His career may have produced a relatively short output, in the form of only having directed four feature-length films over the course of two decades, but no one would ever deny the brilliance of Toshio Matsumoto, one of Japanese cinema’s most fascinating provocateurs, and someone whose work has left a profound impression on post-war Japanese…
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Any film that starts and ends with the words “they lived happily ever after…or did they?” is bound to be something quite remarkable, especially one produced over eighty years ago. It’s hardly a surprise that the mind behind this simple but effective manipulation of a common trope is Preston Sturges, a filmmaker whose entire existence…
Brad’s Status (2017)
It’s tough to be mediocre – or at least, that’s the basic premise of Brad’s Status, which follows a middle-aged man as he tries to make sense of a world he no longer recognizes while undergoing a series of college tours with his gifted son, in whom he sees every lost ambition and broken dream…
Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
“Qu’est-ce que cela fait? Tout est grâce” These are the chilling final words that appear in Diary of a Country Priest (French: Journal d’un curé de campagne), the beautiful but shattering adaptation of the novel by Georges Bernanos, carefully brought to the screen by esteemed French realist Robert Bresson, who utilizes his ability to capture…
Fresh (2022)
Whenever a film is released that is vaguely questionable or perverse in either the story it tells, or the specific execution, there seems to be a concerted effort to rationalize it by comparing it to the work of some established provocateur, almost as if this helps give credence to the fact that someone has made…
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
It’s sometimes difficult to hold an opinion contradictory to the vast majority on a particular film – the feeling of being isolated from the general opinion can feel quite alienating, especially when it comes to films that have been cited as sacrosanct classics. To date, I have yet to find someone who holds the same…
Crimes of Passion (1984)
There aren’t many filmmakers whose work regularly, and often without fail, leave the viewer absolutely speechless. Ken Russell is one such filmmaker – throughout his prolific career that found him working on both sides of the Atlantic, the director managed to showcase a perverse set of talents that could bewilder even the most deranged artists….
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)
While we can easily see the roots of his distinctive traits in even the earliest works in his career, Alfred Hitchcock was not immediately the Master of Suspense, spending some time as a director-for-hire on a number of projects that we now know are fortunate to bear his name, even after having made a few…
Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood (2022)
Richard Linklater has gone from a director of entertaining but conventional fare, to someone whose work has become so incredible, nearly every new work he produces is seen as an event, especially for those who adhere to his very peculiar brand of off-kilter humour that is often drawn from his experiences as someone who grew…
My Cousin Vinny (1992)
How do you begin to describe My Cousin Vinny without veering too close to either side of the extreme? One of the many comedies produced by Hollywood every year that essentially follows the same structure of taking a major star or two, placing them in an unexpected situation (which may or may not included entirely…
The Postmodern Pelican 