By the time he reached the mid-1980s, Pedro Almodóvar already had three mildly successful but widely appreciated comedies and several short films, which made him a name recognized by those with a penchant for alternative art, specifically within his native Spain, where he came to be known as someone of a high-level provocateur, but someone…
Sabotage (1936)
As enormously respected as he may have been, Alfred Hitchcock seemed to be driven by the concept of quantity over quality, especially earlier in his career. It was not unheard of for the esteemed filmmaker to produce more than one film in a given year, which mercifully became less common as he grew in stature…
Jules (2023)
Who of us has not had the experience of having an alien spacecraft crash-landed in our backyard, its occupant (a mysterious and entirely silent grey entity) entering our homes and becoming quite a pleasant houseguest? The absurdity of this situation is exactly what makes Jules, a film by Marc Turtletaub, so incredibly engaging and entertaining….
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
There is a tendency for cherished works of literature to be the subject of unnecessary trifling when artists (normally far detached from the original creator of the work) attempt to redefine the characters through their perspective – it’s not so much a matter of adapting a particular work as it is plucking out the characters…
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
As far as fictional creations go, there are few characters more iconic than Godzilla – the enormous, otherworldly lizard that towers over the tallest skyscraper of whatever city he has chosen as the scene of his next bout of terror, who is mainly a villain but sometimes takes on a more heroic role (particularly when…
American Buffalo (1996)
Much like satire and pornography, the literary works of David Mamet are difficult to describe or define but are immediately recognizable when you see them. As one of America’s most beloved and intriguing playwrights, Mamet is responsible for several iconic and vitally important works of 20th-century theatre, each one of them a complex, engaging and…
The Color Purple (2023)
There are a few novels that have wholeheartedly earned the title of being a contender for the greatest work of American fiction, and one of the leading candidates is Alice Walker’s astonishing The Color Purple, a sprawling epic set in the first half of the 20th century, which follows the life of a young woman…
Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family (1941)
When you are arguably the greatest director of all time (or at least occupy a firm position in the pantheon of masterful filmmakers with reputations that are beyond unimpeachable), you can afford to be criticized without it seeming like an attack against their legacy. Few filmmakers are more secure in being considered amongst the most…
Ferrari (2023)
We know the brand and its prestige, but not many of us are aware of the storied history of Ferrari, particularly its origins and the various challenges it faced over the years. Enzo Ferrari is an enigmatic figure in the world of engineering – some view him as a revolutionary who pioneered a new style…
The Meanest Man in the World (1943)
There is a very narrow membrane between being tough and being mean, and as the protagonist in the play The Meanest Man in the World (a starring vehicle for writer-performer George M. Cohan in the 1920s) will attest, it is extremely easy to cross between the two without realising it – and sometimes, it can…
