USA

  • William C. McGann & Alan Crosland – The Case of the Black Cat (1936)

    Alan Crosland1931-1940CrimeMysteryUSAWilliam C. McGann

    Synopsis:
    Lawyer Perry Mason is summoned to the Laxter mansion in the dead of night to write granddaughter Wilma out of invalid Peter Laxter’s will, to keep her from marrying suspected fortune hunter Doug. Peter dies in a mysterious fire and Laxter’s two grandsons, Sam Laxter and Frank Oafley, inherit his estate on the condition old caretaker Schuster and his cat Clinker are kept on. When cat-hating Sam threatens Clinker, Perry steps in and learns Laxter’s death was suspicious and the family fortune and diamonds are missing. Schuster’s found dead in his basement apartment, Laxter’s nurse Louise is murdered with Schuster’s crutch, and circumstantial evidence brings Doug to trial for Louise’s death. Mason’s investigation produces a surprise witness who turns the trial around.Read More »

  • James Hughes & Lynn Riggs – A Day in Santa Fe (1931)

    James Hughes1931-1940DocumentaryExperimentalLynn RiggsUSA

    Quote:
    “Riggs’s film poem conveys delight with his adopted hometown through a documentarian’s eye for significant detail, a lyrical sensitivity, and homespun humor. The film, too, serves as a chronicle of people and places of Santa Fe in the early 1930s, when it earned the epithet ‘Greenwich Village of the West.’” – William M. Butler

    Quote:
    An artistic love ode to the town of Santa Fe in the form of a day in the life of this western art community in its creative heyday. Scenes from a time when Santa Fe still had vestiges of the Old West.Read More »

  • Peter Bogdanovich – Targets (1968)

    1961-1970HorrorPeter BogdanovichThrillerUSA

    Seemingly happy gun enthusiast Bobby Thompson (Tim O’Kelly) tells his wife Ilene (Tanya Morgan) that he’s feeling disturbed, but she hasn’t time to hear him out. Aging horror film star Byron Orlock (Boris Karloff) reluctantly agrees to a public appearance at a drive-in, even though he’s bitter and has announced his retirement. Their paths will eventually cross, as Tommy embarks on a wave of modern horror that outpaces anything in Orlock’s old movies.Read More »

  • Dylan Bank & Daniel DiMauro & Morgan Pehme – Get Me Roger Stone (2017)

    Daniel DiMauro2011-2020DocumentaryDylan BankMorgan PehmePoliticsUSA

    A documentary exploring the life and career of notorious Republican dirty trickster and longtime Trump advisor, Roger Stone, who helped create the real-estate mogul’s political career.Read More »

  • Brian De Palma – Murder à la Mod (1968)

    Brian De Palma1961-1970ActionThrillerUSA

    Synopsis
    Naive young Karen wants to help her struggling amateur-filmmaker boyfriend Christopher raise enough money so he can divorce his wife. Meanwhile, jolly psycho prankster Otto stalks the building where Christopher is shooting a low-grade adult movie in order to keep himself afloat.Read More »

  • Sidney Lumet – Serpico (1973)

    Sidney Lumet1971-1980CrimeDramaUSA

    An honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.Read More »

  • Michael Curtiz – The Walking Dead (1936)

    USA1931-1940CrimeHorrorMichael Curtiz

    Down-on-his-luck John Ellman is framed for a judge’s murder. After he’s convicted and sentenced to death, witnesses come forth and prove his innocence. But it was too late for a stay to be granted and Ellman is executed. A doctor uses an experimental procedure to restore him to life, though the full outcome is other than expected.Read More »

  • Leo Hurwitz & Charles Pratt – Here at the Water’s Edge (1961)

    Leo Hurwitz1961-1970Charles PrattDocumentaryUSA

    A magnificent city symphony, regarding the activity in and around New York City’s waterfront.

    This copy comes from the website of the George Eastman House and has a watermark. They describe it thusly:

    Quote:
    A voyage of discovery among familiar things: the images and sounds of New York Harbor. This film-poem explores the edge of the shoreline, where man and nature persistently confront one another. In the words of critic, Faubion Bowers, “It is the most haunting film I have ever seen. The film’s poetry is utterly visual – such wonder at the ordinary, such mastery of the natural.” The film was made by Leo Hurwitz and still photographer, Charles Pratt.Read More »

  • Gerald Fox – This Is Not an Exit: The Fictional World of Bret Easton Ellis (2000)

    Gerald Fox1991-2000ArthouseDocumentaryUSA

    This video presents a portrait of fiction writer Bret Easton Ellis, who was catapulted to notoriety with the publication of American Psycho. Ellis, who was born in 1964 in New York, rose to fame and fortune in his early twenties for this and other controversial works, vilified by many for their misogynistic and violent content. His defenders say the author’s work is satirical in style, and realistic in its representation of pop culture of the 1980s. The film features an interview with Ellis, as well as comments from friends, relatives, and other artists. Also included are selected dramatizations from American Psycho and other books by the author. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie GuideRead More »

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