Nighttime dramas are the backbone of series TV. Whether they are streamed, binged, cabled or in a box set, they are our default mode when viewed from the couch. This Last Reel takes us from TV’s live “Golden Age” to Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Fugitive, Naked City and features Route 66. My theory is that…
Here’s a rather good picture that’s a tough sell. We especially admire its comic tightrope act … there’s no humor in the Holocaust, but there always is in human nature. It’s a potentially grim story positioned as comedy, or an odd kind of anti-comedy. David Hayman is a cranky old concentration camp survivor living in…
Sans mobile apparent. Star Jean-Louis Trintignant and composer Ennio Morricone dominate this cheerfully attractive serial killer tale, shot in sunny Nice. A mad sniper is nailing Frenchmen right and left, and Inspector Trintignant is fresh out of clues. Philippe Labro directs from a book by Ed McBain, with Dominique Sanda, Carla Gravina, Laura Antonelli and…
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies, and many more, at Trailers From Hell. This week, a trio of films dabbling in dragons, to one extent or another. We also have some fire-breathing wine pairings for each. Dragons Forever is a 1988 action/comedy martial arts movie…
Veteran producer Damien Douglas is about to embark on his most epic quest yet: fulfilling a decades-long dream to put a unique spin on the classic sword-and-sandal adventure. Douglas (To Get Her, The Contract, Fatale, The Gen Zone, D.O.P.E. Unit) is slated to begin production later this year on the recently announced historical saga Moors,…
I’ll bet that plenty of Russians enjoy this Cold War thriller — Sean Connery charms everyone. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan tale is a real winner, with a a cast that really shines: Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones, Richard Jordan, Peter Firth, Tim Curry, Stellan Skarsgård and Jeffrey Jones. The seagoing…
In Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ, Pilate dismisses Jesus as “just another Jewish politician.” Jesus a politician? The idea has enraged some and inspired others. Written by Paul Schrader, the 1988 film was harassed from the word “go” but it wasn’t the only movie of its kind to be attacked by the mob,…
Head Against the Wall. Georges Franju’s first feature adapts a novel protesting the French system of mental health asylums — and breathes poetry into every scene, with images that evoke more than what meets the eye. Young star (and screenwriter) Jean-Pierre Mocky is a spoiled punk locked away by a vengeful father. There’s no appeal:…
High on the list of ’60s mainstream movie entertainments is this twist-laden comic-romantic murder thriller, cleverly modeled on the Hitchcock template by screenwriter Peter Stone. The subgenre usually concentrates either on style or the charm of its personalities; with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant we get both. It’s got chemistry and a sense of fun:…
