Monthly Archives: July 2011

“Stage and Spectacle”: The Golden Coach (Jean Renoir, 1953)

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Budd Wilkins

Upon returning to Europe after spending WWII as a Hollywood exile, where he had turned out studio product ranging from the sublime (The Southerner) to the not-quite-ridiculous (Woman on the Beach, which suffered more from studio interference, by all accounts, … Continue reading →

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“Frantic”: Zazie dans le métro (Louis Malle, 1960)

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Budd Wilkins

Director Louis Malle’s third feature signals a sea change in his work: gone are the dark visuals and themes of the neo-noir Elevator to the Gallows, let alone the envelope-pushing erotic fireworks of The Lovers (though, like Elevator, Zazie is … Continue reading →

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“No Exit”: Brute Force (Jules Dassin, 1947)

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Budd Wilkins

This explosive, powerhouse prison film effectively reunites a large number of cast and crew from the previous year’s The Killers: producer Mark Hellinger, composer Miklos Rózsa, screenwriter Richard Brooks (uncredited for his Killers work), star Burt Lancaster and actors Edmond … Continue reading →

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“Flower of Evil”: Pale Flower (Masahiro Shinoda, 1964)

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Budd Wilkins

Japanese New Wave meets old-style film noir in Masahiro Shinoda’s exceptional black-and-white film, every bit as extraordinary as his later Double Suicide (1969), a cubist/minimalist deconstruction of a well-known Kabuki drama. In addition to the prevalent noir tropes (location shooting … Continue reading →

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Take Two: Ernest Hemingway’s The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946 & Don Siegel, 1964)

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Budd Wilkins

[Introducing Take Two, a new feature on this blog that will explore the contextual (historical, aesthetic and otherwise) similarities and differences between two versions of the same material, whether two films based on the same source or simply original and … Continue reading →

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“Disaster Capitalism”: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Michael Bay, 2011)

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Budd Wilkins

For its first twenty minutes or so, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is not only eminently watchable, it’s also downright fascinating, putting forward—in a clever and calculatedly streamlined fashion—an Autobot-centered conspiracy theory behind the Space Race, leading up to Apollo … Continue reading →

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Capsule Reviews: July 11 – 16

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Budd Wilkins

The Furies (Anthony Mann, 1950) – 4/5 Fresh from a triple feature of film noir classics (T-Men, Raw Deal and Border Incident [1947-49]) featuring the moody monochrome cinematography of the legendary John Alton, Mann segues into the genre he would … Continue reading →

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Capsule Reviews: June 24 – July 11

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Budd Wilkins

For Your Height Only (Eddie Nicart, 1981) Queen of Black Magic (Liliek Sudijo, 1983) Two from cult DVD label Mondo Macabro’s schlockmeister of choice, producer Dick Randall. Hands down the more amusing entry, Height towers over the competition—if by competition … Continue reading →

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