For a brief introduction and a running list of movies covered in this project, click here 55) Sabotage (1936), directed by Alfred Hitchcock I wasn’t ready for Hitchcock to do it, and then he did it anyway. That sounds naive, but the man was called the “Master of Suspense,” not the “Master of Dropping the Hammer,” and Sabotage is… Read More Better than BFI’s Top 100: 55-51
For a brief introduction and a running list of movies covered in this project, click here 70) The Mission (1986), directed by Roland Joffe If a movie features the most beautiful piece of music ever written for a film, does it deserve to make a list like this without question? The Mission is a very good movie on… Read More Better than BFI’s Top 100: 70-66
One of the Grantland legacies I’m fond of, although I’m sure the idea didn’t start there, is the championship belt (RIP Grantland, long live Barnwell and Hyden). The purpose is to go year by year and create a list of who’s at the top of some field, which is a deceptively simple task, and one… Read More Anglophone Director Championship Belt, 1918-2018
Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, Claude Rains Pain boils down to a loss of control. Something outside of our reach hurts, and for the most part there is nothing we can do to stop that hurt from coming, and above all else that’s what makes us crazy. Lingering deaths would be scary… Read More Notorious (1946)
The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 20-16
You can read up on the basis for this series here, and also find links to other posts in the series. Movies I’ve reviewed on this site have a link in the title which you can follow to read my full review. 5) Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), directed by Woody Allen (Straightens tie, looks… Read More 100 Exceptional American Movies in 10 Genres: Family Drama, 5-1
Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey Shadow of a Doubt is almost certainly Hitchcock’s best picture of the 1940s. There are more macabre movies, like Lifeboat and Rope, and more tense ones, like Saboteur or Suspicion. But Shadow of a Doubt has an eye on the same kind of ugliness that the no-doubt-about-it classics from the ’50s indulge in. Rear… Read More Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
You can read up on the basis for this series here, and also find links to other posts in the series. Movies I’ve reviewed on this site have a link in the title which you can follow to read my full review. 10) Black Swan (2010), directed by Darren Aronofsky It is genuinely difficult… Read More 100 Exceptional American Movies in 10 Genres: Taut and Cold, 10-6
Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman Hitchcock doesn’t waste any time getting to the plot in this movie, which is a delectable little truffle among Hitchcock’s movie scenarios. Among his better, or at least his most famous movies, this rush to get to the meat of it is a little unusual.… Read More Strangers on a Train (1951)
The following is part of an overview of the top 100 American narrative fiction feature films, from my perspective. For an introduction to the project and an index of other entries in the series, click here. For a list of more than 800 films which I considered for the top 450 and my eligibility qualifications, click here.… Read More Better than AFI’s Top 100: 4-2
Seeing Things Secondhand 