By Matthew Sorrento. All artists reach a point when they want to make their good work great. The intention was right for William Faulkner, whose novel Flags in the Dust was cut down by his agent and publisher, into the much tamer Sartoris. Knowing he was holding back even in […]
The Sessions: A Modest Glimpse of Utopia
By Christopher Sharrett. Ben Lewin’s The Sessions is not a great film, and its status as a good one may in part be due to its circumscription by yet another dreadful “holiday season” of superhero films, juvenile fantasy, and feel-good family comedies. But the film is commendable for its remarkable […]
Zombie Flesh Eaters
By Cleaver Patterson. There are some films which everyone, whether they’ve seen them or not, has an opinion on. Virtually everything which fell under the auspices of ‘Video Nasties’ – the notorious witch hunt against a grouping of violent, sadistic and gore soaked films mainly from the late 1970’s and […]
The Man in the White Suit
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, […]
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 […]
Love alters when it alteration finds: Confession (2012)
By Robert Kenneth Dator. The missed assignation, and the phone call that never comes, and the axioms would seem to pile up in drifts within the mind of the suffering lover: ‘leave well enough alone’; ‘let sleeping dogs lie’; ‘curiosity killed the cat’—even so, the voices of a weak resolve […]
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 […]