‘The Holdovers’ (2023) merely a placeholder for Payne
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): The director has delivered many 21st century masterpieces, but this Christmas film falls short of that status.
Oscars
‘The Holdovers’ (2023) merely a placeholder for Payne
‘Three Days of the Condor’ (1975) provides holiday-season conspiracy chill
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): Other than an infamously bad romance subplot, this is another top-shelf Seventies paranoia thriller.
Old Hollywood meets film noir in ‘Paradine Case’ (1947)
On a Hitchcock kick (Movie review): The director closes out his pre-color period with a moody courtroom drama that’s not as strong as it could’ve been as a mystery.
‘The Conversation’ (1974) explores psychological price of spying
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): Coppola’s film from the golden age of neo-noir spy films should’ve started a national conversation. At least it remains a great film.
Nick and Nora are stars in ‘After the Thin Man’ (1936), ‘Another Thin Man’ (1939)
Sleuthing Sunday (Movie reviews): Likewise moving up in the world, Dashiell Hammett delivers the screen stories for the first two sequels.
‘Day of the Jackal’ (1973) a cold, engrossing cat-and-mouse procedural
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): Though based around Algeria’s break from France, the chase – not the politics – is the name of the game.
‘Beetlejuice’ (1988) is a matter of taste, and it’s not mine
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): Look, the special effects and Keaton’s performance are good, but what can I say other than “Humor is subjective.”
‘Chinatown’ (1974) links two eras of film noir
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): Polanski blends an iconic Nicholson turn, a good political mystery and California water-utilities history in this classic.
‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968) is horror by gaslight
Frightening Friday (Movie review): Kicking off a religious-horror boom that hasn’t relented, Polanski’s classic feels timeless, if overlong.
Smart small-cast mystery makes ‘Laura’ (1944) a classic noir
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): Otto Preminger’s film pivots around the femme fatale and keeps us guessing about whodunit despite a small cast.