For a brief introduction and a running list of movies covered in this project, click here 15) Mr. Turner (2014), directed by Mike Leigh J.M.W. Turner was famous for his seascapes. There’s nary a person to be found there; there are the clouds, the sun, the ships, of course the water. But people are of less interest,… Read More Better than BFI’s Top 100: 15-11
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: 50-46
Dir. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Starring Robert Rousenville, Robert Helpmann, Léonide Massine The Tales of Hoffmann is one of those lovely movies which is a personality test for the viewer. The movie is a technical marvel, totally beautiful, beautifully aligned. It is no small thing to decide to take an opera, which are essentially… Read More The Tales of Hoffmann (1951)
Dir. Michael Powell. Starring Carl Boehm, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley Cats, for the most part, don’t like citrus scents. Making your couch smell like lemon, for example, will reduce the cat’s desire to climb it, scratch it, or otherwise kill it. I know about this because I’ve tried it on my cat before (who is… Read More Peeping Tom (1960)
Dir. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Starring Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring I have been vexed occasionally in the past year because I wanted to write something about a Powell and Pressburger film but couldn’t think of a good way to do it; as a general rule I don’t like to talk about what… Read More The Red Shoes (1948)
Seeing Things Secondhand 