Columns
Friday, July 18 2008
American Film Theatre
In what might be called the curse of Chekhov, the common setting is a living room, the common characters a family, and the common dynamic a stew of bitter backbiting and recrimination that ultimately gives the lie to Tolstoy, because here each unhappy family seems perfectly alike.
Reviews
Wednesday, March 7 2012
Ho-Ho-Horrible: 'Reindeer Games (The Director's Cut)'
Ok, it's not as bad as that heading, but Reindeer Games marks the start of a long stretch of poor films Ben Affleck would rather forget.
Tuesday, March 17 2009
French Connection 1 & 2
Watching the original with its sequel draws attention to the subtle but inarguably greater care Friedkin brought to the earlier film.
Friday, February 29 2008
The John Frankenheimer Collection
The rather complex ideological issues and unique sense of aesthetics that Frankenheimer infused in his films can be fully appreciated in this collection.
Monday, July 12 2004
The Manchurian Candidate: Special Edition (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate throws into horrific relief a chaotic sense of U.S. national identity.
Tuesday, October 14 2003
Black Sunday (1977)
John Frankenheimer's 'Black Sunday' serves as something of a transition between 'New Hollywood' and the more spectacular films that came later.
Blogs
Monday, July 25 2011
'The Manchurian Candidate' is Perfect Political Science Fiction
In the hands of one of the genre's true masters - John Frankenheimer - Richard Condon's novel becomes a blueprint for any nation's rocky internal relationships.
