Every now and then, we encounter a film where the very act of simply starting the conversation is a challenge. Owen Kline’s directorial debut, Funny Pages, certainly matches the description, being a work of singular vision that defies logic, and instead goes in pursuit of something much deeper – and figuring out precisely what it…

If there had been a scenario where David Lynch was tasked to make a contemporary riff on This is Spinal Tap, chances are that it would look very similar to The Nowhere Inn, the absolutely ingenious and brilliantly subversive satire that was directed by Bill Benz, who was essentially standing in service to Annie Clark…

Neil Simon wrote some of the greatest plays to ever be performed on the American stage, and Gene Saks managed to direct a few of them into equally well-received film adaptations, with these stories being sensations both on stage and film. The Last of the Red Hot Lovers is not one of them, forming the…

Whenever someone needs some kind of justification for the importance of independent cinema, I normally point them towards Blow the Man Down. A small, intimate production made with a small budget and not featuring any major stars, and telling a truly insidious story about murder and deception in a small New England town, the film…

When it comes to film studios, few were as distinctive in their ability to make a very particular kind of film as Ealing Studios, the esteemed British production company behind some of the greatest comedies of all time, whose prolific output was rapid but rarely anything less than impeccable. Of all their films, the one…

While he did work across a range of genres, John Ford was mostly known for directing either action-packed, highly influential westerns, or searing historical dramas, either focused on particular individuals from the past, or an entire group at a specific time in America’s history. However, he did make a few forays into comedy, mostly in…

Moral ambiguity has always been the most notable quality when it comes to looking at how Todd Solondz makes his films, with the director himself even remarking on his tendency to go for more perverse stories, especially those that touch on issues much deeper than simply dark comedy. This has always been the case, as…

The theme that dominates throughout Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Romanian: Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc) is that of unequivocal chaos, and Radu Jude is clearly relishing in this fact. The director, who has previously made some equally fascinating films, has crafted a film that is best described as pure cinematic anarchy. Composed…

For the uninitiated or those that don’t quite know what to expect from it, Patrick (Flemish: De Patrick) could easily be mistaken for a sobering drama about very serious issues, which could not be further from what Tim Mielants’ gorgeously striking dark comedy actually is. A film that is profoundly European in its sensibilities, whether…

No one captured Rome quite like Vittorio De Sica, whose prolific career is filled to the brim with the most gorgeous and striking depictions of the Italian capital. Perhaps a controversial opinion, especially considering some of his contemporaries, such as Federico Fellini and Roberto Rossellini, are considered formidable challengers for the title, many of their…