Category Archives: Film

“Man of Steel” – Overkill

This is a bit of a ramble. Please bear with me. So much has been written online and in print about Man of Steel in the week since it opened, that I’m hesitant to add anything at this point (though I … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Film, Home Video, TV | 10 Comments

Gatsby Stew

Which one of these Gatsbys would you rather see? Based on the poster for the Alan Ladd version (1949), which appears to recast the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel in noirish gangster terms, it’s no contest, that’s the one for me. … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Film, Home Video, TV | 2 Comments

Burt Lancaster – “If it’s killin’ you want…”

Burt Lancaster would have been 100 years old on November 2 of this year. The Film Society of Lincoln Center is taking the occasion to show 13 of his 74 feature films. Last Friday I saw one of my favorites, … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Film, Home Video, TV | 7 Comments

The Wonder of “What Maisie Knew”

What Maisie Knew – Monday, May 13 at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. Directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, written by Nancy Doyne and Carroll Cartwright. When I first heard of this film I thought there was something familiar about the … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Film, Home Video | 4 Comments

Pennebaker, Dylan, and All the Rest

Last weekend we saw Dont Look Back (1967) at the Museum of the Moving Image, with director D.A. Pennebaker there for a Q&A after. I thought the opportunity to see the film on a big screen with the filmmaker in … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Film, Home Video, TV | 5 Comments

“Upstream Color” – Through the Looking Glass

Upstream Color – Thursday, March 29 at Magno Review and Friday, April 5 at the IFC Center. In addition to directing, writing, and producing Upstream Color, Shane Carruth also was director of photography, a camera operator, co-editor, wrote the original … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Home Video | 1 Comment

Kubrick and “The Killing”

The IFC Center in New York recently ended a week’s run of Stanley Kubrick films. I saw a double feature of two of my favorites, The Killing (1956) and Paths of Glory (1957), then topped that off the next day … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Film, Home Video, TV | 13 Comments

“Leviathan” – What the hell is this?

Leviathan – Wednesday, February 13  at Magno Review. A film by Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel. This film may be nominally called a documentary, but it’s so far from any documentary I’ve ever seen that it defies description. The press notes … Continue reading

Posted in Film | 6 Comments

Great Short Films (It’s not the size that counts)

For the past several years, the IFC Center in New York has been showing Oscar-nominated shorts in the animation, live action, and documentary categories. This has been a great opportunity to experience works we might otherwise not know much about. … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Home Video | 4 Comments

What I Saw Last Year: Best Documentaries 2012

Documentaries have become increasingly viable theatrically, probably since Michael Moore’s Roger and Me (1989) shook things up and pumped new life into non-fiction films. Recent years have seen documentaries playing for weeks, even months, in commercial theaters. 2012 was another … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Home Video | 1 Comment