By the time Josef von Sternberg made The Last Command in 1928, his lead actor had become such an institution in Germany that an entire genre was named after him. The Jannings-Film was used to describe any movie where Emil Jannings, the bearish icon of German silent cinema, played a […]
Reviews
Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (1985) Home to one of the greatest battle scenes of all time (Review)
Shakespeare’s stories, character and language might be what reel us in, but it’s the mysteries that can engender an obsession. From Sigmund Freud, who famously pored over a psychiatric diagnosis of Prince Hamlet, to John Sutherland and Cedric Watts, who published an entire book (Henry V, War Criminal?) on the […]
Mysterious Object at Noon (2000) the most groundbreaking and innovative director of the 21st century (Review)
The first film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul begins with a shot that approximates the feeling of tuning an analogue radio; mysterious, haunting, archaic and likely to land you somewhere you weren’t expecting. It’s a black-and-white tracking shot through the front window of a moving vehicle, with an overlapping sound mix that […]
Only Angels Have Wings (1939) Towering achievement from one of the Greatest Ever Directors (Review)
For many film fans in the UK, the Criterion Collection has been locked behind region codes, therefore, the highest-profile of all boutique labels choosing 2016 to migrate to these shores is the best news in years. Their opening salvo of titles represents the eclectic mix that saw the New York-based […]
Black Horse Canyon (1954) Stockholm Syndrome and Patsy Awards (Review)
Black Horse Canyon, a 50s Western based on Lee Savage’s novel, The Wild Horse sets up a clichéd love triangle and throws in the odd gun-run and pistol shoot out for good measure. A Rancher (Del Rockwell) and his adopted son (Race Gentry) are trying to capture and tame a […]
Grey Gardens (1975) The Maysles Brothers Forgotten Masterpiece resurfaces (Review)
What are the building blocks of a cult movie? Uniqueness and a certain quotability both help, but also it needs the sense of a world to explore, an impression that every casual reference to an off-screen character or brief appearance might lead to a life as full as any of […]
Three Days of the Condor (1975) Conspiracy Thriller that ages like a Fine Wine (Review)
Even with them being the source of consternation for critics and audiences alike, tropes are an invaluable resource for the film writer – either as a framework to subscribe to or one to rebel against. A film responsible for the installation of many tropes is Sydney Pollack’s Three Days of […]
Back to God’s Country (1953) Refreshingly Straight-Forward Artic Western (Review)
A Technicolor frontier adventure set in the wilds of the Arctic, Back to God’s Country exists at the intersection of three of the most comfortingly dad-movie genres; the pre-revisionist Western, the wilderness survival story and the Jack London-patented faithful dog story. Source author James Oliver Curwood was a contemporary of […]
Farewell my Concubine (1993) The Chinese Epic as a performance piece (Review)
In the West, Chinese or Peking Opera is known more for graduates Yuen Biao, Jackie Chan, Corey Yuen and Sammo Hung than any cultural footprint – despite dating back to the 18th century. This makes the BFI release of Chen Kaige’s epic Farewell my Concubine one of the more interesting […]
Bad Sister (1931) A Minor film with a Major claim to Fame (Review)
A minor film with a major claim to fame, Hobart Henley’s The Bad Sister was intended as a vehicle for Conrad Nagel and Sidney Fox, the latter of whom plays the disreputable sibling of the title. Today its fame rests on two supporting cast members; Humphrey Bogart in a supporting […]