“Those who dismiss Woody Allen as a neurotic narcissist out of touch with reality need to confront 1983’s Zelig. Perhaps the most complex, unusual film in an already diverse CV, it remains his most culturally and politically aware work, its relevance increasing with each passing year.” – Tom Huddleston, Time Out I’m sitting on […]
Author: Shane Scott-Travis
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The 25 Best Movies About Contract Killers and Assassins
Sometimes with certain movies it can be more fun to root for the bad guys or to identify with antiheroes who behave in morally questionable ways. Wish fulfillment escapism of this nature is pretty normal, most people’s nine-to-five is seldom as exciting as, say, being paid a king’s ransom to “kill the president of Paraguay […]
Pulling Focus: Body Double (1984)
“Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash we have very little reason to be interested in them.” – Pauline Kael I like to watch Tout de suite from its opening shot of a pea-soupy cemetery at sunset, a deliberately clichéd title font gauchely and accurately suggests we’re in […]
Pulling Focus: Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
“God help us –– for art is long, and life so short.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Faust” Paradise lost The tinny, distorted, and decidedly soulless warble of background Muzak –– a butchering of The Beatles classic “A Day in the Life’ –– announced itself sneakily to Brian De Palma one day in 1969 […]
Pulling Focus: In The Mood for Love (2000)
This little dream might fade The opaque and ashen ache of stolen moments, and the often painful passage of time hangs heavy upon Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai, particularly in his masterpiece from 2000, In the Mood for Love. As anthem to the agony and ecstasy of close-lipped affection, this film, more than any other […]
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The 25 Best Sci-fi Movies of The 1990s
In many ways cinema in the 1990s saw a science fiction renaissance, thanks in no small part to state-of-the-art special effects, high concept ideas, unique artistry, and big box-office. Following Taste of Cinema’s recent lists of accomplished sci-fi classics from the 1970s and 1980s, the decade that gave us grunge, and boy bands in profusion […]