Category: 4/4
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Little Women [2019] ★★★★
I didn’t think I’d care for another version of “Little Women”, but now that I’ve seen what writer-director Greta Gerwig has managed to achieve, I have to apologize. This is a beautiful film from start to finish, a staggering achievement from a filmmaker that doesn’t play by the rules. How can a story written by…
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Parasite [2019] ★★★★
Like a powerful punch to the gut. That’s how Bong Joon Ho comes at you with his latest cinematic masterpiece “Parasite”. It’s a thing of beauty and terror; a bold and audacious look at the gap between the haves and the have-nots as seen through the eyes of a Korean family living in a miserable…
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The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse [1933] ★★★★
People always mention “Metropolis” and “M” when they talk about German filmmaker Fritz Lang. While they’re both terrific, I personally vouch for “The Testament of Dr. Mabuse”, one of the best movies of the early talkies. Made in 1933, at a time when Nazism was on the rise, “Dr. Mabuse” was banned in Germany by…
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The Kid Brother [1927] ★★★★
Today I take a trip down memory lane. One of my earliest memories was watching “Harold Lloyd’s World of Comedy”, a compilation of silent comedian Harold Lloyd’s very best moments. Lloyd actually edited the film himself, in 1962, exactly 40 years since his first feature film “Grandma’s Boy” was released. But there’s no doubt in my…
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La La Land [2016] ★★★★
Hollywood has always had a soft spot for musicals. “The Broadway Melody” in the 1920’s, “Singin’ in the Rain” and “An American in Paris” in the 1950’s, “Oliver!” in the 1960’s and “Chicago” in the early 2000’s. In 2011, french director Michel Hazanavicius hired Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo to star in his film “The Artist”,…
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Arrival [2016] ★★★★
Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve follows up “Incendies“, “Prisoners”, “Enemy” and “Sicario” with his most ambitious movie yet. “Arrival” is a first rate science-fiction movie: Clever, completely immersive and hauntingly beautiful. In short: it’s a masterpiece. But artistic ambition can be a bitch in this day and age. Audiences seeking a straightforward story might complain about the…
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The Manchurian Candidate [1962] ★★★★
Regarded as the quintessential political satire of the 1960’s, “The Manchurian Candidate” is also meant to provoke paranoia and fear as an American patrol is captured and brainwashed by Chinese communists during the Koran war. One soldier, Raymond Shaw (a terrific Laurence Harvey), has been programmed for a top secret mission: to murder a presidential…
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Kubo And The Two Strings [2016] ★★★★
Part lyricism, part entertainment, “Kubo and the Two Strings” is living proof that animated movies cannot only equal live-action storytelling, but they can surpass it in every way possible. Leave it to Travis Knight, who was the lead animator on the amazing “Coraline”, to make his directing debut with a ground breaker. Part of Kubo’s…
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Truffaut: the adventures of Antoine Doinel
Way before “ Boyhood ”, François Roland Truffaut, French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic, as well as one of the founders of the French New Wave, directed “ Les 400 coups ” (“ The 400 blows ”), a childhood movie featuring his own alter ego: Antoine Doinel. Years later, Doinel appears in four subsequent films (including one short: “ Antoine…
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White Heat [1949] ★★★★
I’ve fallen in love with gangster films made in the 1930’s. Actors like James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart were in almost every gangster picture made in that era. And yet it took director Raoul Walsh years before making one of the best gangster films of all time. Cagney was an ageing star but his…
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Double Indemnity [1944] ★★★★
The quintessential film noir. No other film of the genre can match the brilliance of Billy Wilder’s haunting tale of greed, murder and betrayal. Driven by its masterful techniques and perfect narrative, “Double Indemnity” tells the story of an insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray) who falls for a beautiful but deadly oil tycoon’s wife (Barbara Stanwyck) and…
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Kind Hearts And Coronets [1949] ★★★★
I can’t begin to describe how funny this movie is. I haven’t recommended a classic movie in quite a while, but “Kind Hearts and Coronets” seemed like a good way to start again. Alec Guiness is brilliant playing not 1, not 2, but 8 characters (!) in this hugely entertaining black comedy about a poor, distant…
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Birdman [2014] ★★★★
How to describe Michael Keaton’s raw, elemental tour de force as Riggan Thomson in “Birdman”? Think of a stick of dynamite with the fuse lit and ready to blow. That’s how brilliant he is. Keaton gets everything right about this actor who’s not ready to call it quits. Once upon a time, he was the star of a superhero franchise called “Birdman”.…
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Diabolique [1955] ★★★★
Henri-Georges Clouzot’s most notorious film is still terrifying almost 60 years later. An unmerciful school master (Paul Meurisse, terrific) is murdered by his long suffering wife (Vera Clouzot) and mistress (Simone Signoret). But then strange things start to happen. Haunting, exciting thriller will you keep you guessing at every turn, right through the unforgettable finale. Hailed…
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I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang [1932] ★★★★
Fantastic drama/film noir based on Robert E.Burns’ autobiographical story about an innocent man (a fantastic Paul Muni) who accidentally gets mixed up in a robbery that lands him ten years on a chain gang where they treat prisoners like dirt. The story is so powerful and well told that you find yourself rooting for the poor…
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The Artist [2011] ★★★★
My favorite movie of the year is not a blockbuster or a superhero movie or even Harry Potter. It’s a movie called “The Artist”, a black and white silent film with subtitles and all. In many ways-hell in all ways-“The Artist” is a stunningly beautiful film. There were times when I forgot I was watching…
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Rebecca [1940] ★★★★
In 1940, Alfred Hitchcock came to Hollywood to direct what would become one of his greatest achievements. Yet it is somewhat surprising that despite his long career, only “Rebecca” earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture. Producer David O. Selznik, hot from the huge success of “Gone With The Wind” a year earlier, seized…
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Metropolis [1927] ★★★★
Directed by the legendary Fritz Lang, “Metropolis” is probably the first science fiction movie ever made. With huge sets, thousands of extras, and first rate special effects (considering it was made in the 20’s), it’s hard not to admire this truly wonderful film. Yet one of the most interesting things about it is the fact that…
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Incendies [2010] ★★★★
Sometimes, death is only the beginning of a story. Such is the case with Jeanne and Simon, a twin brother and sister who go to a notary’s office to hear the reading of their mother’s will. Speaking to them from beyond, as it were, she says she will not rest in peace until they locate their father…
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Citizen Kane [1941] ★★★★
I wasn’t surprised one bit when I read that many consider “Citizen Kane” as the best film ever made. Afterall, The American Film institute called it the greatest movie of all time back in 1998. “Citizen Kane” is indeed one of those ageless movies that get better with repeated viewings, and through the years, it has become one of…
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