Essays
Some Came Running, Directed by VIncente Minnelli
Some Came Running, Directed by VIncente Minnelli
By Ron Falzone
If we are to believe what the small town melodramas tell us, then every village and burg dotting the map is filled with deviants, hypocrites and mothers pretending to be their child’s aunt to hide the “shame of illegitimacy.” To mix a metaphor, these stories are all about ripping the lid off small town America and exposing the seamy underbelly.
The Big Country, Directed by William Wyler
The Big Country, Directed by William Wyler
By Ron Falzone
The western is the most muscular and malleable of all genres and, as such, it has attracted great directors over the years. Some, like John Ford, Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher are so linked to the western that it comes as a surprise to see movies with these names attached that have nothing to do with horse, a gun, and a flower-faced girl.
The Court Jester Directed by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
The Court Jester Directed by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
By Ron Falzone
George Lucas once said that it was easy to get an audience to cry. All you had to do was put a kitten onscreen then have the bad guy strangle it. What one cannot come up with, though, is an equally surefire way to get a laugh.
The Dirty Dozen, Directed by Robert Aldrich
The Dirty Dozen, Directed by Robert Aldrich
By Ron Falzone
For me, being trapped in the house brings on an odd kind of nostalgia. It isn’t that I’m wistful for when I had the flu and was bedridden for two weeks. It’s just that the isolation makes my mind wander to little moments of great import from longer ago than I usually like to consider.
The Fountainhead, Directed by King Vidor
The Fountainhead, Directed by King Vidor
By Ron Falzone
There is art and then there is guilty pleasure. And King Vidor’s version of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead will never be confused for the former.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Directed by The Archers
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Directed by The Archers
By Ron Falzone
There are many filmmakers I love, but only a few that I hold in awe. At the top of my list are the great Japanese minimalist Yasujiro Ozu, and the extraordinary British maximalist team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
