Like wine, Orson Welles became more respected and rare over time. After his initial foray in Hollywood, he found it increasingly harder to finance his films. Hollywood only beckoned in need of his services as an actor, not a director.…
The Film Canon: The Seventh Seal (1957)
A skeptic in a world without skepticism. The knight, Antonius Block, returns home from the Crusades, with his squire Jöns, without a prayer: literally without a prayer. Block cannot find it in himself to pray. He has traveled across the…
The Film Canon: Dawn of the Dead (1978)
There’s not much in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. It’s usually a city that travelers bypass on their way to Pittsburgh. The only distinguishing feature is a large shopping mall. Based on its numerous stores and eateries, one could hardly find any evidence…
The Film Canon: Sweet Smell of Success
J.J. Hunsecker’s eyes watch New York night life like God. In fact, J.J is God for anyone who wants to make it big in show business. A name in his column can make a fledgling comedian into a headliner or…
The Film Canon: The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
AND WE’RE BACK! “Who will be his next victim you?” warns the lobby poster for Ida Lupino’s The Hitch-Hiker (1953). A killer is hitchhiking his way across the Southwest and leaving a trail of bodies. Two friends Ray Collins and…
SDCC 2015 Journal: Orientation Day
Five hours in a tin can flying at thirty-five thousand feet in the air will turn any spritely young man into an elderly one with mobility issues. The flight took me from the dreary East Coast to the sunny, drought-tormented…
Out of the Past: ‘Mona Lisa’ (1986)
George is the person that tries to make the right decisions, but always make the wrong ones. George has just been released from prison and is looking for a job and trying to reconnect with his daughter. He gets a…
