‘The Conversation’: Francis Ford Coppola’s Paranoia-Ridden Tale of Surveillance, Guilt and Isolation
By Koraljka Suton The idea originated in a conversation between me and Irving Kirshner. We were talking about espionage,…
Gene Hackman
Jeeps in the Orchard: The Logistical “Laters” of Attenborough’s ‘A Bridge Too Far’
By Tim Pelan British war cinema is preoccupied, it seems, with stiff-upper-lipped defeat—from innumerable plucky POW features to the…
‘Unforgiven’: Clint Eastwood’s Eulogy for the Man with No Name in His Anti-Western Masterpiece
By Sven Mikulec Two years after Kevin Costner’s Dances With Wolves became only the second Western ever to win…
Alan Parker’s ‘Mississippi Burning’: Making a Powerful Social Commentary From Inside the Hollywood System
Alan Parker’s Mississippi Burning was labeled by Roger Ebert as the best American film of 1988. Bear in mind, this…
William Friedkin’s ‘The French Connection’: The Seventies’ Peak of Cinematic Excitement
One of the first things that come to mind when The French Connection is discussed is the famous car chase…
‘Young Frankenstein’: Comedy Master Mel Brooks at the Peak of His Craft
The year 1974 was a rather big for then 48-year-old Mel Brooks. Seven years after his brilliant filmmaking debut with The…
Arthur Penn’s ‘Night Moves’ demands, and deserves, multiple viewings, and every single one of them is equally rewarding
By Sven Mikulec Whenever Arthur Penn’s name is mentioned, most people probably think of Bonnie and Clyde. The Beatty-Dunaway…