Martin Scorsese’s epic (and epic length!) adaptation of David Grann’s eye-opening novel is great filmmaking with impressive performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro and a marvelous showcase for Lily Gladstone, who provides the heart within a heartless tangle of utterly loathsome villains. It’s a true story, unsensationalized yet carrying an unspoken message —…
A fresh 4K encoding reveals a finer visual texture on Ivan Passer’s highly-respected film, which features career-best performances by its stars. Disaffected 20-somethings in Santa Barbara investigate a murder and then try to blackmail a corporate CEO; it’s a superb coda to the ’60s counterculture generation. John Heard is the maimed, one-eyed veteran already judged…
In what some consider the best classic crime film to come from France, writer-director Claude Sautet and writer José Giovanni give star Lino Ventura the role of Abel Davos, a convicted crook in a squeeze play. When he tries to return to Paris, he’s forced to abandon his wife and boys as both the law…
Powerhouse Indicator dips into the Columbia library for a Warwick Films production from Albert R. Broccoli and Irving Allen. It’s an international genre blend that would seem a stab at the perfect mainstream box office formula — crime violence, a tough American star, a sexy European star, upbeat music and comic relief around the fringes….
Trailers From Hell Guru Allan Arkush’s The Last Reel video essay series returns with a vengeance, this time to take stock of that pop culture-altering phenom known as television! Today, it should really be called The First Reel. Allan has been thinking about when his obsession with film and TV first shaped his life. If…
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. This week, oy vey. The TFH movie mavens have us schlepping some wine pairings for three films that bring different views of Jewishness. Hey, tryin’ to be a mensch over here. From 2020,…
John Ford went to Africa and brought home a fine remake of a 1930s pre-Code hit, with its original star Clark Gable. Clark has his hands full juggling leading ladies of the next generation, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly. Gable is still the he-man center of attention; his advancing age is not a restrictive factor,…
René Clément all but invented the resistance movie in France and returned to the topic several times. This story of an American flier and a Frenchwoman avoids political sentiment and escapist excesses, concentrating on Simone Signoret’s luminous performance as a woman facing the worst that Occupied France could dish out. It’s a multi-language production, filmed…
PlayTime 1967 – 123 Min. – 1.78:1 Criterion – 4K Blu-ray Starring Jacques Tati, Barbara Dennek, Rita Maiden Written by Jacques Tati Directed by Jacques Tati PlayTime is work. Work for the audience who must adjust their own understanding as to how a movie should move, and work for the man who conceived the film,…
