Monday, August 22 2011
The 100 Essential Directors Part 7: Kenji Mizoguchi to Satyajit Ray
Pushing boundaries seems to be the thread that ties the directors of our seventh day together. From Japanese innovators to Italian iconclasts and Polish provocateurs, the directors that fall between Kenji Mizoguchi and the man who was perhaps India's greatest visual storyteller, Satyajit Ray, all push the form in incredible, surprising ways.
Friday, July 22 2011
‘Pale Flower’: Living for Death
Into this movie's milieu of prison terms, all-night gambling sessions and literal and figurative back-stabbings arrives a dewy young woman named Saeko (pronounced, more or less, 'psycho') who is very young and very tired of life.
Thursday, May 12 2011
‘Sliding Doors’ Meets ‘Mad Men’: ‘The Awakening Conscience’ in James Hill’s ‘Lunch Hour’
Clever and strategic emblems placed along the way define this modern cinematic take on Holman Hunt's The Awakening Conscience.
Tuesday, December 14 2010
‘Shadows of Progress’ Is a Testament to the Best in Documentary Filmmaking
This is one of the best DVD releases of the year. It's so substantial, and so thorough, that it becomes not so much a DVD collection as a small, single-subject library of film.
Friday, October 22 2010
Kurosawa 101: Day Ten, 1991 - 1993
Today we bring to an end our examination of each of the films of Kurosawa directed in his amazing career. After the ambitious epic Ran, Kurosawa embarked a three smaller but more personal films.
Thursday, October 21 2010
Kurosawa 101: Day Nine, 1975 - 1985
The three films featured today represented the director's ascendance to greater international acclaim, even while he struggled to find financing in Japan, where the movie industry was shriveling. All three of these films were made either in whole or in part by Soviet, American, or French financing.
Wednesday, October 20 2010
Kurosawa 101: Day Eight, 1963 - 1970
These three films by Kurosawa represent the end of one phase of his career and the beginning of another. High and Low is a police procedural that is regarded as one of his greatest films, while Red Beard represented the end of his so-called "Creative Period".
Tuesday, October 19 2010
Kurosawa 101: Day Seven, 1960 - 1962
Today's Kurosawa 101 reviews cover three of his most popular and accessible films Yojimbo and Sanjuro, as well as arguably his most earnest, The Bad Sleep Well.
Monday, March 8 2010
The Pleasure Garden
The Pleasure Garden is a very engaging curiosity, and should be applauded for its inquisitive, progressive and cheeky exploration of love, sexuality and art.
Tuesday, January 12 2010
Departures
Life is heartily celebrated in this Japanese film about the commonality of death.
