Dir. Rob Reiner. Starring Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin William Goldman could not have chosen a more difficult kind of story to write than this bifocals fairy tale. Looking at it through the top half of the lens, this is a once upon a time story about adventure and magic and a princess in… Read More The Princess Bride (1987)
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: 50-46
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: 95-91
Dir. John Cassavetes. Starring Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Lady Rowlands Picture links back here This is a well-known bit of trivia, but the word “hysteria” can be traced back to the Greek for womb, “hustera.” When the word hysteria was invented, it was thought of as a problem for women; because of the presence of… Read More A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
Dir. Wim Wenders. Starring Bruno Ganz, Peter Falk, Solveig Dommartin I haven’t been to Berlin in nearly ten years now, and the Berlin that Wenders and company depict here is a vastly different one than I saw. For one thing, the Wall still stands; one scene, as if to emphasize the non-reality of the actors… Read More Wings of Desire (1987)
Seeing Things Secondhand 