Greetings all. We’re writing today about some upcoming logistical changes here at Mid Century Cinema. We have to transition from both our web-host and our software template. (Our name, address, and content will remain the same.) During that process, we hope to be able to transfer our list of subscribers (those who receive e-mail notifications…
Recently I was interviewed by Super-ficcion on a wide range of movie related issues, under the headline of “Is Hollywood in Crisis?” I thought they did a great job in putting together a very spiffy piece, which can be accessed here. Some Mid Century Cinema followers have read the interview on other platforms, but we’re…
One of the many pleasures of having an obsession with the movies is that one thing leads to another. A few months ago the programming team here at Mid Century Cinema stumbled across a film by Asghar Farhadi, and were so impressed that we quickly screened everything of his that we could get our hands…
Any pantheon of the New Hollywood must include Robert Altman, whose run of twelve films from 1967 to 1977 stands up robustly in comparison not only with his distinguished contemporaries, but alongside almost any figure we can think of in the history of cinema. So it is high past time that we gave him the official…
On May 18 it was announced that earlier in the previous week, legendary actor and larger than life presence Michel Piccoli had left us, midway through his ninety-fifth year. Such a death is not a tragedy, of course, but like the falling of a mighty, ancient tree, one takes notice of such things. I don’t…
On May 18 it was announced that earlier in the previous week, legendary actor and larger than life presence Michel Piccoli had left us, midway through his ninety-fifth year. Such a death is not a tragedy, of course, but like the falling of a mighty, ancient tree, one takes notice of such things. I don’t…
We’ve been doing some end of semester spring cleaning here at Mid Century Cinema, and it seemed like a good time to bring everyone up to date by highlighting some new content that is now available on the site, as much of it is often added unannounced. (And to our surprise it’s also been almost…
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);…