Marnie (1964)Director: Alfred HitchcockScreenwriter: Jay Presson AllenStarring: Tippi Hedren, Sean Connery, Diane Baker, Martin Gabel, Louise Latham, Bob Sweeney Alfred Hitchcock’s reputation as a master of suspense rests on a body of work that includes unmistakable highlights. For many viewers, the director’s last truly iconic film arrived in 1963 with The Birds, a movie that … Read more

North by Northwest (1959)Director: Alfred HitchcockScreenwriter: Ernest LehmanStarring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, Leo G. Carroll, Philip Ober, Martin Landau, Adam Williams By 1959 Alfred Hitchcock had been directing films for more than three decades and had explored a wide range of styles. Some of his experiments missed the mark, … Read more

Donald Sutherland, a towering figure of screen and stage, died on 20 June 2024 at the age of 88. Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, on 17 July 1935, he endured a frail childhood marked by rheumatic fever and polio, among other illnesses. Despite these early health challenges, he recovered and embraced life with remarkable … Read more

Twister (1996)Director: Jan de BontScreenwriters: Michael Crichton, Anne-Marie MartinStarring: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Jami Gertz, Cary Elwes, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lois Smith, Alan Ruck Released in 1996, Twister remains one of the defining mainstream disaster films of the 1990s. Produced under Amblin Entertainment, the picture benefits from a polished Hollywood sheen and a clear sense … Read more

Heathers (1988) She keeps a diary and a gun. She’s beauty and composure, and she isn’t afraid to get a little blood on her Chanel lace. She’s a killer, a closeted lesbian, her high school’s very own Hester Prynne. She’s a newly recognized female film archetype: the Sour Sweetheart. When thinking about female character tropes … Read more

The Devil’s Bath (2024)Directors: Severin Fiala, Veronika FranzScreenwriters: Severin Fiala, Veronika FranzStarring: Anja Plaschg, Maria Hofstätter, David Scheid Can overwhelming grief push someone to commit violence? The Devil’s Bath, a folk-horror film from Austrian directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, examines how society has historically misunderstood and mistreated women’s mental health. Franz and Fiala have … Read more

Longlegs (2024)Director: Osgood PerkinsScreenwriter: Osgood PerkinsStarring: Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Michelle Choi-Lee, Dakota Daulby Evil is an inescapable subject in both contemporary life and the stories we tell about ourselves. The digital era constantly exposes us to news and social media images of cruelty and violence, while many people also face … Read more

Harry Dean Stanton was the ultimate character actor. Across a career that spanned more than six decades, his sharp eyes, weathered face and laconic delivery made him impossible to ignore, even when he was sharing the frame with major stars and visionary directors. In Sophie Huber’s lyrical late-career documentary Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction, Stanton … Read more

Have you ever wondered why Eyes Wide Shut, a film that premiered in mid-July, is set during Christmas? Twenty-five years on, that question — like many that surround Stanley Kubrick’s final film — still invites debate. Kubrick died shortly after approving the final cut, and he kept tight control over the film’s publicity, instructing that … Read more

With his deep, commanding voice, piercing gaze, and trademark shaved head, Yul Brynner’s screen image remains one of Old Hollywood’s most recognizable. He became synonymous with the role of King Mongkut in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical The King and I, both on stage and in the 1956 film adaptation. A Russian-American actor who rose to … Read more