Any cursory summary of the career of Jim Thompson will doubtlessly mention how he was a writer who transformed pulp fiction into art. His particular brand of hardboiled, Southern-fried crime fiction has captivated audiences for generations, with the off-kilter humour, graphic violence and twisted narratives making them far more complex than other supposedly cheaply-produced works…

One of my personal favourite pieces of casting trivia is that, during the process of deciding on someone to star as the titular Mary Poppins, Walt Disney actively pursued Bette Davis for the role, banking on her status as one of the most beloved and recognizable faces from the Golden Age of Hollywood that was…

There are some films that have all the potential to be great – whether featuring an excellent cast, a strong script (especially one adapted from a writer known for being one of the most important of their generation) and gorgeous landscapes are all usually components of very good films. Yet, some films can squander these…

There is something about wolves that are so profoundly fascinating, and which has inspired artists for centuries. It’s difficult to find works of literature or mythology that don’t feature lupine characters in some way, with their enigmatic manner of prowling in packs, or their distinctive howls to the night sky making them almost mystical creatures….

I’ll start with a bold statement – Wild Indian is one of the year’s best films, and yet very few people seem to be talking about it. The film, which is the feature-length directorial debut of Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr., is one of the many fantastic works produced by and within the Native American community,…

There are many distinctive signs of a great director – whether it be a strong visual style, the ability to extract strong performances from their actors, or just the general skillfulness needed to entertain an audience. My personal belief is that any talented director should be able to take a strong script that contains only…

By the time he reached the middle of the 1950s, Alfred Hitchcock was already undeniably a well-established filmmaker who had easily earned his place in the canon of great cinematic artists. No one had been able to make films that were both as artistically-resonant and profoundly mainstream as him, which is essentially what has kept…

Some of our more recent discussions on Alfred Hitchcock have been focused on a few of his more atypical productions, such as the dark and gritty The Wrong Man, or the hilariously irreverent romantic comedy The Trouble with Harry. However, as much as it is fascinating to look at the esteemed director’s attempts to be…

It is almost impossible to tell a story set in Victorian-era London without addressing the existence of the notorious Jack the Ripper, the serial killer who lurked the dimly-lit alleys and streets of 19th century England, preying on weak and helpless women who are unlucky enough to cross his path. Despite his complete anonymity, he…

A secluded patch of road somewhere in the idyllic countryside is suddenly the site of a major collision between a car and a cyclist, with the former striking the latter, causing an enormous accident. The occupants of the car are concerned about having possibly killed the cyclist, but decide they can’t stick around to find…