Directed by Rémy Belvaux
Starring Benoît Poelvoorde
Since out last film took place in Belgium, why not a Belgian film? I revisited this film recently while preparing for a presentation on the subjective camera and it’s uses in film. In the past, I’ve found Man Bites Dog to be an inspirational film for me, one that I actually [...]
Man Bites Dog (1992)
Walkabout (1971)
Directed by Nicolas Roeg
Starring Jenny Agutter, Luc Roeg
Well it looks like it’s going to be Down Under week on My Queue as the slate of films I have planned all come from Austrailia or New Zealand. We’ll start out with one of my favorites, brought to my attention again because it’s scheduled for a [...]
Happiness (1998)
Directed by Todd Solondz
Starring Jane Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jon Lovitz, Dylan Baker, Lara Flynn Boyle, Justin Elvin, Cynthia Stevenson, Lila Glantzman-Leib, Gerry Becker, Rufus Read, Louise Lasser, Ben Gazzara, Camryn Manheim, Arthur J. Nascarella, Molly Shannon, Ann Harada, Douglas McGrath
This movie might as well be called, “Fucked Up,” cause that’s exactly what it [...]
Les Diaboliques (1954)
Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot
Starring Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot
What attracted me to this movie was a review I read somewhere that called Les Diaboliques, “the greatest Alfred Hitchcock movie never made,” and wow, does it feel like one. Rumors abound that Hitchcock lost out on the right to the novel by a matter of hours. [...]
Insomnia (1997)
Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg
Starring: Stellan Skarsgard
Having an obsession with film noir out of college, I immediately gravitated toward Insomina, when I heard the director’s aim was to turn the genre on its head. It was this visual style, using pervasive light in a disorienting and ubitiquitous manner, combined with the powerful performance by Stellan Skarsgard [...]
The Third Man (1949)
Director: Carol Reed
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten
Awards: BFI Best British Film of the 20th Century (1999)
Quite simply, my favorite film. Out of work, novel writer Holly Martins arrives in war-torn Vienna looking for a job, only to find his only friend, Henry Lime dead. Upon investigating further, Holly comes to find that his friend was [...]
Le Circle Rouge (1970)
Director: Jean-Pierre Meville
Starring: Alain Delon, Bourvil, Yves Montand
Another great French jewel heist film, this one a good 15 years after Rififi and following in its greatness. It’s The Defiant Ones meets Heat, when a murderer on the run hides in the trunk of a recently released convict’s getaway car. Both men are dangerous and mercilessly [...]
A Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)
Director: Peter Weir
Starring: Rachel Roberts, Vivean Grey
Awards: Best Cinematography (British society of Cinematographers 1976, BAFTA 1977)
I was introduced to this film by the other founder of this site and found it to be a delightful little science fiction/mystery movie. Based on the novel by Joan Lindsay, the film follows a group of schoolgirls who disappear [...]
Black Narcissus (1947)
Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Starring: Deborah Kerr
Awards: Academy Award for Cinematography and Art Direction
I got in a little trouble recommending this film to my sister, whose tastes gravitate toward romantic comedies of the Reese Witherspoon variety. This is definitely not one of those films. This is a film with some substance and a very unique [...]
Rififi (1955)
Director: Jules Dassin
Starring: Jean Servais
Slated for an Al Pacino remake in 2009, Rififi, one of the original heist movies has one of the most suspenseful and influential robbery sequences in film history. Helmed by one of the great film noir directors, Rififi (meaning brawling in French) follows Tony le Stephanois who recently [...]
