The 39 Steps: Another Man Knows Too Much

Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll. Photo: Gaumont-British Picture Corporation In 1934, Alfred Hitchcock had turned his first film for Gaumont British, a thriller called The Man Who Knew Too Much,…

Barbarella 

In the distant future, Barbarella (Jane Fonda) is ordered by the President of Earth to find a man who is in possession of a weapon that could threaten the planet.…

Planes, Trains & Automobiles 

After a business trip to New York City, Neal Page (Steve Martin) is trying to get home to his family in Chicago for Thanksgiving, but frequently gets stuck with a…

All the King’s Men: A Populist Menace

Broderick Crawford. Photo: Columbia In other reviews I’ve previously used the example of John Wayne at his most reactionary. Well, this is no exception. He was considered for the lead…

Holy Mess 

Simon and Oscar (Anastasios Soulis, Anton Lundqvist) invite their whole families for Christmas… but haven’t told them that a woman is moving in and that they’re all having a baby.…

Joyeux Noël: One Night of Peace

Photo: Sony Pictures Classics 2015 has in many ways been an awful year, with heinous terrorist acts, a never-ending war in Syria, a refugee crisis in Europe, and a resurgent…

Trading Places

Two wealthy brothers (Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche) make a wager where they scheme to have two men (one rich, one poor) switch places in life – what will be the…

The Force Awakens: Saving Another Franchise

Adam Driver, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley. Photo: Lucasfilm There are some people out there who call themselves fans of Star Wars but still pretend like the trilogy of prequels…

A Man Called Ove 

59-year-old widower Ove (Rolf Lassgård) was recently fired and plans to join his wife in heaven as soon as possible… but his suicide keeps getting stalled. Fredrik Backman’s novel first…

The Night Before

Three best friends (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie) are going out on Christmas Eve in New York City as they always do… but a fourteen-year long tradition is about…