USA

  • H.C. Potter – Blackmail (1939)

    H.C. Potter1931-1940CrimeDramaUSA
    Blackmail (1939)
    Blackmail (1939)

    John Ingram, successful oil field firefighter, is really a chain gang escapee. Someone out of his past finds him.Read More »

  • Kenneth Hartford & Herbert L. Strock – Monstroid AKA Monster (1980)

    Herbert L. Strock1971-1980HorrorKenneth HartfordSci-FiUSA
    Monstroid (1980)
    Monstroid (1980)

    A rural Colombian village is attacked by a horrible sea serpent, aroused by industrial pollution of a nearby lake. Based on a real event that took place in June of 1971.Read More »

  • William Castle – Mysterious Intruder (1946)

    William Castle1941-1950CrimeFilm NoirUSA
    Mysterious Intruder (1946)
    Mysterious Intruder (1946)

    PLOT: A private detective is hired to find a young heiress but finds himself accused of murder.Read More »

  • Sidney Lumet – Family Business (1989)

    Sidney Lumet1981-1990CrimeThrillerUSA
    Family Business (1989)
    Family Business (1989)

    Jessie is an aging career criminal who has been in more jails, fights, schemes, and lineups than just about anyone else. His son Vito, while currently on the straight and narrow, has had a fairly shady past and is indeed no stranger to illegal activity. They both have great hope for Adam, Vito’s son and Jessie’s grandson, who is bright, good-looking, and without a criminal past. So when Adam approaches Jessie with a scheme for a burglary he’s shocked, but not necessarily uninterested.Read More »

  • Abel Ferrara – Dangerous Game (1993)

    Abel Ferrara1991-2000DramaThrillerUSA
    Dangerous Game (1993)
    Dangerous Game (1993)

    Although he’s an experienced director, nothing can prepare Eddie Israel for what occurs on the set of his new project. Helming a film about an abusive marriage, he too becomes entangled in this terrifying trap — one where the fantasy world of his film becomes his haunting reality.Read More »

  • Thom Andersen – Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

    USA2001-2010DocumentaryPoliticsThom Andersen
    Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)
    Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

    Anyone who has interest in LA, architecture, Hollywood, or portrayal of a city in film should see this, imho.

    Quote:
    If we can appreciate documentaries for their dramatic qualities, perhaps we can appreciate fiction films for their documentary revelations. — Thom Andersen, Los Angeles Plays ItselfRead More »

  • Bruce Conner – Ten Second Film (1965)

    USA1961-1970Bruce ConnerExperimental
    Ten Second Film (1965)
    Ten Second Film (1965)

    Quote:
    When Conner was commissioned to design the poster for the 1965 New York Film Festival he constructed TEN SECOND FILM, which he intended to act as its television commercial and to precede the film programs in the theater. It was a public ‘Leader’ in that it was composed, like the poster, of a series of ten strips of film (each 24 frames long) of count-down leader, seen as fundamental heraldry of motion picture exhibition. The leaders of the Festival, however, felt it was too risky to submit the public to this secret image of their heritage.” – Anthony ReveauxRead More »

  • Sam Green & Bill Siegel – The Weather Underground (2002)

    Sam Green2001-2010Bill SiegelDocumentaryPoliticsUSA
    The Weather Underground (2002)
    The Weather Underground (2002)

    Quote:
    In the late 1960s and early 1970s polarization of American political situation was becoming acute, with the Vietnam War abroad and civil rights at home being the most pressing issues. For the youth political movement, seemingly ineffectual methods of peaceful protest and resistance led to the rise of a faction that wanted a more extreme approach that the government could not ignore. One particular group, the Weather Underground, attempted to team up with the Black Panthers to violently confront the US government. They began with participation in street riots, and escalated their efforts to include the bombing of specific targets associated with the government or local power structures. Through archival footage and interviews of participants on both sides of this conflict, this film covers the Weather Underground’s campaign of violence through this period, the FBI’s strategies and tactics to apprehend them (including some deemed unethical or illegal), until changing times and disillusionment brought their activities to an end.Read More »

  • Edward Dmytryk – Obsession AKA The Hidden Room (1949)

    Edward Dmytryk1941-1950Film NoirUSA
    Obsession (1949)
    Obsession (1949)

    Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
    Blacklisted in Hollywood, director Edward Dmytryk managed to find work in England. Dmytryk’s Obsession is based on Alec Coppel’s suspense play A Man About a Dog. Ignoring such niceties as subtlety and restraint, Robert Newton stars as Dr. Clive Riordan, the insanely jealous husband of Storm Riordan (Sally Gray). Not content with merely murdering Storm’s American lover Bill Kronin (Phil Brown), Riordan chains up the poor fellow in a deserted building. His reasoning: should the police accuse Riordan of Kronin’s murder, the doctor can always produce the live victim, who is blindfolded and has no idea who his captor is. Once the investigation into the man’s disappearance has subsided, Riordan intends to kill his victim and dispose of the body in an acid bath (something like this actually did take place in London in the postwar years). But the doctor is unaware that his wife’s pet dog has also been locked up with the helpless Kronin. Obsession was released in the U.S. as The Hidden Room.Read More »

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