May 2010

  • The Coen Brothers' Miller's Crossing (1990)

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/12/10 1:52pm
    Add Comment

    Working in such a derth of disparate genres, it’d be more than acceptable if the Coen Brothers produced a few flops – artistically as opposed to financially since we all know that good movies don’t always make money. While it could be argued that neither of the Brothers’ first two features – Blood Simple or Raising Arizona – were successful in ways that later fair would be, most should figure that Miller’s Crossing marked the duo’s first complete (artistic) success. I think the film lost a few million bucks. But hey, after watching the movie, it was worth it.

    Read more >

  • Robert Aldrich's Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

    By cobwebsandstrange on 5/11/10 1:44pm
    Add Comment

    Today, Robert Aldrich is best known for the 1967 ensemble war film The Dirty Dozen. It’s easily his most ambitious film in terms of wrangling a broad audience. But the reason that the director was able to land that gig was in part due to his earlier successes – and probably specifically because of Kiss Me Deadly.

    In any survey course dedicated to American noir stuff, Aldrich’s flick is invariably mentioned for a variety of reasons: it’s artistic bent, the plot and what it attempts to encompass as well as that miffed ending that’s been debated for just about thirty years now. But whatever the reason for Kiss Me Deadly remaining within the realm of interesting filmic discussion, it’s just an entertaining hour and forty minutes.

    Read more >