Tag: film
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…
Musical Snares: ‘Cavalleria,’ ‘Raging Bull,’ ‘The Godfather: Part III’ and Art’s Integrity
If a great piece of existing music is used to accentuate a brilliant sequence in one film and then, much later, employed as the background for another superb scene, is the music’s impact—as well as its context—diluted? This question has troubled me for a long time, as it concerns the nature and purpose of art…
Fourteen Amazing Films You Might Have Missed in 2017
2017 was a pretty good year for American film. Sure, there were plenty of head scratchers, disappointments, and outright train wrecks, but that’s for another column. (Which will be called “Head Scratchers, Disappointments & Outright Train Wrecks” – it’s all about the ampersand.) Today, we celebrate the minor gems. “Minor” only in the sense that…