THE MALTESE FALCON dir. John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet The Maltese Falcon, an adaptation of the classic Dashiell Hammett crime novel, stars Humphrey Bogart as private detective Sam Spade, Hammett's greatest creation. Spade is met by damsel Ruth Wonderly with...
TAR dir. Todd Field, starring Cate Blanchett Tar, a film centered on fictitious music composer Lydia Tar as she prepares a recording of Gusatv Mahler's Symphony No. 5, brings audiences one of the year's most fascinating character examinations. Starting with a symposium conducted by the New Yorker's...
SUNSET BOULEVARD dir. Billy Wilder, starring William Holden, Gloria Swanson, and Nancy Olson As a child, Hollywood seemed like a fairy tale long since passed. Sure, Tinseltown was still making blockbusters in the 90s that I would go on to adore, but the Golden Age that so...
Old Opinion: A near unrivaled classic that has defined science fiction filmmaking for 40 years. New Opinion: No substantial change, though I begrudgingly admit that there are dated aspects gradually making it slightly less enjoyable… Even the most skeptical critics (Darryl Mansell chief amongst them) will admit...
DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESSdir. Carl Franklin, starring Denzel Washington, Jennifer Beals, Don Cheadle, and Tom Seizmore Devil in a Blue Dress, one of the noirs that defined both the 90s and the genre in general, stars Denzel Washington as Ezekiel 'Easy' Rawlins, a man desperate...
DARK CITY dir. Alex Proyas, starring Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, and Kiefer Sutherland A protagonist who doesn’t know who he really is. A mysterious individual who promises answers. Antagonists lurking the shadows, dressing in black, and reshaping reality as they see fit. A world whose reality is...
In A Lonely Place dir. Nicholas Ray, starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame Nicholas Ray begins “In A Lonely Place” expertly setting up his plot and his characters. With a tight screenplay from Andrew Solt and Edmund H. North who adapted the story from a Dorothy B....
BRICK dir. Rian Johnson, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner, Lukas Haas, and Meagan Good Brick, a neo-noir mystery that heralded the coming of writer/director Rian Johnson, takes place in an undisclosed California suburb. Centered on high schooler Brendan Frye, the hardboiled detective story opens with him discovering...
BLACK ADAM dir. Jaume Collet-Serra, starring Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centeno, Pierce Brosnan, et. al Decades ago, back in 2014, it was announced at San Diego ComiCon that Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson would be starring as DC's anti-hero Black Adam, prompting years of speculation of how...
THE BANSHESS OF INISHERIN dir. Martin McDonagh, starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, and Barry Keoghan The Banshees of Inisherin, the latest film by writer/director Martin McDonagh, tells a story set during the Irish Civil War of a man whose best friend abruptly ceases all contact...
