Roman Polanski’s Repulsion was released in 1965 on a budget of $300,000, and managed to break a few taboos in the process. Aside from being Polanski’s first film in the English language, Repulsion also pushed the boundaries of sexuality in cinema. It was also one of the first films since Hitchcock’s Psycho to tackle the […]
Shout Factory has finally released Michael Mann’s Manhunter in a pristine collector’s edition Blu-ray set. Several years before Anthony Hopkin’s would appear in his iconic role as Hannibal Lector in Jonathan Demme’s masterpiece, The Silence of the Lambs, Michael Mann would adapt Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon, casting Brian Cox as everyone’s favorite cannibal. William Peterson […]
Donnie Darko is one of my all-time favorite films. I saw it for the first time in 2001 on VHS (the only copy available in Easley, South Carolina) after I had followed the film on the internet months before the street date. Since then, I’ve seen the film over fifty times. I keep coming back […]
Henry Jaglom’s films are true originals. They are deeply personal, almost like home movies. His style is reminiscent of Robert Altman and perhaps Woody Allen, and much like John Cassavetes, his films are largely improvised. His films have a unique look and feel. Even his most recent films seem as though they come from a […]
This review contains spoilers. Larry Clark’s Bully is one of the greatest films of 2001. It is the best film that Clark has ever made, and it features a career-defining and heartbreaking performance from the late actor, Brad Renfro. Bully tells a true story that is as horrifying as it is pathetic. This is the […]
Robert Eggers’ The Witch is the type of horror film that I have been anxiously awaiting for quite some time. It is, simply put, one of the best films of the year – maybe even the decade. Perhaps the century. That is not hyperbole, it is merely the truth. The film opens in the 1600s, […]
Keyhole is a wonder of a film from Guy Maddin – a gleefully psychedelic head trip that tells the tale of a man named Ulysses, who comes home one night after attempting to rescue a young woman from drowning. He walks into the house, carrying her over his shoulder. She’s still alive – barely so […]
Based on the short story by John Cheever, Frank Perry’s acclaimed cult classic, The Swimmer, is the very definition of a film that was way ahead of its time. Released in 1968, it is a haunting and dream-like experience that lingers in the mind. When we first meet middle-aged Ned Merrill (the legendary Burt Lancaster), […]
“In life, the borderline between fiction and reality is blurred.” Henry Jaglom’s Venice/Venice opens, as many of his films often do, with several diverse women talking straight into the camera. They speak candidly about the movies, the great love stories of cinema, and how many of those films shaped their perceptions of reality. Within each […]
Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher delves into the nature of obsession, of forbidden desires, and refuses to provide any easy answers. A controversial feature if there ever was one, The Piano Teacher is also a fascinating character study that will leave you speechless by the time that it has ended. The Piano Teacher is based […]
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