Titanic: A Wreck Comes Alive

Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Photo: 20th Century Fox Twentieth Century Fox wasn’t sure about letting James Cameron make an epic movie about the 1912 sinking of Titanic – especially…

Spotlight: Breaking a Catholic Curse

Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Brian d'Arcy James, Michael Keaton and John Slattery. Photo: Open Road Films There’s a scene near the end of the film that will get the adrenaline…

Annie Hall: This Is 40

Diane Keaton and Woody Allen. Photo: United Artists In the film’s first scene, Woody Allen as Alvy Singer addresses his audience, letting us know that he recently turned 40 and…

Around the World in Eighty Days 

In the late 1800s, London aristocrat Phileas Fogg (David Niven) makes a wager with fellow members at the Reform Club that he can travel around the world in as little…

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…

Out of Africa 

In the 1910s, Karen (Meryl Streep) marries a Danish nobleman (Klaus Maria Brandauer) and they move to British East Africa to start a farm; she also befriends a handsome big-game…

Lost Weekend: Life in a Bottle

Ray Milland. Photo: Paramount The story of The Lost Weekend didn’t start out too well. Audiences laughed during the first preview in Santa Barbara, and some wrote on their cards…

Braveheart: Creating a New Wallace

Mel Gibson. Photo: Paramount As the story goes, American writer Randall Wallace made a trip to Scotland and came upon a statue at the entrance of Edinburgh Castle. Since the…

Birdman: A Box-Office Lion in Winter

Michael Keaton. Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures Director Alejandro González Iñárritu reportedly sat down with the legendary Mike Nichols for dinner to discuss his next project, a comedy that would be…