Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969) – the Friday Classic review
Kinnemaniac The late Ernest Borgnine’s best film, Peckinpah’s bloodbath still feels simultaneously timeless and modern: an elegy to the classic West(ern) and a revolution in film-making. The Wild Bunch...
View ArticleWe Care Because We’re There – Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954) – the...
Kinnemaniac So good it’s been successfully remade as Western, space opera and insect animation, but so spectacularly brilliant that none has eclipsed it Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, Jap, 1954) Seven...
View ArticleThe Matrix trilogy (1999-2003) – the Friday Classic review
Kinnemaniac Clearly intended to be the Holy Trinity of sci-fi movies, but a turgid second – and third – coming take the lustre off the original’s deification. The Matrix trilogy (The Wachowski...
View ArticlePaul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood (2007) – the Friday Classic review
Kinnemaniac It didn’t make the Sight & Sound top 100 this decade, but it’s only a matter of time before Paul Thomas Anderson ends up drinking everyone’s milkshake. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas...
View ArticleRobert Bresson’s A Man Escaped (1956) – the Friday Classic review
Kinnemaniac Shawshank for adults: the definite prison escape movie. Bresson’s unblinking focus offers a unique marriage of suspense and serenity that is profoundly rewarding A Man Escaped (Robert...
View ArticlePicture It With Sound: Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s Singin’ In The Rain...
Kinnemaniac Movies: cynical money-making schemes or joyous artistic creations? Make them a musical, and there’s no reason they can’t be both. Happy Centenary, Gene Kelly! Singin’ in the Rain (Gene...
View ArticleHither & Zither: Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949) – the Friday Classic review
Kinnemaniac As English as Schnitzel, but with Graham Greene, Carol Reed and Trevor Howard, it’s a fascinating allegory of Brits abroad in a rapidly changing world The Third Man (Carol Reed, GB, 1949)...
View ArticleRight Of Passage: Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me (1986) – the Friday Classic review
Kinnemaniac The benchmark of all rites of passage movies – funny, wistful and life-affirming. Watching it should be a rite of passage in itself. Stand By Me (Rob Reiner, US, 1986) That kids’ films are...
View ArticleFighting Fuel: Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon (1973) – the Friday Classic review
Kinnemaniac Hollywood does its damnedest to neuter Bruce Lee’s danger, but every decision-by-committee only enhances his majesty. Enter The Dragon (Robert Clouse, 1973) Bruce Lee’s rise to...
View ArticleFrontier Psychiatrist: Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (1977) – the Friday Classic...
Kinnemaniac Lah di dah. Woody’s classic “film about nothing” taught Jerry Seinfeld everything he knows, and smuggled jokes about metaphysics into the comedy canon. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, US, 1977)...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....