Very few filmmakers have a good last film. Kubrick was incredibly lucky. Hitchcock was not. In general, directors tend to wane in their later careers–Clint Eastwood’s blossoming into such an artist aside–and, depending on their popularity and influence, they live into the era they inspired and no one wants to listen to them anymore. Orson […]
Entries Tagged as 'Burt Lancaster'
The Osterman Weekend (1983, Sam Peckinpah)
March 22nd, 2006 No Comments
Recommend on MahaloField of Dreams (1988, Phil Alden Robinson)
February 23rd, 2006 No Comments
If asked, I’d probably blame MTV, video games, and CG for the downfall of American cinema. These reasons are my knee-jerk examples and, if they’re not the whole problem, they’re certainly the major contributing factors. However, following Field of Dreams, I think I’ll have to revise my answer. There’s a sense of cynicism about American […]
Conversation Piece (1974, Luchino Visconti)
November 30th, 2005 No Comments
I adore broad, sweeping statements. Here goes: I do not think any film, of all the films I have seen (conservatively, a couple thousand, maybe three), has had a worst last thirty seconds than Conversation Piece. It’s so incredible, so incredibly bad, I can’t believe the cast and crew didn’t start giggling when a) reading […]
The Killers (1946, Robert Siodmak)
October 21st, 2005 No Comments
When it comes to film noir, more than any other genre, I always wonder how some of these films got their sterling reputations….
The Killers isn’t too bad. It never gets as good as the opening, the adaptation of Hemingway’s actual story (it was a Nick Adams story in fact). The rest, with insurance investigator Edmond […]
