Friday, August 12 2011
The 100 Essential Directors Part 4: Samuel Fuller - John Huston
On our fourth day, this journey through the 100 Essential Film Directors continues to twist and turn in unexpected ways. From bold, opinionated Hollywood voices to those who essentially created the language of cinema, today will shed light on kings of genre like Samuel Fuller, through lions like the legendary John Huston.
Wednesday, July 7 2010
Three Mel Brooks Films Now on Blu-ray—Alas, They’re Not the Best of Brooks
Great casts, inferior scripts and indifferent production values: Blu-Ray versions of three of Mel Brooks' less successful films will appeal primarily to diehard fans and nostalgia buffs.
Thursday, June 24 2010
Hitchcock 101: Day Ten, 1963 - 1966
Today we’ll examine the last Hitchcock masterpiece, and begin our discussion of his slow denouement.
Tuesday, June 22 2010
Hitchcock 101: Day Eight, 1956 - 1958
Now entering his creative peak, Hitchcock revisited some older material, reinvigorating it with a global politics and a big budget grandeur.
Hitchcock and Homework: The Rewards and Perils of Hitchcock in the High School English Class
To what degree should a teacher help a student develop taste? Hitchcock stands as one of hundreds of artists whose work educators might use to explore questions of art and the classroom itself with their students.
Monday, June 21 2010
Hitchcock 101: Day Seven, 1954 - 1955
Many film fans consider Hitchcock’s career to have really begun in about 1951 (with Strangers on a Train) and to have ended in 1963 (with The Birds).
Friday, June 18 2010
Hitchcock 101: Day Six, 1948 - 1954
In this sixth installment of our overview of Hitchcock’s oeuvre, we take a look at his most divisive period -- a string of wildly inconsistent material ranging from masterpieces to films we didn’t even bother reviewing.
Thursday, June 17 2010
The Puppeteer of Suspense
No one likes being toyed with, but Hitchcock makes it clear that he is in control; he is directing us, influencing how we think and react to the situation at hand -- and we love him for it.
Hitchcock 101: Day Five, 1944 - 1946
Three films of the mid-1940s found Hitchcock in an experimental mode. One takes place entirely in a small boat, another explores the idea of the psychedelic, and the third stretches out into the territory of film noir, while animating the post-war sense of global interconnectedness that presaged the Cold War.
Tuesday, June 15 2010
Hitchcock 101: Day Three, 1940 - 1941
New to Hollywood, it didn’t take long for Hitchcock to master his surroundings, winning the Best Picture Oscar with his first American film. Then, it was on to a series of iffy studio experiments, including perhaps the most bizarre entry in his oeuvre, a screwball comedy starring Carole Lombard!
