I've been afraid that Del Toro might make a film where the production design overwhelms everything else. Some viewers will argue that that's already the case, but in something like Pacific Rim, where there's an incredible amount of detail in every frame, there was also enormous attention paid to the dynamic aspects…

I like how John Patterson (the interviewer for The Guardian ) says in the piece: "If Peter Jackson is the Cecil B. DeMille of [the fantasy-horror] realm, then Del Toro is its Orson Welles." As usual with such statements, it can be both wrong-headed and surprisingly accurate. Perhaps Patterson is echoing his fellow …

Absolutely. I'm trying to think of examples of both good ones and puff pieces. Scorsese has made several films about musicians. I liked The Last Waltz but have not see Shine a Light. And I was thinking of Von Trier's The Five Obstructions as one of the most unusual, and fun, takes on the idea. Herzog made that…

Is this the year of established, highly-regarded filmmakers making documentaries about artists they admire? With Christopher Nolan making his film about the Quay brothers, Noah Baumbach co-directing the movie on Brian De Palma, and this, that seems to be the case. And I think it would be great to see that become a…

I really like the Film Club videos so far, but I wonder if they could build a little more on the written reviews themselves whenever Ignatiy or Alex have reviewed the films under discussion. At times it feels like they are making a lot of the same points, and while that might be so that those who'd rather watch the…

This is nicely detailed, but I wonder if looking at the differences between the films would be even more instructive. While both films follow a similar narrative and thematic arc, they take decidedly different routes. By and large, Aronofsky charts Nina's deterioration through her subjectivity, adding images that put…

With some of the costumes of The Fifth Element, it's hard to tell where the costume ends and the wearer begins. The diva Plavalaguna, for instance. So I understand the specification for the head, arms and legs. Otherwise the costume designers would also need a credit for creature design.

Good film. It was Steven Zaillian's first screenwriting credit. He's been one of Hollywood's premiere writers for a while - Schindler's List, Mission: Impossible, and Gangs of New York are all among his credits. His name on the credits of a movie tends to give me some extra confidence that the film will be at…

I've seen it and I agree: it is a movie that is keenly aware of the world around its momentous discovery.

Must bring up Dorota Segda in the brilliant Hungarian masterwork My Twentieth Century (1989) by director Ildikó Enyedi. It's one of the great films that most desperately needs a nice Blu-Ray release. It's a beautifully crafted story of enormous social and technological change as experienced by identical twins who,…

Have not seen or read The Martian, but I ask: what are some examples of movies that deal with science and technology in a positive light, but also within the context of a humanity that has to deal with both personal and political issues? Some reviews I've read about The Martian suggest that there is almost no…

Cronenberg was at one point going to tackle his first long-term television project, Knifeman starring Tim Roth as a radical 18th century surgeon:

To think this was only Cohen's second feature film as a director. I haven't seen Bone, the first one, but the great energy and style of his best films seem to have been there from his earliest movies.

That film apparently would've come out right after Umbrellas but Kelly was unavailable. I wonder if making those musicals back to back would have done something different to Deneuve's image, which instead was shaped by several comedies but also Repulsion. Following Rochefort, Deneuve starred in Buñuel's amazing …

Roger Greenspun described William Devane's performance in Family Plot as "wonderfully toothy," and Lesley Brill picks up on how teeth are an important motif in that film. Few actors would be more suited to provide brilliant smiles to a movie interested in teeth than William Devane.

I believe canons are a tricky question if they are considered immobile. Suggesting a film or a filmmaker for canonization only means, to my mind, giving them more exposure because their work has not enjoyed it before and it is worthy of attention, or because the films speak powerfully to some aspect of the present. In…

Does anybody else think it is strange that the "Merchant/Ivory" label (which should really be "Merchant/Ivory/Jhabvala") became a pejorative term? Or was it a pejorative term to begin with? After all, the run of films that ended with The Remains of the Day is rather impressive, so it seemed more logical to think the…

I hope they'll also have weekly references to the films of Colin Farrell, who was great in the Minority Report film as Department of Justice weasel Danny Witwer. Few movies are as quotable as In Bruges. Come to think of it, they would find that movie too offensive for primetime network programming.

I remember when I first heard about Fateful Findings - the subject of the latest Flop House - the word was that it was a surprising and memorable low-budget feature and a cult classic in the making. But I don't remember getting the sense, from any source, that it was admired for its incompetence, or that the…

Love this movie! It even withstands a lengthy bit of thesis-statement near the climax. It never shies away from being gross, and it makes every violent moment truly painful. The comedy lands, and the characters are so distinctive they make for a truly diverse, memorable group (that's not to say they are well-rounded…