Funny thing about the wrong man: He never, ever did it. This lack of mystery never held back the thriller subgenre, in large part because of Alfred Hitchcock's fondness for tales of the unjustly accused on the run. The German director Fritz Lang also worked cases of mistaken identity, notably in "Fury" (1936) and "Ministry of Fear" … [Read more...]
‘Ripper Street’: Victorian evil at large
The shadow of wicked olde Jack hangs heavy over "Ripper Street." Is this a specter, or a warning of the Ripper's return? The creators of this terrific BBC One series wisely keep Jack the Ripper sidelined, at least in the first season, which just wrapped season 1 on BBC America. Good move. We didn't need another Ripper procedural. Think of it … [Read more...]
Pasolini’s ‘Trilogy of Life’
In retrospect, "Trilogy of Life" seems an odd and ironic title for any work credited to Pier Paolo Pasolini. The director's grisly murder in 1975 still haunts Italians. Pasolini's notorious work "Salò" is a study in death and depravity -- a sick work of art, but an essential work of art nonetheless. His was dubbed "the cinema of despair." In … [Read more...]
‘Jaws’ emerges from deep Blu sea
Reports surface now and then that the original "Jaws" is being remade. A modern production, perhaps even directed by Steven Spielberg, would take advantage of the huge advances in film special effects since the mid-1970s. But computer graphics would ruin the fun, the director says on Universal Home Entertainment's Blu-ray edition of "Jaws." … [Read more...]
‘Marley’: A stand up documentary
The documentary "Marley" opens not in Jamaica, but in Ghana, West Africa. Viewers are confronted with "the door of no return," the infamous portal through which passed generations of slaves, torn from their mother country. For Bob Marley, who sang passionately about slavery, "Africa was always the destination," his wife recalls. In 1980, … [Read more...]
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