Few films define the 1950s better than Sweet Smell of Success, which is quite bizarre in retrospect, considering how reviled it was at the time. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick (who had mostly found success across the pond with a series of very successful British comedies), the film was considered an enormous failure when it premiered,…
Rabbit Hole (2010)
There are very few reasons to not find Rabbit Hole to be an incredibly compelling and worthwhile film. Coming in at a neat 91-minutes, John Cameron Mitchell has turned the acclaimed stage play by David Lindsay-Abaire into a powerful drama about grief that hits hard and leaves us reeling in emotions in how it explores…
The Woman in the Window (2021)
A mantra that I hold very dear is that if a film can’t be good, the next best thing is for it to be camp. This certainly is a good starting point for The Woman in the Window, which is the kind of pulpy, trashy thriller that peaked in the early 1990s, and rarely managed…
Pauline at the Beach (1983)
What is most interesting about the films of Éric Rohmer is that they are simultaneously beautifully simple, but somehow manage to still compress multitudes of ideas and themes into the most straightforward representation of life the viewer is bound to see, derived from his work alongside many other French filmmakers that set out to reflect…
Made for Each Other (1939)
John Mason (James Stewart) is a hard-working lawyer who works for Judge Joseph M. Doolittle (Charles Coburn), a prickly veteran of the legal industry who makes sure to put all his employees to work, and rarely, if ever, rewards them with anything other than the bare minimum. He has high expectations for John, who he…
Flawless (1999)
The absolute gall that Joel Schumacher had in naming this film Flawless, when it is anything but free of shortcomings, would be frustrating had it not been a work that had a lot of soul to it. I’m very divided on this film – on one hand, it is an overwrought and inconsistent story that…
I’m Still Here (2010)
It’s always fascinating to be a part of a historical event, and look back at reports and discussions on that particular era that you lived through, even if only as a mere observer. One of the more memorable that I can remember is Joaquin Phoenix’s announcement in 2009 that we would be stepping down from…
The Marriage Came Tumbling Down (1968)
Jericho (Michel Simon) is quite excited to be receiving visitors. A retired veterinarian and widower, he lives alone in his beautiful countryside mansion, in which he has every luxury (as well as enough of a reputation to be part of the high-society, cavorting with politicians and nobility in the same way ordinary people would with…
Blithe Spirit (2021)
When it comes to literary icons, few define British theatricality more than Noël Coward, who remains the gold standard for many playwrights, directors and actors. His career was long and filled with sojourns into nearly every genre and medium that was available to him, and found a niche within the world of literature that few…
Miracles of Thursday (1957)
The films of Luis García Berlanga covered a wide range of different topics and genres, and looked into a variety of ideas that presented us with some distinct masterworks of Spanish cinema. However, one component that they all shared is that they were produced under the guise of being the director’s exploration of the society…
The Postmodern Pelican 