As faithful readers can attest, we have something of a Nixon obsession here at Mid Century Cinema. And, kind of like one of Jerry’s girlfriends speaking of George—we don’t like him. (Don’t care much for that Henry Kissinger, either, but that’s another matter.) Thus the following “programing note”—we have an article in the new (Spring…
In a recent essay in The New York Times A. O. Scott asks the question, “Is Woody Allen a Great Filmmaker?” Scott is a critic for whom we at Mid Century Cinema have enormous appreciation—his reviews are thoughtful and well written; his longer-form thought pieces and video essays are almost invariably valuable and insightful. We…
The hardworking staff at Mid Century Cinema recently had reason to revisit the New Hollywood films of Peter Yates. Of the nine features he directed from 1967 to 1977, two stand out as landmarks of the movement: Bullitt (1968) and The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973). We will consider the under-appreciated Bullitt later this year for…
Despite decades of dedication to the films of Stanley Kubrick, the hard working staff here at Mid Century Cinema had never before screened Spartacus. So now we have really seen them all. How could we possibly have waited this long? Two reasons. First, Spartacus is an epic – a giant, important, purposeful enterprise – and…
Jane Fonda turns 80 on December 21, which makes perfect sense, but nevertheless comes as something of a surprise. Fonda has been in the public eye for so long – and in so many guises (trailblazing video exercise guru in the eighties, the Ted Turner 1990s, most recently an art-house television star) – that one…
‘Tis the season for year-end “best of” lists, so we thought we’d play along with a focus on our favorite home video releases of 2017. A few ground rules – we’re valuing the merits of the release, not simply the movie, so there is an emphasis on discs that offer valuable extras and those that…
Can we treasure the work of artists whose behavior we vehemently disapprove of? Our short answer is yes. But keep reading. This is a question that must be reckoned with nowadays, given the recent (and continuing) avalanche of simply horrifying revelations of sexual harassment, and often much, much worse, by prominent, powerful men. Many of…
Martin Scorsese turned seventy-five on November 17, a milestone that naturally lends itself to looking back at his remarkable career. (Though, we hasten to add, not in a valedictory way—he is currently working on one film, has another in pre-production, and plans are already taking shape for the one after that.) Given that Scorsese’s overflowing…
The release of the spectacular Trouble No More provides a fitting moment for our third Bob-post of retrospectives following Dylan receiving the 2016 Nobel Prize for literature. The first included a general overview and guidelines for following his Bob-ness; the second featured our user’s guide to (almost) all of his studio albums; here, as previously…
This weekend your intrepid correspondent was able to see Ismael’s Ghosts, the most recent offering from Arnaud Desplechin, at the New York Film Festival. An earlier, shorter cut had received mixed notices at Cannes, but we were eager to attend, both in anticipation of the screening and for the promised Q&A with the director that…