La Noire de… [Black Girl] (1966) Ousamane Sembène directs the elegant dressmaker Mbissine Thérèse Diop in what has come to be recognized as the first ” Sub-Saharan African film by an African filmmaker to receive international attention.” Winner of the Prix Jean Vigo for best feature film, Sembène dramatizes the conflict between French colonialism … More La Noire de… [Black Girl] (1966)
The Magic Christian (1969) Joseph McGrath directs a comedy cornucopia of wacky characters, starting with Peter Sellers as Guy Grand, the richest man in the world, who adapts a bum off a park bench, Ringo Starr, to assist him in his enterprise of proving that “everyone has their price.” Freely adapted from the novel by … More The Magic Christian (1969)
The Hit (1984) In a Mod Mob flic with Kerouac on-the-road improvisations, Stephen Frears explores the psychological breakdown of characters caught up in a botched kidnapping and killing. Terence Stamp plays Willie Parker, the snitch turned Zen angel in Spain, and John Hurt, as the world-weary hit man Braddock, has to contend with his apprentice … More The Hit (1984)
What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015) Liz Garbus made this stunning documentary about Nina Simone. It exposes the effect of American racial violence on this uniquely talented artist. Contains revelatory interviews with husband Andrew Stroud and daughter Lisa Simone Kelly, but it’s the accompanying footage of live performances that allows Miss Simone to leap off the … More What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015 DOCUMENTARY)
A Man For All Seasons (1966) According to Pauline Kael, “There’s more than a little of the school pageant in the rhythm of the movie.” Robert Bolt adapted his play to this Academy-Award winning feature film, directed by Fred Zinnemann. Its all star costume drama chronicles the final years of Sir Thomas More [Paul Scofield, … More A Man For All Seasons (1966)
The Threepenny Opera (1931) A master of German Expressionism, G. W. Pabst directed this Verfremdungseffekt musical, written by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weil during the Weimar Republic, emphasizing the dialectic more than the tunes. With Rudolf Forster as Mackie and Lotte Lenya as Pirate Jenny. “I find it hard to believe that … More The Threepenny Opera (1931)
The Devil’s Disciple (1959) George Bernard Shaw’s take on the American Revolution, with the wit to prove there’s no difference between a Puritan minister (Burt Lancaster) and a revolutionary apostate (Kirk Douglas). Pity the poor wife (Janette Scott) who must choose between them. “Martyrdom,” quips “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne (Laurence Olivier), “it is where one achieves … More The Devil’s Disciple (1959)
Green Slime (1968) Director’s Kinji Fukasaku’s pop art interiors and space ships are filled not only with grade-B actors, but also with monsters that reproduce wildly into “an army of rubbery-looking goblins.” Their resemblance to R2-D2 remains uncanny. Ivan Reiner wrote and produced this story about a space station, Gamma 3, infected by these alien … More Green Slime (1968)
Hidden Fear (1957) John Payne plays an archetypal B-Movie detective, whose ugly American bullying rides roughshod over the Danish police who suspect his sister of murder. André de Toth, shooting on location in the New Wave style, captures the bleak post WWII black market of seedy Amsterdam. I no longer remember any of you Perhaps … More Hidden Fear (1957)
Hijack Highway [aka Gas-Oil] (1955) Jean Gabin stars as a working-class trucker suspected of running over a man in the road. Gilles Grangier’s quasi-documentary focuses more on the daily grind of manual labor hauling goods and maintenance of trucks than on the heist that violently opens the movie. This film marks the beginning of the … More Hijack Highway (1955)
