Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer and Kirk Douglas bring the noir genre to roaring life on the big screen with this 1947 adaptation of the novel by Geoffrey Holmes. It’s also the first recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Point Blank. Mitchum is Jeff Bailey. He lives…
Tag: city
Star Trek: Crisis On Centaurus (1986) – Brad Ferguson
Well, except for the product placement, the implication that the Earth isn’t under a one government rule, and that the economics of the future are a little different (according to Picard) which is not followed here, most of this tale is fairly enjoyable. In fact, of it had been rewritten and edited a little more…
Man with a Movie Camera (1929) – Dziga Vertov
Vertov’s engaging documentary is the next stop in DK Canada’s The Movie Book. It falls solidly and enjoyably in the What Else to Watch list of Battleship Potemkin. A man, Mikhail Kaufman, wanders the city and captures the daily life of the Soviet Union in a brilliantly engaging way, marrying idea to image as only…
A Corner in Wheat (1909) – D.W. Griffith
As I continue digging further into DK Book’s The Movie Book, I move onto the work of D.W. Griffith. I had previously reviewed his epic film, Intolerance, and have moved onto his key works. Listed first is A Corner in Wheat, a short from 1909. This film is as stunningly relevant today as it was…
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) – Steven Spielberg
The next stop for me in the Sci-Fi Chronicles is the dinosaur franchise that began with a novel, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton and became a blockbuster film by Steven Spielberg. He followed up that first film from 1993, with The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997. While it lacks the discovery and the sense…
Hot Docs 2015: Tuk-Tuk – Romany Saad
Screening today at the Scotiabank theatre at 9:15 is this vibrant and intriguing look at the streets of Cairo, through the eyes of three young boys. Bika, Abdullah and Sharon are young, energetic, and hardworking, driving their motorized rickshaws, tuk-tuks, through the busy back streets and throughways of the city. Definitely not old enough to…
The Eclipse (1962) – Michelangelo Antonioni
Continuing my exploration of the drama genre after my viewing of Last Tango in Paris for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. So I settled in to have my introduction to the films of Antonioni, and, I liked what I saw. The shots, looks and moments are all wonderfully composed, as…
Hot Docs 2014: Before the Last Curtain Falls (Thomas Wallner)
Having its World Premiere this evening at 8:30, at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, this gorgeously shot film is a stirring documentary about performance, love and sexuality. The center of the film’s focus is a group of aging gay and trans cabaret performers who have gone on tour with their beautifully choreographed stage show, Gardenia. Now, the tour…
Sunrise – A Tale of Two Humans (1927) – F.W. Murnau
Following on the tail of Pandora’s Box, this recommendation from Great Movies – 100 Years of Film,a splendidly filmed silent movie, is a moving and involving drama, that follows two characters on their rediscovery of their love for one another, and the threat of its loss. Set in a small village, frequented by city dwellers,…
Greed (1924) – Erich von Stroheim
The Great Movies – 100 Year of Film book brings me the first drama title to take a look at. Directed by Erich von Stroheim and based on the novel, McTeague by Frank Norris, Greed is a massive story, that when originally put together by Stroheim for a screening, ran for nine and a half hours!!…
The Mind Reels 