By Cleaver Patterson. Some films have an air of effortless style which others can only dream about. The Man in the White Suit (1951), directed by Alexander Mackendrick and produced by the revered Michael Balcon for Ealing Studios, is one such film. Starring company regulars Alec Guinness and Joan Greenwood, […]
Of This Time: Artfilm, Slovakia
By Robert Buckeye. Film festivals can be cruise-liner worlds with several thousand people removing themselves from the world for a period of time to see films, make connections and do business Nick Riddick writes, but not all cruise ships are alike nor do they go to the same places. Some […]
Just the Facts, Man: the Complicated Genesis of Television’s Dragnet
Wheeler Winston Dixon
November 25, 2012
By Wheeler Winston Dixon. “All I want to do is make a million dollars.” (Jack Webb, 1953 [as qtd. in Hayde 2001: 59]) Jack Webb had a lot of help when he created the hit series Dragnet. The series marked a significant departure from existing models of “crime and punishment” […]
Unpacking The Silver Goat: An Interview with Aaron Brookner
By Tom Ue. Aaron Brookner was born in Greenwich Village, New York City. He studied film at Vassar College, and began his filmmaking career by assisting in the production of Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) and Rebecca Miller’s Personal Velocity (2002). In 2004, he directed the short documentary The […]
A Few Notes on Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln
By Wheeler Winston Dixon. Having just viewed Steven Spielberg’s new film Lincoln, I am moved to write a few words about it before it fades from my memory, which will happen rather rapidly. I’ll leave whatever historical inaccuracies the film may contain for others to consider – perhaps my friend […]
It Always Rains on Sunday
By Cleaver Patterson. British cinema was renowned for producing two types of film in the years following the end of World War II – polished and witty comedies and hard-bitten, realistic drama. The London based company Ealing Films were accomplished purveyors of both, with the dark humor of their sublime […]
Santa Sangre: A Psychedelic Attack on the Senses
By Cleaver Patterson. Mexican cinema has always been a law unto itself. Over the years its stars – like the legendary siren Dolores del Rio who came to international prominence during the 1930’s and the larger-than-life Cantinflas, star of the Academy Award winning adventure-comedy Around the World in 80 Days […]
Trying Too Hard: Lovely Molly (2011)
By Cleaver Patterson. Molly (Gretchen Lodge) and her new husband Tim (Johnny Lewis) move into Molly’s old family home, and settle down to married life. However the remote farmhouse harbors dark secrets from Molly’s past and, while Tim is away days at a time with his job as a long […]
Rasputin, the Devil and a Mummy: Hammer Classic Rereleases
By Cleaver Patterson. The prolific Hammer Films was a company which never ceased to amaze, both in its choice of subject and in the quality and quantity of its output. From the highs of their iconic takes on the haemoglobin drinking Count in Dracula (1958) and grotesque DIY surgery of […]
Forgotten Fincher: The Game of the Privileged
By Matthew Sorrento. By reissuing David Fincher’s The Game (1997), the Criterion Collection commits an act of outright auteurism. This film sits on the lower Fincher shelf, somewhere near Alien3 and Panic Room. The filmmaker’s come a long way – he now seems unflappable after his reflections on life/mortality in […]