Anyone who spends much time online is sure to notice the host of best and worst lists vying for our attention. You’ll even find lists of “Best Lists,” the publishers ranging in prestige from The New [...] Continue Reading
The Sacred and the Profane: Seeing Double in “The Great Beauty”
"The ideal way to see Rome . . . is through two pairs of eyes, one pair that knows it exceedingly well . . . and one that sees it for the first time, wide-eyed, open to life" (Federico Fellini, I, [...] Continue Reading
“Forget it, Jake”—It’s Film Noir and Chinatown
“What’s your favorite movie?” is a question I’m often asked. It might come from a new acquaintance who has just learned that I teach film studies and have a special interest in the history of [...] Continue Reading
Hollywood’s Coming Attractions: What’s Wrong with a Digital Future?
In March 2002, the very month Fresno Filmworks was launched at the Fresno Art Museum, the major Hollywood studios began to lay the groundwork for an industry-wide conversion to digital exhibition. The [...] Continue Reading
Graham Greene’s “worst horror”: Adapting to the Conventional Ending
(Warning—spoilers ahead.) “She walked rapidly in the thin June sunlight towards the worst horror of all.” So ends Graham Greene’s 1938 novel, Brighton Rock. Greene’s readers know exactly what [...] Continue Reading
Hollywood Comes Home from War
As one war is winding down and another ramping up, more than 1.8 million American men and women have already served in Iraq or Afghanistan. January figures from the Department of Defense put the [...] Continue Reading
“Miracle of Rare Device”: The British Romantics in Film
The release of Bright Star has brought critical acclaim for Jane Campion after a five-year hiatus from feature films and the poor reception for her underrated thriller In the Cut (2004). Campion’s [...] Continue Reading
John Moses’ top films of 2008
A Clips tradition, here are the Top Films of 2008, as compiled by Filmworks President John Moses. The Edge of Heaven. From Germany and Turkey, overlapping stories of parents and their adult [...] Continue Reading