). It’s one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. A lousy, mirthless script that muddles its classic source material: J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Miscast stars who ham it up with forced panache. And a lethargic pace inspired, I assume, by the speed of a stuffed crocodile. This pile of putrid…
The best films and performances of 2015 (so far)
I know it seems like the height of foolishness to put out a “best of” list when there is still a week to go in the first half of 2015. But I am going out on a limb and assuming that Ted 2 will not crack my Best Picture list even after I get around…