If the brief stardom of Buddy Holly and the even briefer star of Ritchie Valens should get the Hollywood biopic treatment, then why not the first all-girl balls-out rock act? The Runaways’ story is something of stardom legend: one talented song writer/guitarist/occasional vocalist named Joan Jett and drummer Sandy West dreamed of an all-girl act; screw-loose ... read more »

Can a filmmaker spend most of his or her artistic life recycling other people’s ideas and still be a true auteur?   Sure. Why not? Any idea, theme, style, or attitude if repeated frequently or obsessively enough can constitute an artistic signature – something that immediately identifies a particular movie as un film de [insert ... read more »

The reason why Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker succeeds where every other Iraq War movie made to date has failed has little to do with the war itself. Audiences have generally avoided films dealing with this unpopular – and probably unwinnable – conflict/occupation. If The Hurt Locker seems as fresh and compelling as it does, ... read more »

Of all the real-life German film personalities referred to in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, the most notorious – apart from Goebbels himself – is Leni Riefenstahl. Most viewers know Riefenstahl, if they know her at all, as the director of the infamous Nazi propaganda film, Triumph of the Will, or the classic sports documentary, Olympia. ... read more »

Check out the latest issue of Film Comment, containing an excellent, though regrettably short, piece by Richard Combs praising the formal achievement of Roger Corman’s The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967). “About time,” says I. Though film historians occasionally cite The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre as an effective genre piece – it is almost a ... read more »

Although the film was completely ignored by the Academy, the Golden Globes, and most U.S. American year-end lists, I am delighted to see that Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield was selected by the venerable French film magazine, Cahiers du Cinema, as one of the 10 Best Films of 2008. For the record, the Academy’s nominations for the ... read more »

Last week, the American Film Institute announced its list of “America’s 10 Greatest Films in 10 Classic Genres” – Animation, Romantic Comedies, Western, Sports, Mystery, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Gangster, Courtroom Drama, and Epic. According to Bob Gazzale, President of the AFI, “These countdowns are a collective opinion of leaders from across the film community,” and “Any ... read more »