• Steven Soderbergh – Bubble (2005)

    Drama2001-2010Steven SoderberghUSA

    Synopsis (tribecafilm.com)
    Perhaps Steven Soderbergh’s most innovative film to date (and that’s saying something), Bubble was the first movie to be released simultaneously in theaters and on cable with a DVD release that followed four days later. Bubble follows Martha, a lonely, dumpy woman who strikes up an easy friendship with Kyle, a younger co-worker. A new attractive employee, Rose, disrupts the dynamic between the two, and a murder soon changes the lives of the three doll factory workers irrevocably. Soderbergh uses a muted color palette and non-professional actors in this remarkable film to instill an unshakable feeling of the uncomfortably realities that lie just beneath the surface of ordinary life.Read More »

  • Kathleen Collins – Losing Ground (1982)

    Drama1981-1990ComedyKathleen CollinsThe Female GazeUSA

    Synopsis
    A comedy-drama about a Black American female philosophy professor and her insensitive, philandering, and flamboyant artist husband who are having a marital crisis. When the wife goes off on an almost unbelievable journey to find “ecstasy”, her husband is forced to see her in a different light.Read More »

  • Ousmane Sembene – Emitaï AKA God of Thunder (1971)

    1971-1980African CinemaDramaOusmane SembenePolitics

    As World War II is going on in Europe, a conflict arises between the French and the Diola-speaking tribe of Africa, prompting the village women to organize their men to sit beneath a tree to pray.Read More »

  • Paul Leni – The Man Who Laughs (1928)

    USA1921-1930ClassicsPaul LeniSilent

    When a proud noble refuses to kiss the hand of the despotic King James in 1690, he is cruelly executed and his son surgically disfigured into a permanent grin. The son can only make a living as a travelling circus clown – The Laughing Man!Read More »

  • William Peter Blatty – The Ninth Configuration (1980)

    1971-1980ArthouseCultUSAWilliam Peter Blatty

    Toronto International Film Festival writes:
    Exorcist author William Peter Blatty intended for his adaptation of his own novel Twinkle, Twinkle, “Killer” Kane to be directed by William Friedkin; when studios rejected the script, Blatty put up half the budget himself, convinced the Pepsi-Cola conglomerate to provide the balance, and stepped behind the camera to make his directorial debut. Set near the end of the Vietnam War, The Ninth Configuration takes place in a spectacular castle that has been commandeered as a mental hospital for military veterans.Read More »

  • Martin Ritt – The Outrage (1964)

    1961-1970DramaMartin RittUSAWestern

    Brooklyn Academy of Music writes:
    Kurosawa’s Rashomon is transposed to the American Wild West as four participants in a rape and murder—including a Mexican bandit (Newman), the dead man (Harvey), and his wife (Bloom)—give differing accounts of what occurred. Featuring a dynamite supporting cast that includes Edward G. Robinson and William Shatner, The Outrage is lent a haunted, nightmarish atmosphere thanks to James Wong Howe’s psychologically charged camerawork.Read More »

  • Richard Brooks – The Professionals (1966)

    USA1961-1970ActionRichard BrooksWestern

    Synopsis:
    Four soldiers of fortune are hired by a wealthy rancher to rescue his beautiful young wife who has been kidnapped by a villainous Mexican bandit. When they finally find her, after fighting their way across deserts and mountains, they discover she is not being held against her will. This causes friction within the band as to whether they should honor their agreement.Read More »

  • François Leterrier – Un roi sans divertissement AKA A King Without Distraction (1963)

    1961-1970CrimeDramaFranceFrançois Leterrier

    In the nineteenth century, a young police captain, Langlois, is sent to a remote snow-covered village to investigate the disappearance of a girl. He is helped in his investigation by a local magistrate, who is convinced that the murderer is an ordinary man who has killed merely to relieve his boredom. When he finally confronts the killer, Langlois becomes aware of his own identity and discovers that he too has the impulse to take the lives of others…Read More »

  • Jules Dassin – Up Tight! (1968)

    1961-1970CrimeDramaJules DassinUSA

    Synopsis:
    “Uptight” is an updated remake of John Ford’s 1935 film, “The Informer”. Dublin becomes the Cleveland ghetto and the Irish Republicans are replaced by black revolutionary fighters. Days after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Tank Williams (Julian Mayfield) is an unemployed and itinerant steelworker who turns over his militant friend, Johnny Wells (Max Julien) to the police for $1,000 reward, resulting in an underground all-points bulletin to exact vengeance on the squealer. Legendary director, Jules Dassin’s unrelenting directional pace is complemented by the driving score of Booker T. Jones. The stellar cast includes Raymond St. Jacques, Ruby Dee, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Frank Silvera.Read More »

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