“Tokyo… After three long years. It makes my head spin. Just look at it. Why so many people crammed into tiny cage-like boxes? People… Such strange animals. What keeps them all going? They look like they’re half dead. Making a frantic pretense of being alive. What was so wrong about killing one of these stupid … Continue reading Plucking the Petals of Masahiro Shinoda’s Pale Flower (1964)
CRIME & PUNISHMENT: LE CERCLE ROUGE (1970)
August 10, 2017: FilmStruck is currently streaming 11 films featuring Alain Delon as part of their “Icons: Alain Delon” theme and for the next 4 weeks I’ll be spotlighting a few of my favorite titles in this collection. To learn more about the French actor please see a previous post I wrote in 2010 to celebrate … Continue reading CRIME & PUNISHMENT: LE CERCLE ROUGE (1970)
HONOR AMONG THIEVES: FAREWELL, FRIEND (1968)
In the tradition of classic French heist films such as Touchez pas au grisbi (1954), Rififi (1955) and Bob le flambeur (1956), Farewell, Friend (aka Honor Among Thieves, 1968) takes viewers on a treacherous adventure where femme fatales lurk around every shadowy corner and crime rarely pays. But that doesn’t stop some fortune hunters from risking everything to make a quick buck or in … Continue reading HONOR AMONG THIEVES: FAREWELL, FRIEND (1968)
Triad Theater: THE MISSION (1999)
Shakespearean in its scope and operatic in its execution, THE MISSION (‘99) remains one of the most taut, compelling and superbly composed films made in Hong Kong during the 1990s. This sinewy thriller helped cement Johnnie To’s reputation as one of today’s most accomplished action directors and you can currently catch it streaming on FilmStruck … Continue reading Triad Theater: THE MISSION (1999)
CRIME & PASSION: POOL OF LONDON (1951)
I, along with some of my fellow StreamLine colleagues, have been modestly building a case for the reassessment of Basil Dearden’s career during the past year by spotlighting many of his films including Sapphire (1959), The League of Gentlemen (1960), Victim (1961), All Night Long (1963), Frieda(1947), The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) and The Captive Heart (1946). Despite the fact that the British director has been the … Continue reading CRIME & PASSION: POOL OF LONDON (1951)
Film Writing Nov. 2016 – April 2017
It's been awhile. Work obligations, as well as personal projects and other responsibilities, have taken precedence over updating my blogs. Of course, you can always find me on my Tumblr as well as Twitter & Facebook. Before I let another month get away, I thought I'd finally share an update to the film writing I've … Continue reading Film Writing Nov. 2016 – April 2017
Jan. & Feb. 2016 at TCM’s Movie Morlocks
Links to some of the writing I did for TCM's Movie Morlocks blog in Jan. & Feb. Jan. 7: William Cameron Menzies: Chandu the Magician (1932) Excerpt: "In recent weeks, you might have heard about the upcoming Doctor Strange film currently scheduled for release in November of 2016. The news caught my attention because I’ve … Continue reading Jan. & Feb. 2016 at TCM’s Movie Morlocks
6 Months of Film Writing
I'm afraid I've been neglecting Cinebeats again but I've been busy with various personal projects and obligations. I've also recently started writing for Publishers Weekly but I thought I'd finally update with some highlights from TCM's Movie Morlocks. Here's some of the more interesting (in my estimation) film related writing & entertaining babble I've produced … Continue reading 6 Months of Film Writing
SEIJUN SUZUKI’S EVERYTHING GOES WRONG (1960)
I recently signed up for a temporary “Plus” account with Hulu.com so I could sample some of the hard-to-see Japanese films Criterion has made available there. According to Criterion their partnership with Hulu “gives viewers a chance to explore our library, sample films they might want to buy, discover films they never knew they would want, and … Continue reading SEIJUN SUZUKI’S EVERYTHING GOES WRONG (1960)
A Joan Blondell Blogathon
The funny & fabulous Joan Blondell From my latest post at the Movie Morlocks: "During the month of August TCM highlights the work of a select group of talented performers as part of their annual Summer Under the Stars festival. The Movie Morlocks were asked to select one overlooked star from the Summer Under the … Continue reading A Joan Blondell Blogathon
Johnny Cool (1963)
<a href=" Elizabeth Montgomery (1963) I neglected to mention that I wrote a brief piece about the movie Johnny Cool (1963) for Turner Classic Movies last month. It's an interesting crime film with a standout performance from actress Elizabeth Montgomery who is mostly remembered as the witch with the twitchy nose in Bewitched. Episodes of … Continue reading Johnny Cool (1963)
Celebrating Woody Strode
Woody Strode in The Italian Connection (1972) Apologies for the lack of direct updates lately but I'm still getting moved into my new home and my free time is limited at the moment. In the meantime you can still find me posting at the Movie Morlocks every week and you can also occasionally find me … Continue reading Celebrating Woody Strode
