ABOUT

The purposes of this blog is simply to deep dive into selected works of cinema's greatest directors. I select a director and watch 10 of his best pieces, then I create a post describing what makes the piece great. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rio Bravo (1959)

Image
  Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" To conclude the filmography of Howard Hawks, I watched his 1959 western film " Rio Bravo ." I've got to say that I was expecting a lot more out of this picture based on all the praise for the film. That is not to say that I didn't like it, it was a fine time at the cinema (I was not at the cinema, I was at home). I can't say that I should have expected more, as I'm not entirely that big of a fan of Howard Hawks. Even his best film (to me), " The Big Sleep " is arguably one of the weaker film noirs that I've seen. " Rio Bravo " is a film that apparently is a response to 1952's " High Noon ," which was an allegory about Hollywood's blacklisting and McCarthyism. Howard Hawks and John Wayne felt the film was anti-American and instead made " Rio Bravo " to broadcast an alternative perspective in which the hero of the story doesn't shy away from justice. I personally ha
Read more

Dracula (1931)

Image
  Tod Browning's "Dracula" In the new sound era of film at the start of the 1930s, Universal Studios attracted many Depression-era audiences to the thrills of the 'horror' genre. Films like " Frankenstein ," " The Invisible Man ," and " The Bride of Frankenstein " all had great success with audiences wanting a thrilling escape from the stress and uncertainty of modern life. The film that started this trend was Tod Browning's 1931 film " Dracula. " The original source material, Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of the same name, had already been adapted to the stage by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston in 1927. The success of the stage play is what ignited the interest in turning the story into a full-length feature film. Universal Studios even hired the actor playing Dracula in the play version, Bela Lugosi, who would forever be iconic for portraying the vampire. There had been one other instance of Stoker's novel bei
Read more

That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)

Image
  Luis Bunuel's "That Obscure Object of Desire" Luis Bunuel's final film before his death, " That Obscure Object of Desire " does not feel like a thematic summation of his filmography. That regard would go to his prior film, " The Phantom of Liberty ." Rather, " That Obscure Object of Desire " feels more like a strange after-the-fact memo. It does not display the typical levels of surrealism that most Bunuel films are known for. However, it still manages to  Bunuel based his script on the 1898 Pierre Louys novel " The Woman and the Puppet ." His film tells the story of a wealthy Frenchman named Mathieu who becomes obsessed with a young, impoverished Spanish flamenco dancer named Conchita. As the two become intertwined in a romance, it becomes clear that Conchita will not let Mathieu have sexual relations with her. She continues to tease and sexually frustrate him, as he continues to give her money and other various things to win
Read more