Armageddon (Michael Bay, 1998) immediately announces what kind of film it is. Beginning 65 million years ago with the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, we watch the blast ripple across the planet and into the opening titles. “Armageddon” bursts into flames and explodes in pieces outward toward the audience. From the vantage point of 2023,… Read more »
Bright red blood. When you say the name Wes Anderson to me, that is the first thing that comes to my mind. Not mise-en-scènes that are perfectly balanced or stone-faced actors saying witty lines or whimsical European dreamscapes. No, it is blood cascading down the arms of Luke Wilson — sweet, beautiful Luke Wilson —… Read more »
It’s hard to watch The Heroic Trio (1993) and not feel like you’re seeing one of the most entertaining movies ever made. Its collection of gonzo delights (some of which are best left unspoiled) and imaginative sense of worldbuilding make it a treat for fans of cinema that is a little off the beaten path…. Read more »
Why do some films seem to get endlessly parodied, referenced, and remade decades after their release? Like the sequence of the baby carriage rolling down the steps in 1925’s Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein) or the eponymous “red balloon” of The Red Balloon (Albert Lamorisse, 1956), we see iconography from certain films repeatedly ported into others…. Read more »
Vampires are a B-movie staple. Whether produced by Hammer Films or Roger Corman, off-Hollywood audiences never seem to tire of them. They’re a monster that’s just human enough to be alluring but still dangerous and thrilling. While the film vampire has had strong erotic undertones since at least Bela Lugosi’s 1931 portrayal of Count Dracula,… Read more »
“So, Von Sternberg’s movies had to have plots even though they already had them inherent in the images. What he did was make movies naturally — he lived in a visual world. The explanation plots he made up out of some logic having nothing to do with the visuals of his films. His expression was… Read more »