Wall Street Review
RATING: (2 STARS) Could there have been a worse time for me to watch Wall Street for the first time? After the job losses, corrupt CEOs, bailouts, and bonuses, how could I enjoy watching a film that celebrates that sort of culture? Because whatever sort of redemption the main character gets, whatever lesson we learn, […]
Manhattan Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Manhattan is Woody Allen’s love letter to New York. It’s also a complex and realistic love story. It’s beautifully filmed, well-acted, and wonderfully written. Most importantly, it’s well-worth two hours of your time. This might be the beloved director’s finest hour. The film tells the story of Isaac Davis (Allen), a neurotic, […]
Chinatown Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Chinatown is an undeniable classic from a true master of cinema, Roman Polanski. An important (perhaps the definitive) entry into the “neo-noir†subgenre, the film also marks a turning point in Jack Nicholson’s career and the high point of director Roman Polanski’s. It’s a brilliant film, everything a good noir film should […]
Gone with the Wind Review
RATING: (3 STARS) How do I go about reviewing a film that feels so much like two separate films, especially one as classic and timeless as Victor Fleming’s (or is it David O. Selznick’s) Gone With the Wind? Separated by an intermission, Gone With the Wind‘s two halves couldn’t be more different, both in content […]
8½ Review
RATING: (3 STARS) “In my picture, everything happens. I’m putting everything in.” This line from Federico Fellini’s “8 1/2” perfectly sums up the movie. Fellini throws everything about Guido Anselmi’s life on screen: his career, his busy love life, his past, and his dreams. For a film that’s light on plot, there really is a […]
Marnie Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) I’m not familiar enough with Hitchcock’s entire body of work to say where “Marnie†would rank, but I have to imagine it would be near the bottom. This is half a good movie, but the deeper we get into the past of the title character, the less successful it is. Of course, […]
The Bridge on the River Kwai Review
RATING: (4 STARS) “The Bridge on the River Kwai†is a fascinating look at war, its rules, and the madness often required to follow them. What is the responsibility of a prisoner-of-war? Should he follow the orders of his captors and work to assist their cause? Or should he sabotage their efforts by any means […]
Sunset Blvd. Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Sunset Blvd. is a bold picture outlining the destructive nature of the film industry. Director Billy Wilder reportedly made a lot of enemies with this film, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s a film noir/character study/cautionary tale that doesn’t pull many punches. But the central performance by Gloria Swanson is […]
Double Indemnity Review
RATING: (4 STARS) Everyone knows film noir. Film fans have enjoyed (or been subjected to, depending on your tastes) its conventions for decades. From Humphrey Bogart’s famous line, “It’s the stuff dreams are made of†in The Maltese Falcon through the present day’s machinations of film noir, like the twisted noir-comedy Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, […]
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Review
RATING: (4 STARS) It easy to understand how some people can view Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as overly idealistic and cheesy. It is in so many ways. But despite that (or perhaps because of it), most regard it as an American classic and one of the finest films to come out of the 1930s. […]
All Quiet on the Western Front Review
RATING: (2.5 STARS) War movies have been staples of the film industry and the Academy Awards seemingly forever, but it all began with Lewis Milestone’s anti-war tale All Quiet on the Western Front. When it was released in 1930, the world was a very different place. Much of American history had not yet been written. […]
