The Dark Knight: Say It With a Smile
Heath Ledger. Photo: Warner "Why so serioussss?", hisses the Joker as he flashes his retarded grin. This is after committing several murders, throwing Gotham City into disarray and before trying…
Empire Strikes Back: Deeper Space
Photo: 20th Century Fox I went back to this old favorite certain that I would be less impressed this time and give it a lower rating. But I’m surprised to…
GoodFellas: Married to the Mob
Photo: Warner Making GoodFellas a horribly realistic film took its toll. Joe Pesci had qualms about playing such an evil character as Tommy DeVito and Lorraine Bracco started thinking of…
Brief Encounter: Politely Passionate
Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard. Photo: Eagle-Lion The legendary film critic Pauline Kael didn’t seem to care much for this film. Acknowledging it as a “celebrated tearjerker”, she also called…
No Country for Old Men: Blood in the Sand
Javier Bardem. Photo: Miramax When I started reading Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”, it took a while before I was hooked, until the author’s way of conjuring a desolate, bleak future…
Amadeus: The Burden of Mediocrity
Tom Hulce. Photo: Orion Pictures Most of us recognize Antonio Salieri’s feelings. He has worked hard to achieve something, got a good education and managed to become court composer to…
Dr. Strangelove: Bombs Away!
Peter Sellers. Photo: Columbia When Stanley Kubrick decided to turn Peter George’s Cold War novel “Red Alert” into a movie, he must have thought the material was too outrageous to…
Psycho: Sins of the Mother
Janet Leigh. Photo: Universal In 1960, Alfred Hitchcock decided to shake things up after making several films that were in color, generously budgeted and featured A-list stars. His new picture…
Rear Window: A View to a Kill
James Stewart. Photo: Paramount This masterpiece from Alfred Hitchcock reunited the director with James Stewart from Rope (1948), another thriller that was set entirely in one apartment. This film has…
North by Northwest: Rushmore Rumble
Cary Grant. Photo: MGM According to one biography on Alfred Hitchcock, it was Bernard Herrmann who introduced screenwriter Ernest Lehman to the director. They hit it off and decided to…