The estimable journal Film Comment offered its “best films of the decade” lists in its January-February edition. We read the issue with great interest, as we invariably do, but were not much moved by the exercise. Possibly because of our legendary skepticism of the notion of such lists (even as we participate in the practice);…
Gene Hackman just turned 90 (!!), which seems like an opportune moment to look back on his career—or more specifically, his role as one of the essential figures of the New Hollywood. Hackman appeared in a full two dozen movies from 1967 to 1976, including some of the most important films of the movement. Although…
The Academy Awards are just around the corner, and we will watch them—hopefully this year’s show will be a good one. Truth be told, it rarely is, but they can feature some special moments: deeply moving speeches (usually these involve tributes to mentors and inspirations, as opposed to agents and children), incidents of genuine spontaneity…
Buck Henry left us this week. He was a person of considerable accomplishment, as detailed in a fine New York Times obituary and this terrific long form overview/interview, but for all of us at Mid Century Cinema, he will be remembered as an essential participant in the New Hollywood—and an exemplar of its ethos. This…
And once again it is that time of year – the season of “best of” lists – and our now-three-year tradition is to play along with a selection of our favorite home video releases. A reminder of the ground rules: this is an appreciation of home video releases, not favorite movies, so the list leans…
We conclude our back-fill of best-of lists here with a review of 1968. To review our bucket-load of qualifications regarding the folly of such lists, please see our discussions of 1967 and 1969. Reviewing those entries ourselves, we note that although we come to praise the ten films below without reservation (and winnowing down from…
As you may have heard, legendary director Martin Scorsese shared some thoughts about the current crop of blockbuster films based on comic book superheroes. “That’s not cinema,” he stated. “As well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances,” they are more analogous to “theme parks” than any other…
Last night the entire staff here at Mid Century Cinema assembled in the screening room to watch Theo Angelopoulos’ The Weeping Meadow—and with that, we have seen them all. But we were not there simply on account of our completist fetish. Rather, in previous discussions we have described what we want from the movies—something to…
Mid Century Cinema favorite Olivier Assayas is at the New York Film Festival with his latest, Wasp Network, which arrives on heels of last year’s Non Fiction. Despite the efforts of our talented internet liaison, Wasp Network sold out before we could order tickets. But all was not lost, as an additional event was subsequently…
The staff in the mailroom here at Mid Century Cinema received some angry letters in the wake of our recent “Best of 1969” post—from 1967 and 1968. “Why didn’t we get the “best of” treatment?” they complained, in correspondence littered with passages too vitriolic to reprint here. Closing with more than a hint of snark,…