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Those expecting a standard biography of the renowned Italian painter need to look elsewhere for this is anything but a standard biography. Those familiar with British filmmaker Derek Jarman’s other movies will not be surprised by what they find here but others certainly will (as various reviews attest). The painter Caravaggio becomes a metamphor forContinue reading “CARAVAGGIO (1986)”

THE MILL & THE CROSS is about the 16th century Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder and one of his more celebrated paintings THE WAY TO CALVARY. If you’re not interested in Art and especially the work of Renaissance painters, then you’ll wnat to give this movie a wide berth. If you are interested thenContinue reading “THE MILL & THE CROSS: A Remarkable Cinematic Achievement”

…and I’m not just referring to the ship. When this movie came out in 1980 (based on Clive Cussler’s bestselling book), the discovery of the real Titanic was still 5 years away. No way the filmmakers could know that and considering the condition of the real Titanic when it was discovered, this (in classic HollywoodContinue reading “RAISE THE TITANIC (1980) Has Become A Victim Of History…”

I saw OPERATION CROSSBOW in the mid 1960s when it first came out and was surprised by how low key and how remarkably effective it was compared to the average Hollywood World War II movie. Even as a young teenager I found the story gripping and quickly got used to the lack of Hollywood extrasContinue reading “OPERATION CROSSBOW Is A Remarkably Realistic World War II Espionage Saga”

THE DARK VALLEY (DAS FINSTERE TAL) was recommended to me by a member of one of my silent film classes and was well worth the recommendation. He even provided the DVD which came to him courtesy of The Film Movement movie-of-the-month club. There have been German Westerns before (TREASURE OF THE SILVER LAKE, OLD SHATTERHAND)Continue reading “THE DARK VALLEY: Old Western Themes In A New Setting”

Arthur Penn is one of those directors who had a checkered career. Coming out of live TV, he came into his own in the 1960s with the movies MICKEY ONE, THE CHASE, and especially BONNIE & CLYDE. LITTLE BIG MAN (1970) was his last major success and NIGHT MOVES (1975) was his last critical one.Continue reading “DEAD OF WINTER: Director Arthur Penn Meets Alfred Hitchcock”

This 1993 adaptation of Stephen King’s book was originally 3 hours long when it first appeared on cable television (for which it was made) and then was edited into this 2 hour theatrical version. It works well enough but you can tell that there are parts missing especially at the end when the townspeople confessContinue reading “NEEDFUL THINGS: Well Done Stephen King Adaptation”

ORIGINAL REVIEW OF THE UNCUT VHS VERSION……Back in 1974 Warner Brothers along with Brut Productions (remember Brut cologne for men?) barely released two films that were classified as horror films but really weren’t. One of them, THE WICKER MAN, has attained the status of a cult classic and is well known even inspiring a remakeContinue reading “WELCOME TO ARROW BEACH (1973): Laurence Harvey’s Last Movie”

It had been many years since I first saw THE SAILOR WHO FELL FROM GRACE WITH THE SEA. I had forgotten what a beautiful film it is to look at and what a perverse film it is thematically. I’ve never read the original Yukio Mishima story but considering his life and death, I shouldn’t beContinue reading “THE SAILOR WHO FELL FROM GRACE Is Powerful, Erotic, And Extremely Disturbing”

I first saw this version of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM as a special presentation on commercial television before going off to college (yes, commercial TV did things like that back before PBS and in the pre-cable days). I fell in love with it and this is before I knew who any of the people (outsideContinue reading “A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (1968): A Remarkable Version of Shakespeare’s Play With A Once-In-A-Lifetime Cast”