Tag: Film from Z to A

No Honor Among Thieves | The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) Criterion Collection Blu-ray

Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) - Robert Mitchum

By the early 1970s, filmmaker Peter Yates was likely best known for directing the Steve McQueen star vehicle (pun intended) Bullitt, which had been a huge box office hit in 1968. His subsequent few films, unfortunately, failed to capitalize much on that success. Returning to the crime genre, Yates made two heist thrillers back-to-back between… Read More No Honor Among Thieves | The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) Criterion Collection Blu-ray

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Can’t Trust a Thing These Days | The Getaway (1972) Blu-ray

The Getaway (1972) - Steve McQueen & Ali MacGraw

A heist thriller starring Steve McQueen near the height of his career, directed by Sam Peckinpah, and scripted by Walter Hill, based on a book by crime novelist Jim Thompson, The Getaway surely sounds like a can’t-lose combination of talent. Critics of the day felt otherwise, but audiences ate it up, making the film one… Read More Can’t Trust a Thing These Days | The Getaway (1972) Blu-ray

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Don’t Trust Nobody | House of Games (1987) Criterion Collection Blu-ray

House of Games (1987) - Joe Mantegna and Lindsay Crouse

Con artists, and specifically con men, are a subject of much fascination for David Mamet, the acclaimed playwright behind Pulitzer-winning drama Glengarry Glen Ross. That 1983 play (and its subsequent 1992 movie adaptation) depicted conniving real estate agents trying to sucker unwitting clients into buying worthless property by any means necessary, not the least of… Read More Don’t Trust Nobody | House of Games (1987) Criterion Collection Blu-ray

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Pretentious French Movies About Pretentious French Movies Are Still Pretentious | Irma Vep (1996) Criterion Collection Blu-ray

Irma Vep (1996) - Maggie Cheung

Like countless fictional films about the making of other fictional films (Day for Night, The Player, etc.), French director Olivier Assayas’ 1996 comedy (?) Irma Vep attempts to blur some sort of line between fantasy and reality. However, this one begs a particularly frustrating question: Can a movie really be a satire of pretentious French… Read More Pretentious French Movies About Pretentious French Movies Are Still Pretentious | Irma Vep (1996) Criterion Collection Blu-ray

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You’ll Get Your Rags All Dirty | Jabberwocky (1977) Criterion Collection Blu-ray

Jabberwocky (1977)

During an early scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a Medieval peasant woman digging in a pool of mud calls up to her son (Michael Palin), “Dennis, there’s some lovely filth down here!” Wallowing in filth is the best either of them can hope for, and is likely better than their current circumstances.… Read More You’ll Get Your Rags All Dirty | Jabberwocky (1977) Criterion Collection Blu-ray

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The Sin, the Glitter, the Wickedness | Klute (1971) Blu-ray

Klute (1971) - Jane Fonda

The movie that won Jane Fonda her first acting Oscar, Klute deserves equal credit for director Alan J. Pakula, master of the 1970s paranoid conspiracy thriller. If not a conspiracy story, per se (though a little bit so), Klute is certainly rife with paranoia, and Pakula subverts the thriller genre in unexpected and remarkably effective… Read More The Sin, the Glitter, the Wickedness | Klute (1971) Blu-ray

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Friday Night’s a Great Night for Football | The Last Boyscout (1991) Blu-ray

The Last Boyscout (1991) - Bruce Willis & Damon Wayans

I have one serious gripe against the 1991 Bruce Willis action movie directed by Tony Scott. IMDb, Wikipedia, and just about every other reference source I can find today insist on spelling the title as The Last Boy Scout (four words total), even though the movie’s poster art and opening credits clearly (as I read… Read More Friday Night’s a Great Night for Football | The Last Boyscout (1991) Blu-ray

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Some Days Just Go Like That | Mystery Train (1989) Criterion Collection Blu-ray

Mystery Train (1989) - Joe Strummer, Steve Buscemi, & Rick Aviles

The appeal of films by Jim Jarmusch, especially his early work, is difficult to explain to someone who’s never watched one, and frankly even to some who have. His movies don’t exactly feel or behave like anything you’d expect from a regular movie. 1989’s Mystery Train, for example, has little story or plot to speak… Read More Some Days Just Go Like That | Mystery Train (1989) Criterion Collection Blu-ray

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No Escape from the Real World | The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) Blu-ray

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)

With a narrative premise that sounds like a gimmick, if not the basis for a comedy, The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey is in fact a very heavy drama with significant physical, emotional, and spiritual stakes for its characters. Although imperfect, the movie is quite an impressive artistic achievement that seemed at the time to signal… Read More No Escape from the Real World | The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) Blu-ray

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There Can Be No Doubt About His Sex | Orlando (1992) 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Orlando (1992) - Tilda Swinton

Adapted from a supposedly unadaptable 1928 novel by legendary author Virginia Woolf, Orlando was a key work of the early 1990s independent film movement and continues to reverberate in select areas of popular culture decades later. Spanning a period of some four hundred years, the story is a sweeping meditation on historical significance, personal identity,… Read More There Can Be No Doubt About His Sex | Orlando (1992) 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

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