The Hill is gritty, earth shattering cinema. What mesmerizes me about it is that it's primal and electrifying art which absolutely demands you to witness the degradation of human beings.
Set at a military prison in North Africa during WWII, pent-up anger, brutality and general mind-fuckery abound under the simmering desert sun, as soldiers are punished by having to repeatedly go up and down the titular hill in full gear. One sadistic officer takes pleasure in being control by effectively…
I think I've found my new obsession: Fredric March.
First off, I'm truly impressed by March's pre-Code films. They've all been knockouts. Whether he's played an alcoholic writer in Merrily We Go to Hell or a dual role as Death masquerading as an eccentric aristocrat in Death Takes a Holiday, he's not only been exceptional, but the film themselves have to be some of the best I've laid eyes on from the era.
The Eagle and the Hawk is a…
Such a tight, suspenseful adventure yarn - and a terrific train movie! J. Lee Thompson really knew how to keep you on the edge of your seat. He should be mentioned more often amongst the pantheon of great directors, because I think his work here and in Ice Cold in Alex is breathtaking. They're stunning examples of action filmmaking. Not in the sense of "Oh isn't that action-y" but "This whole film is a fluid, non-stop flow of pulsating energy".…
Maybe not quite as grand as I remembered it, as the first 90 mins or so are great cinema, but the rest gets a little too muddled to me. However, I saw the new 4K restoration on the big screen and it certainly gave me an epic vibe.
Elizabeth Taylor is at her imperious best, truly Cleopatra on the range. And you’ll never find me saying “no” to Rock Hudson as a strapping Texan hunk. I love them together.
There’s…
She's gone.
At the grand old age of 104, Olivia de Havilland has passed away, which, to me, symbolizes the end of an era: the truly final connection who could tell us what an age was really like, knew all of its major players, and someone who experienced more than her fair share of its trials and tribulations.
With all due respect to those actors and actresses still living from the era, none of them were as emblematic of the…
My hot take for the day: Captain Blood is the most important film Warner Bros. ever made.
Before you sweet folks lock me up in a dungeon and throw the key away, hear me out. The stakes for Captain Blood were very high. It was the most expensive Warners production since 1928's Noah's Ark. In casting the star of such a costly production, studio head Jack Warner took the big, then unheard of gamble in picking an unknown for the…
