On WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP
A rare (perhaps sole) example of surreal history
PHILLY
A “modern tale of the macabre” that worked better in its movie adaptation: the 1981 teen comedy PRIVATE LESSONS
STAGE FRIGHT (1987)
A rather important example of 1980s Italosploitation cinema
On LES VAMPIRES
The legendary French crime saga from 1915 that’s not actually about vampires.
SHOGUN ASSASSIN
The first two episodes of the LONE WOLF AND series, combined in one unforgettable film.
THE NORTHMAN
This 2022 epic, the third film directed by Robert Eggers (following THE WITCH andf THE LIGHTHOUSE), is a spirited throwback to the Viking epics of old
Ray Liotta and The Slide
The May 26, 2022 demise of actor Ray Liotta has thrown one aspect of his career into extremely sharp relief
THE BED SITTING ROOM
In which the UK’s new wave science fiction scene came (briefly) to Hollywood, courtesy of director Richard Lester
F/X 2
Not without interest, as indicated by the fact that future Hollywood heavyweight Bill Condon was the screenwriter, and the Australian thriller specialist Richard Franklin the director
SOMETHING WILD
In tallying the output of the late Jonathan Demme, I find that the criminally underrated SOMETHING WILD ranks near the top