On the use of music in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, which just turned 50.
A tribute to the Iranian director of The Cow, tragically murdered over the weekend.
Scout Tafoya's video essay series about maligned masterpieces looks at Visconti's 1973 film.
A tribute to one of the best cinematographers of all time.
A Far-Flunger offers questions that illuminate the themes of Tarantino's latest.
The famed director of Romeo & Juliet, La Traviata, Jesus of Nazareth and more passed away this weekend at the age of 96.
Reviews from the New York Film Festival of the latest by Alfonso Cuaron, Alex Ross Perry, the Coen brothers and Julian Schnabel.
An interview with the legendary writer/director and film critic Paul Schrader about his new project, "First Reformed."
A preview of the 55th Annual New York Film Festival with commentary on the state of the fest and the Opening Night film by Richard Linklater, "Last Flag Flying."
A celebration of Anna Magnani's acting career on the occasion of a retrospective at the Lincoln Center running May 18-June 1.
The latest and greatest on Blu-ray and streaming services, including "Brooklyn," "Freaks and Geeks," "Concussion," "The Bicycle Thieves," and more!
Assistant Editor Nick Allen tackles the Movie Love Questionnaire.
An appreciation of Ingrid Bergman on her centenary, with interviews with Pia Lindstrom, Ingrid Rossellini and Isabella Rossellini.
Jana Monji reports on iconic actress Sophia Loren being honored at the 2014 AFI Fest.
Six recent releases on Blu-ray, including Fellini's "Il Bidone" and two Tyrone Power movies.
The big loser in the 2012 Sight & Sound critics poll is... funny. OK, we know there are no losers, only winners! But, still, with the obvious exceptions of "Citizen Kane" and "Rules of the Game," this decade's consensus choices for the Greatest Films of All Time are not a whole lotta laughs, even though they're terrific motion pictures. There's not much in the way of chuckles or joie de vivre to be found in "Vertigo," "Tokyo Story," "Man with a Movie Camera," "The Searchers," "The Passion of Joan of Arc"... At least "Sunrise," "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "8 1/2" have healthy senses of humor, but "Kane" and "Rules of the Game" are the only movies in the top 10 with the propulsive vitality of (screwball) comedy. They are flat-out fun (even if they are regarded as "classics"). And with "Kane" bumped to #2 this time, The List has become, to paraphrase a great comedy from the 1980s, one less funny.
I say this as someone who believes that comedy is everything, and that drama is lifeless (or at least emotionally stunted) without it. Some might argue that comedy without drama is also limited and superficial, but I think comedy is more profound and complex -- and more difficult to pull off successfully. I can name plenty of comedies that capture a mature vision of human existence (if you're into that kind of thing -- like all of Buster Keaton), but a drama that (artificially) excludes humor is feels false and inert to me. [No, I'm not saying the other movies in the Top Ten are humorless or lack cinematic exuberance; just that their energy is not primarily comedic, as i feel Welles' and Renoir's are. To some extent, I'm talking about the overall tendency to value "seriousness" above "humor" in these sorts of exercises.] As for the 2012 Sight & Sound Top Ten, compare it with 1982 ("Singin' in the Rain," "The General"), 1992 ("L'Atlante") and 2002 ("Singin' in the Rain"). The lack of comedy on the new list hearkens back to the Somber Ol' Days of the 1950s, '60s and '70s. As somebody once said: Why so serious?
The king is dead. Long live the king. Welles' "Citizen Kane" has been dethroned from the Sight & Sound list of the greatest films of all time, and replaced by Hitchcock's "Vertigo." It's not as if nobody saw this coming. The list first appeared in 1952, and "Vertigo" (1958) made the list for the first time only in 1982. Climbing slowly, it placed five votes behind "Kane" in 2002. Although many moviegoers would probably rank "Psycho" or maybe "North by Northwest" as Hitch's best, for S&S types his film to beat was "Notorious" (1946). That's the one I voted for until I went through "Vertigo" a shot at a time at the University of Virginia, became persuaded of its greatness, and put it on my 2002 list.
Great Movies
