Ace in the Hole Is Still Relevant

While Ace in the Hole was not a commercial success on upon release in 1951, the film is still relevant when it comes to media sensationalism. The concept of media sensationalism dates back to the 16th or 17th centuries.  It’s not something that is going to go away anytime soon.  We still see it in the very media we consume to this day.  Much like Network predicted the likes of Fox News, Ace in the…

"Ace in the Hole Is Still Relevant"

Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder At His Finest

Sunset Boulevard isn’t only Billy Wilder at his finest but the film is easily the best film ever made about Hollywood in cinematic history. The fate of Joe Gillis (William Holden) is doomed from the start.  Upon flashing back, we later learn how he came to be in this most unfortunate situation.  It turns out that Joe is having the worst luck as a screenwriter.  He was unsuccessful in Sheldrake (Fred Clark) on a story. …

"Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder At His Finest"

The Lost Weekend Holds Up, Could Be Improved

Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend is one of three films to take home both the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and Best Picture at the Oscars. The Lost Weekend deals with Don Birnam’s (Ray Milland) alcoholism.  What it does not deal with–and I’ll get to this shortly–is the fact that he’s in the closet.  Because the film doesn’t press this point, Brackett and Wilder’s script gives Helen St. James (Jane Wyman) a bigger…

"The Lost Weekend Holds Up, Could Be Improved"

A Foreign Affair: A Post-World War II Rom-Com

A Foreign Affair is a romantic comedy–albeit one that falls under the category of cynical–that takes place in post-World War II Berlin. Iowa congresswoman Phoebe Frost (Jean Arthur) is a part of a committee investigating American troop morale after the war.  Captain John Pringle (John Lund), a fellow Iowan) cynically woos her but he has his reasoning for doing so.  He’s trying to cover up his affair with singer Erika von Schlütow (Marlene Dietrich).  The…

"A Foreign Affair: A Post-World War II Rom-Com"

Double Indemnity Set Standard for Film Noir

Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity set the standard for film noir when the seven-time Oscar-nominee was first released in 1944. Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) is having an affair with insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray).  Murder is on the horizon because Walter wants Mr. Dietrichson (Tom Powers) to sign a double indemnity policy.  The trick will certainly come in making it look like an accident.  This is easier said than done, right?  Of course, no matter…

"Double Indemnity Set Standard for Film Noir"

On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder

On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder by Ed Sikov is an in-depth biography of the late Oscar winning filmmaker, who died in 2002. When Ernst Lubitsch died in 1947, all of his secrets went to the grave.  But who was there to succeed him in terms of his style of filmmaking?  The answer to the question comes in the form of another filmmaker from the Continent, Billy Wilder. Double Indemnity.  The…

"On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder"

Sully: The Miracle on the Hudson

Sully revisits the fateful January day when Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger pulled off the Miracle on the Hudson against all odds. January 15, 2009 is a date that will live in history for New Yorkers.  This is the day when 155 lives were saved on US Airways Flight 1549 when it crashed in the Hudson.  What the film delivers isn’t so much a biopic in the traditional sense.  Yeah, we get some flashbacks to his…

"Sully: The Miracle on the Hudson"

Bridge of Spies: The Height of the Cold War

Bridge of Spies reteams director Steven Spielberg with two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks to bring us a thriller set during the height of the Cold War. A Cold War setting usually screams thriller.  However, this film is a mix of thrills and drama in one epic.  And this is in spite of the CIA’s involvement in rescuing pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell).  Everything leads up to the exchange on Berlin’s historic Glienicke Bridge.  This…

"Bridge of Spies: The Height of the Cold War"

The Old Guard: Living Forever Doesn’t Come Easy

The Old Guard may be a kick-ass action film but the idea of living forever also doesn’t come as easy as we might think upon first glance. Andy (Charlize Theron), short for Andromache the Scythian, leads a covert group of mercenaries and they’ve been protecting the world for hundreds of years.  All of them come from a background in martial arts or they military and they also cannot die.  It’s also a curse because the…

"The Old Guard: Living Forever Doesn’t Come Easy"

You’ve Got Mail: Hanks and Ryan Do It Again

You’ve Got Mail manages to reunite writer-director Nora Ephron with both Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan for another romantic comedy. Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) is a member of the family that runs mega bookstore chain Fox Books.  Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) runs a small independent bookstore, The Shop Around The Corner.  They develop an online relationship after meeting in a chatroom but don’t know that they live in the same Upper West Side neighborhood.  He…

"You’ve Got Mail: Hanks and Ryan Do It Again"