Mid Century Cinema favorite Jean-Pierre Melville would have turned 100 on October 20, and his centennial has led to countless celebratory retrospectives, as well as, it would appear, the forging of The Jean Pierre Melville Foundation. We would say it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy—but that would be wrong of us, as he was,…
Truffaut on Cinema is nothing short of a treasure for movie-lovers. François Truffaut sat for about 300 interviews between 1959 and 1984, and every last one of them is collected in this book—and presented with a rather ingenious twist. The interviews were compiled and reorganized by Anne Gillain, and as reassembled the book proceeds thematically,…
Once again it’s that time of year – the Fifty-Fifth New York Film Festival will run from September 28 through October 15 – and as usual there are more great screenings and events than one could possibly hope to attend. The entire forty-five page brochure is worth a close read, but we’ll highlight some of the…
We have added a good bit of new content here at MCC, and thought we’d take the opportunity to walk through what is new (and forthcoming) on the site. Over in “Books, Essays and More,” four new publications can be found: Our Cineaste review of Charles Taylor’s book on the “Shadow Cinema” of the 1970s,…
We recently wrote about Alfred Hitchcock in this essay for the Boston Review, and as it turns out, that experience left us wanting to talk a little bit more about the Master of Suspense. So we thought we’d give him the full Mid Century Cinema treatment, and offer a modest assessment and career overview, culminating…
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…
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…