There are very few sensations quite as uncomfortable as seeing a great director fall from grace to the point where one needs to wonder what they were actually thinking when making a particular film. It’s even worse when this served as the director’s final film, since they didn’t get the opportunity to end their career…
The Catered Affair (1956)
Watching the opening credits roll by at the start of The Catered Affair is quite an experience, since the pedigree of talent involved in the creation of this film is staggering – Richard Brooks (one of the more reliable genre directors working in this era of Hollywood) was directing a screenplay by Gore Vidal, who…
Family for Rent (2015)
Paul-André Delalande (Benoît Poelvoorde) is one of the richest men in Belgium – in fact, he has accumulated such an enormous wealth, his entire business was bought by another entity, and he still manages to live an extremely luxurious lifestyle. However, this is probably a result of him not having a family to spend his…
The Man with the Answers (2021)
There’s a ferry heading from Greece to Italy, transporting citizens from both countries between them, as usual. On one particular trip, the ferry is servicing two specific individuals – Victor (Vasilis Magouliotis ), is a former professional diver who has grown too old and slightly unfit to be fully in control of his craft. Matthias…
42nd Street (1932)
When it comes to musical films, there often exists two completely different entities – the concept and the execution, with many of them focusing on one over the other, in addition to varying quality of the music involved. There are a few that manage to combine both beautifully, but they’re slightly more rare, often restricted…
Sometimes Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things (1971)
Somewhere in the idyllic suburbs of Miami sits a quaint home. If you didn’t know the residents of the house, you’d expect it to be occupied by a lovely middle-class family – in fact, this is exactly what everyone thinks. What outsiders don’t realize is that the owner of the house is “Aunt Martha”, who…
The Limey (1999)
When it comes to reinventing his career, there are few filmmakers that stand out as much as Steven Soderbergh. However, his style changes so regularly (very often annually), it’s less a case of redefining his approach to filmmaking, and more indicative of his intentional refusal to stick to a particular niche, which has made him…
Merry-Go-Round (1956)
As a film-going population, especially those of us who have a bit more of a critical eye when approaching art, cinema is most celebrated when it is ambitious and unexpected, showing an originality that allows it to stake its claim as something that has never been done before, or at least not done in that…
Ham on Rye (2019)
Every young filmmaker yearns to get the financing to make their feature directorial debut, and the current cinematic landscape, where many studios and independent financiers are giving these burgeoning talents the resources to realize their dreams, it is easier than ever. It’s rare that the results are anything less than utterly impressive, and many of…
Bigger Than Life (1956)
What is most fascinating – or perhaps even bewildering – about Bigger Than Life is the fundamental duality at its centre that creates something of a contradiction, since it is simultaneously a poignant product of a particular era, while still be truly ahead of its time. This kind of paradox is often found in the…
The Postmodern Pelican 