255. Cabaret
Before it was adapted into a film, Cabaret was a memoir, a short story, a play and a Broadway musical. Released in 1972, it now serves as a history lesson.
Tag Archives: genre
249. All About My Mother
Once dismissed as The King of Kitsch, this masterpiece proved Pedro Almodovar was really a laureate of liberalism.
240. The Maltese Falcon
John Huston’s film of Dashiell Hammett’s classic novel was the third adaptation. How did he succeed where others had failed?
236. Great Shots – Part Two
What makes for a great shot? Beauty? The lens? Lighting? Combine them and you have more than just an image.
230. Chinatown
Roman Polanski’s masterpiece is often called film noir. But lacking a dark look and a femme fatale, it’s not. It’s a very rare Hollywood breed; a true tragedy.
226. Nashville
Robert Altman’s best films capture cultures in transition. Nashville marked the moment politics and celebrity intermingled to create space for Donald Trump.
219. Klute
With its progressive attitude toward gender and sexuality, is Alan J Pakula’s 1971 film more a character study than it is a psychological thriller?
217. Great Scenes – Part Three
What makes for a great scene? Performance? Conflict? Dialogue? Visuals? Music? Combine them and you have atomic weight.
208. The French Connection
William Friedkin’s Oscar-winner may be a gritty thriller but it owes an enormous debt to a classic of 19th century American literature.
206. Blazing Saddles
We like to think of ourselves as modern and sophisticated, but is the humour of Blazing Saddles too outrageous for anyone in Hollywood to make it today?
199. Se7en
Mention Se7en and chances are talk will lead to the head in the box. But while that makes the ending so unforgettable, it’s also the film’s biggest problem.
191. GoodFellas
GoodFellas is more than just a breathless tale of middle-management in the Mafia. It’s one of Martin Scorsese’s many films in which he seeks enlightenment.
189. Genocide in Cinema
Blighted with massacres since Biblical times, the word genocide was not coined until 1944. How has cinema faired in depicting it?
186. Spotlight
Spotlight is more than just an investigation into the child abuse scandals that riddled Boston’s Archdiocese. It is an examination of the institutions we create.
185. In the Name of the Father
The story of Gerry and Giuseppe Conlon is one of injustice, but it is also a unique retelling of Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio.
183. Room
In adapting Emma Donoghue’s award-winning novel, Lenny Abrahamson extends a cinematic tradition established by French master, Robert Bresson.
173. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
How do you make a film about a character who can neither move nor speak, but can only blink his left eye?
170. My Darling Clementine
John Ford made so many great westerns, he is synonymous with the genre. But that doesn’t mean he always got everything right.
162. True Detective
Whether it be theatre, film or TV, all stories need good plots and performances. But what elevated True Detective Season 1 to the status of classic was its structure.
161. Dr. Strangelove
Until 1964, Stanley Kubrick had suffered years of set-backs, disappointments and frustration. But he made his reputation with this satire on nuclear war.
158. The Big Sleep
How can Howard Hawks’ adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s labyrinthine detective novel be heralded as a classic when it is impossible to follow?
147. The Case for the Courtroom Drama
Of all the genres, the courtroom is perhaps the one most beset by clichés. So is there any evidence for a few masterpieces?
146. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
There have been four adaptations of Jack Finney’s novel. But what new angle could you bring to the classic sci-fi allegory?
144. The Searchers
The Searchers is both a cinematic monument and an extremely unsettling depiction of the racism that lies at the heart of America’s own mythology.
