It was with enormous, eager anticipation that we welcomed the autobiography of Woody Allen, one of the most important American filmmakers of the last third of the twentieth century (and writer-director of a half-dozen excellent films since then), achievements we have discussed here and here. With the bar set sky high, it is not surprising…
In the November 2019 issue of Sight & Sound, Olivier Assayas had this to say about the filmmaker Maurice Pialat: “For my generation,” he was “a much stronger reference than a lot of nouvelle vague filmmakers.” (Arnaud Desplechin has expressed similar sentiments.) Invoking, quite rightly, comparisons with the discomforting, revolutionary cinema of John Casavettes, Assayas…
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…