Dustin Hoffman, one of the signature actors of the New Hollywood, turns eighty on August 8, 2017. Faithful readers of Mid Century Cinema might have noticed we have a certain fondness for this period, and Hoffman’s extraordinary run during this era neatly summarizes many of the reasons why. Hoffman appeared in a dozen films from…
We try and keep an eye on all things seventies film here at Mid Century Cinema, and so we were very pleased to procure a copy of a French DVD of The Midnight Man (1974), which was, irresistibly, co-produced, co-written, and co-directed by its star, Burt Lancaster. In the words of David Thomson, who is…
Ingmar Bergman would have turned ninety-nine on July 14. One of the true titans in the history of cinema, with a prolific career, distinct voice, and an indisputably prominent place in the pantheon—he is also one of our All-Time Favorites. And so the crack staff here at Mid Century Cinema have decided to get a…
Recently we took the occasion of Dylan’s Nobel Prize as an opportunity to “consider some things Dylan,” motivated by our position that The Bob is not well understood beyond that circle of those who follow him rather closely. We must immediately emphasize, following the Prime Directive, that we don’t know Bob, and make no claims…
On June 24 1967, Pauline Kael – not yet established at the New Yorker where she would emerge as one of the most influential film critics in America – wrote a long essay for the New Republic singing the praises of the then under-appreciated Orson Welles and his new under-seen film, Chimes at Midnight. “Like…
Earlier this week Nobel Laureate in Literature Bob Dylan fulfilled his obligation to the Norwegian Institute with a remarkable speech that looked back over a few of the formative influences of his work (and they might surprise you). This inspired us to take a moment to consider some things Dylan, in part to provide a…
Is Olivier Assayas our greatest living director? If we believed in such pronouncements here at Mid Century Cinema, we could see the argument in favor. But we don’t. More to the point, as we found ourselves screening his films repeatedly (and, like Kubrick films, they invariably get better with each viewing), and musing about this…
May 17, 1967 marked the release of Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back (that’s right, no apostrophe). A documentary of Dylan’s 1965 visit to England, cameras followed as the twenty-four year old Bob performed in proper concerts and on informal occasions, held forth in sparring matches with a clueless, often hostile establishment press, bantered with his…
This week’s movie was Chinatown, and you might think that having written about this one previously – actually more than once – that we would be out of things to say about it. But you’d be wrong. On this occasion we’ll address the movie’s controversial ending (a conclusion writer Robert Towne objected to so strongly…
On April 22, 2017 Jack Nicholson turned eighty, and although he has been a big-time, world famous, larger-than-life movie star for over a third of a century, he holds a revered place at Mid Century Cinema for an earlier phase of his career. After ten years of struggle, at the end of which he was…