Tag Archives: American cinema

vertigo at the peak (film: Vertigo – Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)

Posted on April 19, 2023 by admin

‘Vertigo‘, made in 1958, seems today, at the first viewing or at a re-watch, like a cinema lesson left by Alfred Hitchcock to the directors who would come after him. It is a complex story (inspired by a French novel … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

a remake that does not disapoint (film: M – Joseph Losey, 1951)

Posted on April 15, 2023 by admin

The history of remakes is full of failures. In 99% of cases the opinions of critics and viewers consider that remakes do not live up to the original films. When it comes to American productions that take ideas and stories … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

a rollercoaster made of gold (film: Gold – Stephen Gaghan, 2016)

Posted on April 7, 2023 by admin

‘Gold‘, the 2016 film by director Steven Gaghan, has as its main character a kind of American anti-hero. The character is derived from the stories of social and economic ascents (‘rags to riches’) that embody the American dream in cinematography. … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

intense, disturbing and confusing (film: The Whale – Darren Aronofsky, 2022)

Posted on April 5, 2023 by admin

I was looking forward to watching ‘The Whale‘, the last of 2022’s major Oscar-winning films that I hadn’t seen. Darren Aronofsky is a director who never ceases to amaze me. His feature debut with ‘Pi’ and films like ‘Black Swan’ … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

the fascination of the camera (film: The Fabelmans – Steven Spielberg, 2022)

Posted on January 6, 2023 by admin

Hollywood likes to make movies about Hollywood. Several of the great directors (including Spielberg’s friends and collaborators Truffaut and George Lucas) have made autobiographical films inspired by their own childhood and adolescence. In ‘The Fabelmans‘ (2022), Steven Spielberg combines the … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

political and romantic escapism (film: Long Shot – John Irvine, 2019)

Posted on December 29, 2022 by admin

Romantic comedy and high politics have already met many times in American films. Americans (and not just Americans) are fascinated by the White House. The Oval Office is probably the most filmed and recreated room in the history of American … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

back to the 40s (film: Farewell, My Lovely – Dick Richards, 1975)

Posted on December 24, 2022 by admin

The biography of Dick Richards, the director of ‘Farewell, My Lovely‘ (1975) is an enigma to me. This screen adaptation (the second, the first had been made in 1944) of one of Raymond Chandler‘s novels with private detective Phil Marlowe … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

the 4th question (film: Oldboy – Spike Lee, 2013)

Posted on December 22, 2022 by admin

In one of the key scenes of this 2013 version of ‘Oldboy‘, the Bad Guy asks the film’s hero two questions. Correct answers in a limited time are conditions of his survival. Furthermore, the villain points out to him that … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

a good computer-screen thriller (film: Searching – Aneesh Chaganthy, 2018)

Posted on November 9, 2022 by admin

Movies that take place mostly or even exclusively on computer screens are not exactly a novelty anymore. In the last 20 years I have seen such productions in different genres – from romantic comedies to science fiction epics. The compression … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

a lonely father (film: Everybody’s Fine – Kirk Jones, 2009)

Posted on November 2, 2022 by admin

‘Everybody’s Fine‘, the 2009 American family drama by director Kirk Jones, offers the opportunity for a series of interesting reflections on the passing of cinematic time. Why do some older films seem contemporary, while other films, made a decade or … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment