Beloved in France but little known elsewhere, La traversée de Paris holds the distinction of being the one film by Claude Autant-Lara deemed acceptable by the young François Truffaut, in his campaign against the prevailing cinèma du qualité in 1950s France. One reason for the exception is that it’s sort of an odd film, […]
Entertainment
TCM Classic Film Festival: ‘The Narrow Margin’ (Dir. Richard Fleischer 1952)
Cheap, tough, and drenched in shadows, The Narrow Margin was the sort of thing that the RKO technicians could knock out in a couple of weeks with no trouble at all, but is raised by particularly tight direction from Richard Fleischer, including terrific use of confined spaces, windows, and yes, lots of shadows (but also, […]
NBFF Film Review: The Fun, Dark Twisted Tale That Is ‘Rushlights’
Rushlights is a twisted tale of lies and deceit, with a host of characters that get more shady by the minute. This is, of course, the extreme fun in watching Rushlights‘ story play out on screen. The twists keep coming, the momentum never slows down, and the near-pulpiness of the movie only helps matters. […]
NBFF Film Review: A Touching Story Of Love, Loss, And Hope With ‘In Lieu Of Flowers’
Director William Savage creates a touching story of love, loss, and mourning with his first feature-length film In Lieu Of Flowers. Premiering at the 2013 Newport Beach Film Festival, audiences are sure to applaud the heartfelt sentiment found in the film. As well as the never faltering feeling of hope for life after heartbreak that […]
Touch Of Noir: ‘Detour’ On Poverty Row
Movie budgets of the 1940s pale in comparison to those of today. It’s the question of maybe a few million versus an average $40 million, but just as independent films are produced today, there were independent films with minuscule budgets released in the ‘40s. Most of these low budget films were genre B movies produced […]