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Despite boasting an impressive roster of talent both in front of and behind the camera, To Have and Have Not remains a "lesser" film on Humphrey Bogart's resume, often euphemistically referred to as a "minor" or "overlooked" classic. Labeling...

An astonishing motion picture by any standards, To Kill a Mockingbird only failed to win a Best Picture Oscar because it was in the running against Lawrence of Arabia. The minimalist might call this a "courtroom drama", but that would be selling t...

"I believe that for a long time now Chinese films have been too abstract, conceptual, gimmicky. They don't relate at all to the lives of ordinary Chinese people. I'm certain that most audiences will like this film. We haven't gone overboard on t...

Tom and Viv is culture. From the opening credits to the closing caption, this is never in doubt. Not designed for mass consumption, the examination of T.S. Eliot's tragic first marriage has all the marks of a "typical" British art film (or an...

When one considers the films that won the Best Picture Oscar in the decade from 1956 through 1965, it’s evident that the Academy favored two kinds of productions: spectacles and musicals. During that span, there were two outliers: 1960’s T...

Top Gun is an ‘80s testosterone fix – a celebration of machismo and a recruiting film for the U.S. Navy. Typical of Jerry Bruckheimer/Don Simpson at their peak, the movie embraces masculine tropes to create a patchwork narrative that is almost...

It's rare for a feature film to attain the trifecta of entertaining, informing, and educating. Most motion pictures set against an historical backdrop inevitably bend the facts to fit their story. Unless the movie claims to be a documentary, this...

The lives of tortured artists have always made for fascinating film fare. From Amadeus to Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, dramatic re-creations of the often-frenzied, always-tormented lives of "great" men and women have captivated audiences. ...

Given the screenplay for The Tourist, Alfred Hitchcock would have hired Cary Grant (or Jimmy Stewart) and Grace Kelly. Then he would have applied his particular brand of magic - the one that allowed him to sell the improbable - and an engaging rom...

Towelhead is a victim of the economics of movie-making. Despite being a critical success at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival (where is played under the name of Nothing Is Private), Towelhead has languished on shelves for a full year. With Warner Br...