Easy Rider is not just a significant American movie. It is also an exceptional example of independent filmmaking, one where, with the unwavering ambition of youth and a desire for something different, a film rises above and beyond the studio-beholden establishment to achieve a triumph all its own.
As a teenager, you probably wouldn’t expect to come home after a night out with friends to your parents enthusiastically holding up a Netflix copy of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, insisting that you watch it with them at that very moment. Indeed, it’s something that can happen. Seeing that film in my vulnerable …
One of the defining features of these character-driven studies is that character development isn’t always a given. These are vibrant and multifaceted characters, but they aren’t necessary going to grow or evolve as human beings.
It is with L’Avventura that one truly gets the sense of ground being broken. That’s not to say it is the best film [Antonioni] ever directed (though I would argue it is), but this is the film of his that most clearly worked to usher in a new form of cinema, from which there was no turning back.
For me, film has always been a strong source of inspiration. As long as I can remember, I have been truly captivated by the motion picture. One of my earliest memories would have to be seeing the first Batman in theaters a quarter of a century ago. In 1989, “Batmania” was sweeping the nation and I was perfectly content playing with my Toy Biz and Kenner action figures. The character of Batman had been around 50 years before I was even born and I’m sure other children before me have been amazed by The Caped Crusader’s various adventures. Tim Burton’s epic would have to be my first experience seeing The Dark Knight in action and it was monumental one at that.
It’s hard to nail down the personification of the ultimate evil. The Prince of Darkness deserves to be more than just a cackling, dark figure in the background or an over-the-top sleaze. This is an angel who has been cast out of Heaven and carries a major grudge. Neglecting the depth of his pain or not seizing …
For almost 50 years, Batman has graced the silver screen. Whether working solo or accompanied by sidekicks and associates, Gotham City is continually saved by his enduring presence. Even though the eight theatrical live-action films featuring the Caped Crusader have had their ups and downs, there is no denying his appeal as a lead character. …
“Has it ever occurred to you what would happen to my future, if I were to fail to live up to my responsibilities?” – Jack Torrance, before telling his wife that he’s going to bash her brains in. Jack Torrance has responsibilities that were given given to him in good faith by the manager …
It’s both perfectly fitting and a darkly wry punchline that the last word in Stanley Kubrick’s last film is “fuck,” utilized in its most literal definition. The word is spoken, in both direct and slightly imploring fashion, by Alice Harford (Nicole Kidman) to her husband Bill (Tom Cruise) at the end of the still slightly …
There are few unrealized projects in the history of cinema more tantalizingly fascinating than Stanley Kubrick’s planned feature about Napoleon
The imagery of “Tess” is what strikes first and leaves the greatest impression, and it was undoubtedly with this in mind that Criterion pulled out all the stops with this release.
Films have been made, thousands of hours have been spent pouring over every detail, and lives have been changed by the pursuit of a holy grail within the subtext of Kubrick’s horror masterpiece. In short there is clearly ‘something’ going on within The Shining…
Nebraska Written by Bob Nelson Directed by Alexander Payne USA, 2013 It’s become passé in popular culture to mock the elderly, to tweak and jeer at them just enough without being excessively cruel. We can laugh at old people for swearing at each other, or for having regressed physically to the point where they seem …
Film noir comes full circle in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974). Thirty years before its release, crime dramas saw the birth of a fundamental character – the noir hero. From Dashiell Hammett to Raymond Chandler, The Maltese Falcon (1941) to The Big Sleep (1946), the noir hero inhabits a world of hopelessness and dark tragedy. The Maltese Falcon saw Humphrey Bogart’s inaugural portrayal of this amoral anti-hero and began film noir as we know it.
Room 237 Directed by Rodney Ascher USA, 2012 A blessing and curse of being human is that we grasp for meaning in all things. If something is not spelled out for us directly, we have to get to the bottom of it, our curiosity unable to be sated until we’ve gotten to the bottom of …
We’ve promoted some of Jeff Victor’s fabulous artwork before on our site. Here are some other great pieces showing the evolution of some of his favorite celebrities. Jeff is apparently setting up an online store very soon, so do check out his site if you want to purchase some of his great artwork. Enjoy! **** …
The Tumblr round-up is a compilation of images, links, posters, stories, videos and so on, taken from the Sound On Sight Tumblr account. We simply do not have the man power nor time to write articles on every interesting movie related goody we find, so this is our way of still promoting some of the …
Bye Bye Blondie Written and directed by Virginie Despentes France, 2011 Perhaps a paean to the 1960 stage musical and its 1963 film adaptation, Bye Bye Birdie, Virginie Despentes’ Bye Bye Blondie tries to be the social satire its American counterpart was. But with a protagonist suffused with libertine barbarism and a narrative of moral …
Much of our lurid film community is of the belief that America’s acting prowess died with its classic stars like Marlon Brando, James Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Grace Kelly. However, I’m here to argue that America’s actors are stronger than ever and can match up toe to toe with the likes …