4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 19, 2017

Comic mayhem was always supercharged in the films of the 1930s because the buzz is palpable, the actors are always endowed with certain oddities, and the corkscrew plot lines run rampant with absurdities of their own.  Penned by a pair of titans in Jo Swerling and Robert Riskin, The Whole...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 19, 2017

Comic mayhem was always supercharged in the films of the 1930s because the buzz is palpable, the actors are always endowed with certain oddities, and the corkscrew plot lines run rampant with absurdities of their own.  Penned by a pair of titans in Jo Swerling and Robert Riskin, The Whole...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 19, 2017

Comic mayhem was always supercharged in the films of the 1930s because the buzz is palpable, the actors always endowed with certain oddities, and the corkscrew plot lines running rampant with absurdities of their own.  Penned by a pair of titans in Jo Swerling and Robert Riskin, The Whole Town&#8217   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 16, 2017

Pickpocket is an intricately staged, truly intimate character study from the imitable Robert Bresson solidifying itself as one of his greatest works. As was his practice, Bresson took Martin LaSalle, a non-actor to be his leading protagonist. The Uruguayan-French actor sports gaunt, rather severe fe   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 16, 2017

Pickpocket is an intricately staged, truly intimate character study from the inimitable Robert Bresson solidifying itself as one of his greatest works. As was his practice, Bresson took Martin LaSalle, a non-actor to be his leading protagonist. The Uruguayan-French actor sports gaunt, rather severe   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 13, 2017

Shoot The Piano Player begins thrillingly with a car chase. The man being pursued flees down a street corner, his assailants disappear into the night, and he subsequently bounces off a streetlight like an idiot. The man who brings him back up on his feet proceeds to regale him with...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 13, 2017

Shoot The Piano Player begins thrillingly with a car chase. The man being pursued flees down a street corner, his assailants disappear into the night, and he subsequently bounces off a streetlight like an idiot. The man who brings him back up on his feet proceeds to regale him with...   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 11, 2017

The opening credits of Vivre sa Vie commence with the opening note “dedicated to B-movies” and indeed many of Jean-Luc Godard’s best films could make the same claim. They’re smalltime stories about little people living rather pathetic lives if you wish to be brutally honest.   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 11, 2017

The opening credits of Vivre sa Vie commence with the postscript “dedicated to B-movies” and indeed many of Jean-Luc Godard’s best films could make the same claim. They’re small time stories about little people living rather pathetic lives if you wish to be brutally honest. T   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 9, 2017

There’s a moment in Kelly Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen where Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) suffers the ultimate humiliation third wheeling with her older brother Darian (Blake Jenner) and her (former) best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson). Needless to say, the evening is less than   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 9, 2017

There’s a moment in Kelly Fremon Craig’s The Edge of Seventeen where Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) suffers the ultimate humiliation third wheeling with her older brother Darian (Blake Jenner) and her (former) best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson). Needless to say, the evening is less than   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 7, 2017

It’s a joy to watch Agnes Varda dance. Or, more precisely, it’s a joy to watch her camera dance. Because that’s exactly what it does. Her film opens in color, catching our attention, vibrant and alive as the credits roll and a young woman (Corinne Marchand) gets her fortune read by   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 7, 2017

It’s a joy to watch Agnes Varda dance. Or, more precisely, it’s a joy to watch her camera dance. Because that’s exactly what it does. Her film opens in color, catching our attention, vibrant and alive as the credits roll and a young woman (Corinne Marchand) gets her fortune read by   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 5, 2017

White Heat burns like hot coals even today. It’s a gangster picture from master Warner Bros. craftsman Raoul Walsh that’s volatile and intriguing, highlighted by the always fiery James Cagney as a crazed man-child with a mom complex. Cagney had stayed away from gangster pictures that mad   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 5, 2017

White Heat burns like hot coals even today. It’s a gangster picture from master Warner Bros. craftsman Raoul Walsh that’s volatile and intriguing, highlighted by the always fiery James Cagney as a crazed man-child with a mom complex. Cagney had stayed away from gangster pictures that mad   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 2, 2017

In his opening introduction, Kumail ( comedian Kumail Nanjiani playing a cinematic version of himself) explains what it was like to grow up in Pakistan with cricket and praying and arranged marriages. All those fun Pakistani traditions. There’s a bit of a matter-of-fact flippancy to how he rec   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 2, 2017

In his opening introduction, Kumail ( comedian Kumail Nanjiani playing a cinematic version of himself) explains what it was like to grow up in Pakistan with cricket and praying and arranged marriages. All those fun Pakistani traditions. There’s a bit of a matter-of-fact flippancy to how he rec   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 1, 2017

There’s something overwhelmingly soothing about Ozu, simultaneously slowing my pulse and calming my nerves. Yes, An Autumn Afternoon stands as his final film. Yes, he would sadly pass away the following year. But there’s a comfort to watching his films unfold — even his last one. T   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on September 1, 2017

There’s something overwhelmingly soothing about Ozu, simultaneously slowing my pulse and calming my nerves. Yes, An Autumn Afternoon stands as his final film. Yes, he would sadly pass away the following year. But there’s a comfort to watching his films unfold — even his last one. T   read more

4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on August 31, 2017

Whaddya hear, whaddya say ~ Jimmy Cagney as Rocky Sullivan If he hadn’t been on the stage and screen, it’s easy to get the sense that James Cagney, born and bred on the streets of the Lower East Side of Manhattan could have easily been a gangster. And it’s true...   read more