New on Video: ‘Out of the Past’
There are multiple reasons why Out of the Past is such an exemplary work in the world of noir, and part has to do with just how faithfully and inventively it adheres to the form.
The Night of the Hunter
‘A Story of Children and Film’ Movie Review – an insightful didactic exercise
A Story of Children and Film Written by Mark Cousins Directed by Mark Cousins 2013, UK A Story of Children and Film is the follow-up to documentarian Mark Cousins’ epic 15-part The Story of Film, his love letter to cinema that’s generally considered a masterwork effort and a radicalized rewrite of cinema history in a …
‘After’ Movie Review – as much psychosocial as philosophical
After Directed by Ryan Smith Written by Ryan Smith and Jason Parish USA, 2012 After is a unique kind of horror picture. There are no zombies, possessed children, murderous hillbillies, or deranged sharp-object-wielding maniacs. There are no jump scares, torture porn, or unneeded found footage shaky cam. No, After is a horror picture with a …
Dir. Goddard: Or How ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ Has Become The Horror Film To End All Horror Films
In the ensemble tour de force that is John Luessenhop’s Takers, Idris Elba masterfully says, without a hint of irony, “We’re takers, gents. That’s what we do for a living. We take.” Apparently, along with being a competent actor by day, Elba also moonlights as Captain Obvious by night, but in addition to being heavy …
Worth Remembering: Robert Mitchum (1917-1997) – “Baby I Don’t Care”
The title of Lee Server’s acclaimed 2002 biography, Robert Mitchum: Baby I Don’t Care (MacMillan), offers a perfect encapsulization of the eponymous actor: a hard-partying Hollywood Bad Boy who didn’t give a damn what moralizing finger-waggers thought of him, or what his peers in the movie business thought, or the press, or even the public. He …