The Ninth Gate – 1999 Polanski
It’s a far cry from The Ghost Writer let alone Chinatown or Rosemary’s Baby but Polanski’s The Ninth Gate is still a very worthy B-side entry Once again Polanski, the occult and the devil –
The 189th Best Director of All-Time: John Sayles
Sayles. Sayles is an Altman acolyte surely influenced by Nashville-largely making politically charged ensemble dramas set in a specific area and at a specific time. His debut Return of the Secaucus Seven was a thoughtful
The 188th Best Director of All-Time: Joseph Lewis
Joseph Lewis. New York born Lewis made over 40 features, all of them B-movies, but many were destroyed or are permanently lost so there aren’t a ton available today. He ended his career in the
The Great Silence – 1968 Corbucci
Corbucci’s most serious film, a brilliant revisionist western starring two titans of European cinema, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Klaus Kinski, just because they became household namesA devastating Morricone score as well- perhaps not as catchy as
Drunken Angel – 1948 Kurosawa
The first of 16 pairings (in 16 years) between the acclaimed director/actor pairing of Kurosawa and Mifune – perhaps the greatest pairing in the cinema historyIt was Mifune’s fourth film, but the first I have
La Vie de Bohème – 1992 Kaurismäki
A bit of a change of pace from Kaurismäki—unlike his Proletariat Trilogy (color films, very short, set in Finland, single protagonist) this is a black and white film about three characters (further cementing Kaurismaki with
The 187th Best Director of All-Time: Zhangke Jia
Zhangke Jia. Like all most great auteurs it is the accumulation of Zhangke Jia’s body of work that you can fully appreciate the artist. He’s the leading director of the sixth generation of Chinese directors
One Wonderful Sunday – 1947 Kurosawa
Almost like a combination of Open City from Rossellini and Brief Encounter from David Lean (maybe a tad of depression-era Capra)- a two-hander romance, a couple drifting through a city (during a set period of
An Affair to Remember – 1957 McCarey
It has a lofty reputation as one of the great classic romances – it’s a fine film, and in the archives, but artistically it is dwarfed by comparison if you look at what say Douglas
Brother Orchid – 1940 Bacon
A moderately successful comedy brought to life by an inspired lead performance by Edward G. Robinson and Bogart waiting in the wings ready to break out in 1940. Certainly a factory product- Warners Bros was
The Bells of St. Mary’s – 1945 McCarey
The sequel to 1944’s best picture winning Going My Way, Bells of St Mary’s reunites McCarey and Bing Crosby and then brings Ingrid Bergman in for the Barry Fitzgerald role--- this was nominated for all
The 186th Best Director of All-Time: Tony Richardson
Richardson. Tony Richardson is the leading voice of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s Kitchen Sink Realism movement in the UK—also known as the angry young men movement or the British New Wave. What a