Early on in John G. Avildsen‘s 1973 feature Save the Tiger, Phil Greene (played by the great Jack Gilford) laments to the main character, despondent businessman Harry Stoner (the inimitable Jack Lemmon), that “they” (the film industry) haven’t made a “…good movie in 30 years.” This casual disparagement of an industry comes across almost as…Read more Film Review: Save the Tiger (1973)
Film Reviews
Film Review: Scarlet Street (1945)
Once an archetypal cinematic gangster, the diminutive Edward G. Robinson did a bold about-face in Fritz Lang's excellent noir, Scarlet Street. In Lang's studio shot, oppressively claustrophobic film, the man who once was Little Caesar is reduced to puddy in the claws of femme-fatale Kitty March (played with great bombast by Joan Bennett). Lang, always…Read more Film Review: Scarlet Street (1945)
Film Review: The Cranes are Flying (1957)
The Cranes are Flying is a great slice of Soviet cinema, focusing on a small set of characters caught up in epic events. The film chronicles the plight of Veronika, a young woman living in Russia who finds herself and her lover Boris (the most stereotypically Russian name of all time) separated through the horror…Read more Film Review: The Cranes are Flying (1957)
Film Review: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Rise of the Guardians is a film possessing an intriguing premise: the legendary figures of Santa Clause, The Easter Bunny, The Sandman and the Tooth Fairy are all secretly not only aware of each other, but are all guardians who work together to defend the world’s children from the forces of evil. These supernatural characters are…Read more Film Review: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Film Review: A Late Quartet (2012)
A Late Quartet is certainly one of the sturdiest, unassuming films that I've seen in a while. Written and directed by Yaron Ziberman with a screenplay assist by Seth Grossman, the film is a straightforward drama with only modest ambitions. While unsurprising in its storytelling and aesthetics, A Late Quartet features superb acting and a…Read more Film Review: A Late Quartet (2012)
Film Review: The China Syndrome (1979)
The two most important scenes of 1979′s The China Syndrome are the two static shots of network television monitors which bookend James Bridges' film. The shots of television monitors depict members of the television media covering puff-piece stories. This establishes an immediate and powerfully condemning connection with the deplorable, 24 hour media circus of the…Read more Film Review: The China Syndrome (1979)
Film Review: Stromboli (1950)
With the War Trilogy behind him, the esteemed Roberto Rossellini moved himself out of the grime and the gloom of the war-torn European mainland with 1950's Stromboli. This would be the first film that the Italian heavyweight would make with the too-beautiful-for-words Ingrid Bergman. In Stromboli the actress plays Karin, a woman from Lithuania who…Read more Film Review: Stromboli (1950)
Film Review: A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
With its requisite one-liners, cackling, villainous dandies and violence free from moral inspection, the resurgent 80′s action vehicle is here to stay. Unfortunately, the results seem to be very hit or miss. Despite what you may have heard, A Good Day to Die Hard is not an atrocious film, it just isn’t a very good one. Rounding out the trio of new…Read more Film Review: A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
Film Review: Germany Year Zero (1948)
Aside from Vittorio De Sica there is no name that dominates the national film movement of Italian Neorealism more than Roberto Rossellini. A few years before the heavenly Ingrid Bergman would send Rossellini her now iconic letter, the Italian master was hard at work filming a series of searing war-time tales: Rome Open City, Paisan,…Read more Film Review: Germany Year Zero (1948)
Film Review: The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
With the release of the second installment of The Hobbit Trilogy it is now clear that the power and emotion of the first LOTR films is not coming back. The good news is that the pacing problems which plagued Jackson's first film are less detrimental here. The seemingly endless run-time of The Desolation of Smaug…Read more Film Review: The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Adam Mohrbacher 