My Cinema Reviews
“West Side Story”, a musical classic that has entertained and awed generation after generation. What began as a 1957 Broadway musical directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins and is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, because the storyline dealt with urban street gangs, Read More …
“Korczak” is a powerful film that highlights one of the well-known humanitarians of the holocaust. Where monuments of Dr. Janusz Korczak is seen in Warsaw, of him holding the hands of children. He has left a legacy showcasing one man’s refusal to adapt to the Read More …
Back in 1951, American author James Jones’ novel “From Here to Eternity” was released. Loosely based on his life as part of Company E of the Hawaiian’s Division’s 27th Infantry, the novel would win the National Book Award and would receive the distinction as one Read More …
Today’s cinema selection goes to “The Man in Grey” directed by Leslie Ariss. A film that was featured in the Eclipse Series “Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures”. With World War II affecting cinema worldwide, for Gainsborough Pictures, their production of melodrama films were important Read More …
“Raging Bull” is one of Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece which may have not done well in the box office because no one knew how to interpret the violence featured in the film but after time, critics and cinema publications worldwide recognize how “Raging Bull” was wonderful Read More …
Masahiro Shinoda is one of the fine Japanese directors to emerge from the Japanese New Wave of the 1960’s. While known for films such as “Ansatsu” (“Assassination”, 1964), “Ibuno Sarutobi Sasuke” (Samurai Spy, 1965) and “Shinju-ten Amijima” (Double Suice, 1969), many fans of Shimoda feel Read More …
When discussion is brought up among cinema peers of nouvelle vague (The French New Wave), its easy to think of names such as Francois Truffau, Jean-Luc Goard, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette. Individuals, colleagues and contemporaries who each worked for Cahiers du cinema before they became Read More …
As a fan of silent film, you eventually begin to read about what happened to the careers or the individuals, the stars of the silent era. From Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon Jr., Clara Bow, Mary Pickford, the Talmadge sisters and many Read More …
Francois Truffaut, one of the founders of the French New Wave, has come off a string of successful films from his 1959 hit “The 400 Blows” and the 1960 film “Shoot the Piano Player”. But in 1962, Truffaut was in love with Henri-Pierre Roche’s semi-autobiographical Read More …
1964. Jean-Luc Godard has had another success with his fifth film “Bande a part” (Band of Outsiders) and began his sixth feature film “Une femme mariée: Fragments D’un Film Tourne En 1964 en Noir et Blanc” (A Married Woman: Fragments from a film from 1964 Read More …
Today’s cinema blog post goes to “Der Blaue Angel” (The Blue Angel) directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Emil Jannings and Marlene Dietrich. A film I am currently reviewing. “The Blue Angel” is a fantastic pre-code film in which filmmaker Josef von Sternberg combines Read More …
“Incendies” is one of those films that stays in your head for quite awhile. Powerful, moving, shocking… I have to admit that it gave me that “WOW!” feeling that a film such as “The Shawshank Redemption” gave be back in 1994, unpredictable climax and a Read More …
“Gruppo Di Famiglia In Un Interno” is a film that has always hit me in so many levels. As I appreciate its humorous take on high society, it’s almost dreamlike surreal situations that often take place, I enjoy how the film was cleverly written and Read More …
In 1931, Warner Bros. produced and distributed the pre-code gangster film “The Public Enemy”. Directed by William A. Wellman (“A Star is Born”, “The Ox-Bow Incident”, “Battleground”) and starring James Cagney (“Yankee Doodle”, “Angels with Dirty Faces”, “White Heat”), Jean Harlow (“Libeled Lady”, “Suzy”, “Red Read More …
“The Patsy” is perhaps the precursor to the screwball comedy and Marion Davies does a wonderful job with her comedy in this film. From playing the spunky younger sister who is starry eyed over her sister’s boyfriend Tony, to the comedic side of the actress Read More …
Akira Kurosawa, one of the most highly revered filmmakers of all time. Akira Kurosawa’s filmmaking debut begins with the martial arts film “Sanshiro Sugata” (Judo Saga). A film that was released in Japan by Toho films back in March 1943 but because it was during Read More …
“12 Angry Men”, the classic Sidney Lumet film that featured one of the most riveting, thought-provoking courtroom dramas in cinema history. But before the 1957 film was made, writer Reginald Rose would create a teleplay of “12 Angry Men” for Westinghouse Studio One, a CBS Read More …
The 1960 comedy/drama written and directed by Billy Wilder (“Sunset Blvd.”, “Sabrina”, “Some Like It Hot”, “Kiss Me Stupid”) and co-written with I.A.L. Diamond (“Some Like It Hot”, “Kiss Me, Stupid”, “The Fortune Cookie”) was an incredible success in the box office grossing $25 million Read More …
In 1962, a yachtsman named Kenichi Horie rose to prominence when he illegally sailed across the Pacific Ocean from Nishinomiya, Japan to San Francisco, California. It was a different time back in 1962 as postwar-Japan had strict rules on its citizens sailing but for three Read More …
The announcements of David Shepard’s passing came as a big surprise on Tuesday. For many of us who watch silent films, especially silent comedies and have seen the restoration and film preservation work of David Shepard, many of us know how much he put his Read More …
Luis Bunuel’s “Belle De Jour” starring the beautiful Catherine Deneuve. One of Bunuel’s most recognized films in his oeuvre, the film is also one of Deneuve’s most recognized films in her career. But if you want to read about Catherine Deneuve’s mindset during the filming Read More …
Federico Fellini, the legendary Italian filmmaker and screenwriter known for cinema masterpieces such as “The White Sheik” (1952), “I Vitelloni” (1953), “La Strada” (1954), “Nights of Cabiria” (1957),”La Dolce Vita” (1960), “8 1/2” (1963), etc. Fellini’s films are known for capturing ethereal storylines, fantasy that Read More …
“Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” is one of those films that stays with you. You don’t remember it so much as a war film, but a film about the relationship of man and their differences. During my trips to Japan during the Winter, you can hear Read More …