Released to a good bit of critical acclaim but limited commercial attention almost two decades ago, and mostly forgotten on both ends in the meantime, director Tom McCarthy’s The Visitor is a movie that not just deserves but actually needs to be rediscovered today. Not to date this review too much (we’ll see how this… Read More Either You Belong or You Don’t | The Visitor (2007)
I’ve previously used the Film at 11 podcast to introduce one of my sons to the James Bond franchise, and even started him off the right way with a Sean Connery entry. That was Thomas watching Goldfinger at the time, back in episode 18. I feel I’m overdue to bring my other son, Joseph, into… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 47 | Dr. No (1962)
Love Roman Holiday though I may, Audrey Hepburn won her Oscar for the wrong movie. Arguments can be made for Breakfast and Tiffany’s or, I suppose, My Fair Lady, and I wouldn’t deny that she’s luminous in all of them. However, for my money, the actress gave her best performance in Wait Until Dark, the… Read More The World’s Champion Blind Lady | Wait Until Dark (1967) Blu-ray
Let’s talk for a moment about unexplained phenomena. In the more than three decades since The X Files premiered on television and became a cult hit that would, over time, grow into a major cultural sensation, how is it that just about everyone on the planet has taken to spelling the show’s name incorrectly? Not… Read More Might We Not Finally Turn to the Fantastic as a Plausibility? | The X Files (1993) Series Premiere
I took a calculated risk with the Film at 11 podcast this week. Even knowing my poor track record for watching fantasy and adventure movies from the late 1970s or early 1980s with my son Thomas, I pushed him into sitting through the original 1981 Clash of the Titans anyway. Thomas has been studying Greek… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 46 | Clash of the Titans (1981)
Despite effectively kicking off the modern era of superhero blockbusters with its first movie in 2000, Fox’s X-Men franchise suffered serious quality swing issues with later installments and started to feel like an also-ran when competing against the even more successful Marvel Cinematic Universe. The series seemed to bounce back a little with the prequel… Read More Think Peaceful Thoughts | X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) Blu-ray
The Film at 11 podcast welcomes a new participant this week, as I’m joined by both of my sons and, for the first time, our dog JoJo, who was very confused about the whole business. We felt it appropriate to bring in JoJo for a viewing of Christopher Guest’s mockumentary classic Best in Show. I’ll… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 45 | Best in Show (2000)
In the very brief span of just nineteen months, between multiple Oscar wins for The Deer Hunter in April 1979 to the disastrous financial and critical failure of Heaven’s Gate in November 1980, Michael Cimino went from being a celebrated Hollywood darling to a pariah in the filmmaking industry. The director wouldn’t attempt (or wouldn’t… Read More You’re Too Impressed with Yourself | Year of the Dragon (1985) Blu-ray
For our first Film at 11 podcast episode of 2026, I introduce my son Thomas to Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Thomas has recently taken an interest in old Saturday Night Live sketches by way of “Best of” compilations, and this classic comedy from Mike Myers seemed like a sure winner. Indeed, Thomas liked… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 44 | Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Even among those who’d call themselves fans (myself included), I expect most will admit that Welsh filmmaker Peter Greenaway is an acquired taste. His work actively defies traditional mainstream conventions. Greenaway makes art films, the type best appreciated in a museum setting rather than a multiplex. To that end, Greenaway’s 1985 A Zed & Two… Read More You Exhaust Me with Your Obsessions | A Zed & Two Noughts (1985) Blu-ray
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