Beautiful and Damned: “Pale Flower”
Existential despair meets sixties cool in Masahiro Shinoda’s landmark noir thriller.
Highway to Hell: “Detour”
When it comes to cynical, tawdry and twisted highway noir, few can match one of the earliest entries in the genre, “Detour.”
Hollywood Babylon: “Mulholland Drive”
Of all of David Lynch’s twisted puzzle-box movies, “Mulholland Dr.” is the most inviting, and cuts the deepest.
Game Change: “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” inaugurated a new era of genre thrill-ride moviemaking, even as it celebrated pulp movies of the past.
The Smart Movie/Dumb Movie Podcast Episode 05: “The Last Man on Earth”, “The Omega Man” and “I Am Legend”
Are we facing the end of humanity as we know it? Just in case, The Big Movie Genius and Ho Lin review three movies based on the seminal horror novel “I Am Legend”.
Checkmated: “The Killing”
Stanley Kubrick’s early heist film honors the conventions of noir cinema, while announcing his arrival as a one-of-a-kind filmmaker.
Unhappily Ever After: “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”
“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” boils James Bond back down to essentials, offers him a chance at happiness — and then pulls the rug out from under us.
A Fine Madness: “You Only Live Twice”
You Only Live Twice (1967, Dir. Lewis Gilbert): “You can come up
Boom Times: “Thunderball”
Thunderball (1965, Dir. Terence Young): ‘When I came to the table I
Gold Standard: “Goldfinger”
Goldfinger (1964, Guy Hamilton): ‘Just a moment, Goldfinger, you’re not through yet.’