“In my book, Argento and Hitchcock master the threat of architecture and urban landscape like none other.” – Guillermo del Toro There will be blood The 1975 nightmare from giallo progenitor Dario Argento, Deep Red (Profondo Rosso in Italian, also released as The Hatchet Murders) is a high water mark for horror as well […]
Pulling Focus
Pulling Focus: Annie Hall (1977)
“Annie Hall contains more intellectual wit and cultural references than any other movie ever to win the Oscar for best picture… no wonder it’s just about everyone’s favorite Woody Allen movie.” – Roger Ebert La-di-da, la-di-da, la la A commercial and critical hit, and winning four of the five Academy Awards it was nominated […]
Pulling Focus: Deliverance (1972)
“[Deliverance] is the best film I’ve ever done. It’s a picture that just picks you up and sends you crashing against the rocks. You feel everything and just crawl out of the theater.” – Burt Reynolds Men without women Savagely compelled to defend themselves as the laws and measures of civilization no longer affect […]
Pulling Focus: Down By Law (1986)
“It is a sad and beautiful world.” – Roberto (played by Roberto Benigni) I fought the law and the law won Incidental encounters and tough luck reluctantly come together in writer-director Jim Jarmusch’s deeply distinctive third feature from 1986, Down By Law. Existing in its own even tempered and hermetically sealed cosmology, joyfully noncommercial […]
Pulling Focus: Safe (1995)
Being and time The oft antagonistic American indie filmmaker Todd Haynes first forced my attention with his 1995 revisionist art house horror film Safe, and I’ve been a supporter of his ever since. His sophomore film (following his impressive debut from 1991, Poison, and a string of exceptional short films), Safe is a masterpiece of […]
Pulling Focus: The Conversation (1974)
“There’s a strong case to be made for The Conversation being Coppola’s greatest film.” – Film4 Paranoia, the destroyer A bright, unclouded afternoon in San Francisco as a busy plaza teems with people in a sharply impressive telephoto shot as outlying music coalesces with electronic intonations. Tracking a circus mime through the bustling crowd […]