Sunset Boulevard (1950) Starring Gloria Swanson, William Holden and Erich von Stroheim Written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and D.M. Marshman, Jr. Directed by Billy Wilder Hoo boy. There's really no question why this is one of the greatest Hollywood films of all time -- Gloria Swanson is completely magnetic as aging film-star Norma Desmond. … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Sunset Boulevard (#12)
Category: Reviews
The AFI Top 100 Films: The Bridge on the River Kwai (#13)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Starring William Holden, Alec Guinness and Jack Hawkins Written by Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson (screenplay) and Pierre Boulle (novel) Directed by David Lean The Bridge on the River Kwai is a chronicle of what can happen to twist our logic into insanity through the fog of war. … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: The Bridge on the River Kwai (#13)
The AFI Top 100 Films: Some Like It Hot (#14)
Some Like It Hot (1959)Starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn MonroeWritten by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. DiamondDirected by Billy WilderI was immediately intrigued by this movie once I discovered it was co-written and directed by Billy Wilder, the gentleman responsible for the superb The Apartment. I was expecting another movie like it, a comedy … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Some Like It Hot (#14)
The AFI Top 100 Films: Star Wars (#15)
Star Wars (1977) Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher Written and Directed by George Lucas What could I say about this movie that hasn't been said before? The impact of this space fantasy epic can't really be understated. It provided a template for science fiction movies to follow for a long time to … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Star Wars (#15)
The AFI Top 100 Films: All About Eve (#16)
All About Eve (1950) Starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter and Celeste Holm Written and Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz There's an awful lot going on in this movie, especially considering the time in which it was made. Just a quick bit of Internet research has uncovered a multitude of perspectives detailing what All About Eve … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: All About Eve (#16)
The AFI Top 100 Films: The African Queen (#17)
The African Queen (1957) Starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn Written by James Agee & John Huston (screenplay) and C.S. Forester (novel) Directed by John Huston There's really nothing else quite like The African Queen. Set (and filmed!) in Africa, it tells the story of a missionary's sister Rose Sayer (Hepburn) fleeing the region after … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: The African Queen (#17)
The AFI Top 100 Films: Psycho (#18)
Psycho (1960) Starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles and John Gavin Written by Joseph Stefano (screenplay) and Robert Bloch (novel) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock There shouldn't be a need to tell you that this review will be discussing spoilers for the movie Psycho, but just in case you weren't expecting it -- this review … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Psycho (#18)
Book Review: Forests of the Night by S. Andrew Swann
S.A. Swann's first novel -- the beginning of a thematic trilogy -- is set in a (by now) near-future America. It's a 1990s cyberpunk-ish future, actually, where future-tech is still wired and location-based, the nation's cities are in decline, and a world war involving nuclear weapons don't necessarily mean the end of civilization as we … Continue reading Book Review: Forests of the Night by S. Andrew Swann
The AFI Top 100 Films: Chinatown (#19)
Chinatown (1974) Starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston Written by Robert Towne Directed by Roman Polanski Chinatown is a hell of a noir film. Set in the Los Angeles of the 1930s, it uses the acquisition of water by land barons to explore deeper themes of moral bankruptcy and how one man's remorseless … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: Chinatown (#19)
The AFI Top 100 Films: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (#20)
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and Will Sampson Written by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman (screenplay) and Ken Kesey (novel) Directed by Milos FormanJon Ronson (he of The Men Who Stare at Goats fame) submitted a report for NPR's This American Life one week, about a man in England … Continue reading The AFI Top 100 Films: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (#20)
From the Desk of Jakebe T. Rabbit 