The 2013 Movie Bucket List and Wasted Movies List are up!  Check them out to see the best and worst of the year!


Showing category "resources" (Show all posts)

REVIEW: The Case of The Maltese Falcon

Posted by Zach Davis on Saturday, January 25, 2014, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine 
The Maltese Falcon
Zach Davis




Directed by: John Huston

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, and Lee Patrick


John Huston's The Maltese Falcon took us to a place that many films, cartoons, and television shows would parody for years to come.  The cheesy dialogue wouldn’t have worked today.  For its time, however, The Maltese Falcon offered a fresh vision of a back alley world.  As a film noir, Huston’s first motion picture captures a dark, shado...

Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: Some Like It Hot, But Most Just Like Marilyn

Posted by Zach Davis on Friday, January 24, 2014, In : 0.00% Water 
Some Like It Hot
Zach Davis




Directed by: Billy Wilder

Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft, Joe E. Brown, and Pat O'Brien


Some Like It Hot really shows the cultural leaps and open-mindedness towards which America was heading by the end of the late fifties.  A movie about two men in drag hiding out from the mob all while Marilyn Monroe shows off, well, Marilyn.  The humor, the sexuality, and the writing were all phenomenal leaps toward what I would consider a modern movi...

Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: Jeff and Lisa, Two of the Most Frightening Ghouls, Do Anything But Love Thy Neighbor in Rear Window

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, September 22, 2013, In : 0.00% Water 
Rear Window





Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr


"Why would a man leave his apartment three times on a rainy night with a suitcase and come back three times?"
-L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart)

Alfred Hitchcock was a director known for his inquisitive use of the camera.  There was a certain curiosity about anything and everything he ever depicted on screen, perhaps none more so than his 1954 suspense thriller Rear Window.  ...

Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: If Wishes Were Horses...A Look Back at One of the Best Horseracing Movies of All Time

Posted by Guest on Monday, July 1, 2013, In : 0.00% Water 
National Velvet





Directed By: Clarence Brown


Starring: Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor, Anne Revere, Angela Lansbury, Reginald Owen, and Terry Kilburn

When you hear the word "racing" these days, you're more likely to think of the thrilling car chases in the enormous Fast and Furious franchise rather than the thoroughbred racing films which dominated the genre for the first half of the twentieth century.  Some of those films focused on the politics behind racing, such as the 1939 Lon...

Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: The Truth About Rashomon

Posted by Zach Davis on Sunday, May 26, 2013, In : 0.00% Water 
Rashomon
Zach Davis




Directed By: Akira Kurosawa

Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Kichijirô Ueda, and Noriko Honma

Rashomon achieves the ultimate standard for cinema and art in general.  The movie is certainly entertaining.  At the same time, however, it's one truly thought-provoking film.  Director Akira Kurosawa's cinematic work marks a major step in bridging the silent film era and the modern age of filmmaking (I.e. talkies).  His minimalist...

Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: Double Indemnity Casts a Shadow Over Fraud and Murder

Posted by Zach Davis on Sunday, May 5, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
Double Indemnity
Zach Davis




Directed By: Billy Wilder
 
Starring: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Jean Heather, and Byron Barr
 
Double Indemnity is a true noir film.  It is told through a narrative form and relies heavily on light and shadow.  When the noir genre was first booming, Billy Wilder was regarded as the prime inventor of this technique of using light and shadow, which ultimately became key to any noir film.  Scenes cast in extreme shadow advance the mystery and dar...

Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: Rebecca, a More Dramatic Feel From the Master of Suspense

Posted by Zach Davis on Sunday, April 7, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
Rebecca
Zach Davis




Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson, Florence Bates

Rebecca is not your typical suspense film, but that doesn't mean director Alfred Hitchcock fails to deliver a dark, mysterious ride.  What sets this apart is that Hitchcock is charged with the daunting task of building the film’s plot and thrills around a woman who is long dead before the movie even takes place.  With moving track shots of Manderley, a larg...

Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: In Vertigo, Carlotta Valdes Wandering About is Dangerous Business for Scottie Ferguson and Madeleine Elster

Posted by James Brown on Tuesday, February 12, 2013, In : 0.00% Water 

Vertigo





Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Raymond Bailey, Ellen Corby, Henry Jones, and Lee Patrick

"Only one is a wanderer; two together are always going somewhere."
-Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak)

I hate it when film experts try to list the greatest films of all time.  Filmmaking is too diverse an art form for such subjective labelling, and it reflects the tastes of just a few.  Often, experts put too much emphasis on older mov...


Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: Follow the Yellow Brick Road & You'll Find the Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, January 17, 2013, In : 0.00% Water 

The Wizard of Oz





Directed By: Victor Fleming

Starring: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charlie Grapewin, Clara Blandick, Pat Walshe, and Terry as Toto

"I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too."
-The Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton)

This might just be the most famous line in all of movie history.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, you've got a serious problem.  For the last 74 years, the Wicked Witch o...


Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: Mother's "Illness" Is a Boy's Best Friend in Psycho

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, November 22, 2012, In : 0.00% Water 

Psycho





Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, and Janet Leigh

Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most influential and pioneering directors in all of cinematic history.  In countless films, he brought terror and suspense to life in a way that no one had before him and arguably no one has since.  Among his many works, no movie may be more famous or beloved than the great Psycho.  The 1960 film is considered one of the greates...


Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: Sherlock Jr. Delivers Silent Laughter

Posted by Zach Davis on Thursday, November 15, 2012, In : 0.00% Water 

Sherlock Jr.
Zach Davis




Directed by: Buster Keaton

Starring: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Ward Crane, Erwin Connelly, and Joe Keaton

Buster Keaton is definitely known for his amazing vaudeville routine, but his real calling card should be his innovation as a director.  In his film Sherlock Jr., Keaton employs many techniques that were new at the time.  For example, Keaton’s character appears to walk down the aisle in the movie house and climb right into the movie being played.  Beyond th...


Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: The Informer Doesn’t Keep It a Secret. This is a Great Movie

Posted by Zach Davis on Tuesday, September 18, 2012, In : 0.00% Water 

The Informer
Zach Davis




Directed By: John Ford

Starring: Victor McLaglen, Heather Angel, Preston Foster, Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford, and Una O’Connor

The Informer marked the first of four Oscars for John Ford, the most won by any director.  There is a very interesting flow to the movie.  As talkies had only been around for a little less than a decade, sound techniques had not quite been standardized when this movie came out in 1935.  When the film starts, it actually resembles a silent fi...


Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: A Masterpiece Ending Could Not Alleviate the Plague of Boredom Brought on by The Third Man

Posted by Zach Davis on Wednesday, August 29, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails 
The Third Man
Zach Davis




Directed by: Carol Reed

Starring: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee

I have never before been so bored by a movie, then in an instant, thrown to the edge of my seat—an experience I’ll relate to a rollercoaster.  Unfortunately for The Third Man most of the movie isn't even on the rollercoaster.  It's standing in line waiting to get on the ride.  As dazzling a finale as it employs, it’s just too boring to even think of sitting through...
Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: Saboteur is Not Hitchcock’s A-Game

Posted by Zach Davis on Tuesday, February 7, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails 
Saboteur
Zach Davis




Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Robert Cummings, Pricilla Lane, Otto Kruger, and Norman Lloyd

Saboteur is a down note in the career of one of Hollywood’s greatest directors—the legendary Alfred Hitchcock.  Offering little in content and spectacle, Saboteur ends up just being one big stinker of a movie.  This film was shot between two other Hitchcock classics, Suspicion and Shadow of a Doubt.  This might explain why his focus just wasn’t there on this project.

Barr...
Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: It Happened One Night Sparked the Dawn of the Screwball Comedy

Posted by Zach Davis on Wednesday, February 1, 2012, In : 0.00% Water 
It Happened One Night
Zach Davis




Directed by: Frank Capra

Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns, and Jameson Thomas

In 1935, It Happened One Night became the first film to win all five major Academy Awards: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Writing, and Best Picture.  This film has long been regarded as one of the best romantic comedies of all time, earning the number three spot on the American Film Institute’s top ten list for the genre.

The film be...
Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: Topper is Almost a Classic

Posted by Zach Davis on Sunday, January 29, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
Topper
Zach Davis




Directed by: Norman Z. McLeod

Starring:  Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke, and Hedda Hopper

Topper was made in the era of the screwball comedy, and it was a prime example that comedies as a medium had staying power in the film industry.  The success of Topper led to two sequels, Topper Takes a Trip and Topper Returns.  The story also was transcribed to television as a series in 1953.

Topper has the glitz and excess of a by-gone era.  A wealthy and madcap ...
Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: Miracle on 34th Street is a Holiday Classic

Posted by Zach Davis on Wednesday, January 25, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
Miracle on 34th Street
Zach Davis




Directed by: George Seaton

Starring: Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood, Edmund Gwenn, Porter Hall, and Gene Lockhart

Miracle on 34th Street earned George Seaton the Oscar for best screenplay in 1948.  It was the first of two Academy Awards for Seaton; he would take home the best screenplay award again in 1955 for The Country Girl.  Seaton was also the voice of the Lone Ranger on old radio broadcasts in the early 30’s.  He then teamed up with MGM to wri...
Continue reading ...
 

REVIEW: One Might Want To Be a Little Pixilated When Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

Posted by Zach Davis on Tuesday, January 10, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Zach Davis




Directed by: Frank Capra

Starring: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Lionel Stander, Douglass Dumbrille, and Raymond Walburn

Frank Capra was known as the name above the title because he was the first director to earn fame such that his name was displayed on the marquee.  This was no accident either as he put out many early classic movies such as It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and It’s a Wonderful Life.  Most of Capra’s films tak...
Continue reading ...
 

Coming Soon

Posted by James Brown on Monday, January 2, 2012,
This series of reviews will be coming soon to Sobriety Test!

Continue reading ...
 
 

 

Loading

 




 

 

 

Large Association of Movie  Blogs

 

 


 

Large Association of Movie  Blogs


 

Follow soberfilmcritic on Twitter