Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in Charade While there is much to love about Stanley Donen’s romantic thriller, Michaela Owens tucks into one specific aspect that makes Audrey Hepburn’s character so entertaining. Reggie Lampert is terrified. Her husband, Charlie, has been murdered. A trio of dastardly men are after the $250,000 he stole from them,… Read more »
Poster for His Girl Friday Jesse Pasternack explains what makes Cary Grant’s work so dazzling in the indelible rom-com His Girl Friday. His Girl Friday (1940) is full of great performances. There’s the iconic and hilarious one given by Rosalind Russell, the sweet and subtly funny one given by Ralph Bellamy, as well as a… Read more »
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 »