Stories about serial killers are not my favorite kind of book to read or film to see. As a young journalist, I had a difficult time investigating and writing about a real-life serial killer. Beyond the gruesome details of his crimes, it was hard for me to experience first-hand the intense pain and suffering that also destroyed the families of his victims. So, I am unsettled when serial-killer stories do little more than exploit their crimes as mere entertainment without at an

When Monty Python’s Life of Brian was released in 1979, it was advertised as “a motion picture destined to offend nearly two thirds of the civilized world. And severely annoy the other third.” Boy, did it offend and annoy. Many organized religions attacked the movie with a blowtorch of outrage. They condemned it for mocking the life of Christ. But there are only two scenes where Christ appears, and he is only on the periphery. “Blessed are the cheesemakers.” The real target o

The premise is golden. Three women friends are about to escort a group of schoolchildren on a boat ride and picnic. Suddenly a messenger shows up with a letter addressed to the three of them. It’s from a fourth woman who makes apologies to her close friends for not joining them on the outing because…well, because she’s run off with one of their husbands. If that poison letter isn’t devilish enough, she doesn’t bother to say which husband she’s plucked. And since the story tak

Federico Fellini was one of the greatest film directors of the 20th century. His movies are so distinctive that the term “Felliniesque” was coined to describe his artistic style. One of his great early masterpieces, made in 1954, is La Strada. In italian, “la strada” means “the road”…and the road here is filled with profound heartache, anguish and joy. Set in post-World War II Italy, the story is about a sweet, slow-witted young woman named Gelsomina who lives in dire poverty

It’s fair to say that some of director Martin Scorsese’s best movies are about lonely men, at war with themselves and with the world around them. Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver is a classic example. So is Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. In both of those films, Robert De Niro portrays Travis and Jake as emotionally isolated human beings, driven by a furious desire for some kind of recognition; to be seen, and to fight their way free of the snakes that haunt them. If there’s a case

Here’s something different. Instead of reviewing one movie this week, let me tell you about 146 of them! Sort of. Let me explain. When the great film director Orson Welles was asked to name his all-time favorite directors, he didn’t hesitate. He said: “I prefer the old masters, by which I mean John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford.” Ford’s influence on Welles was so great that when it came time for Welles to make his first movie Citizen Kane, he took a crash course in how to

A warning upfront: the movie Jacob’s Ladder is not for everyone. As a horror film, it ranks as one of the most painfully difficult, intensely sad, nightmarish ones that I’ve ever seen. Pitch black trauma, hallucinations, a confusing spiral into insanity—the web of despair in which the main character Jacob Singer finds himself trapped traps the viewer as well. The movie is a theme park ride through a ravaged, dark corner of psychological hell—and I love it! Made in 1990, dire

I remember my father trying to watch Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan when it came out in 1998. Soon after it started, he turned it off. The opening sequence of the D-Day invasion at Normandy was too much for him. As a World War II vet, he found it too violent. Too real. Too historically accurate in its depiction of the slaughter of human life that happened that day. A full-tilt fantasy about how movies fought the war and saved the world. For anyone with a similar react

Nothing says the holidays for me quite like spiking my eggnog with some good Kentucky bourbon and kicking back to watch one of a favorite Christmas movies. There are so many that I love, but here are three that I always seem to come back to. The one that I’ve seen the most in my life—by far—is White Christmas. Made in 1954, it’s about a popular song-and-dance team—played by Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye—who team up with two showbiz sisters—played by Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ell

Of the action movie stars who dominated the big screen during the 1960s and 1970s, there is one who was bigger, stronger, tougher, more imposing than any other. Before Clint Eastwood came along, that is. His name: Charles Buchinsky, a.k.a. Charles Bronson. With a weathered slab of a face and a muscled physique that looked like it was chiseled out of the Pennsylvania coal mine where he toiled as a child, Bronson stepped up and took care of business no matter what movie he was

When The Beatles documentary Let It Be was first released in 1970, I saw it on a double feature. It played with a Fellini movie! At a drive-in! And it was snowing! The impatient girlfriend who was with me wanted the night to be over! And who could blame her. Since that memorable night, it became increasingly difficult to see Let It Be again. the movie was dropped from home video circulation in the 1980s. So if I wanted to find it, my best bet was to track down an old VHS tape

“An eerie, surreal trip.” “A giddy buzz of arthouse weirdness.” “A fusion of Hieronymus Bosch and Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam.” These are just some of the press review quotes for the 1973 film Fantastic Planet. The words are certainly colorful and provocative. But for me, seeing and being immersed in the strange world of this sci-fi, animated classic is an experience far beyond any words to describe it. But since this is a review of that film, let me give it a shot anyway. D

It’s a one-of-a-kind dark, comic satire. Of the ten or so classic movies that Stanley Kubrick directed and co-wrote in his brilliant career, Dr. Strangelove, or how I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a favorite. Made in 1964, it’s a one-of-a-kind dark, comic satire about an American brigadier general named Jack D. Ripper who goes bonkers and orders a B-52 plane under his command to drop a nuclear bomb on the Soviet Union. Ripper is played with crazed, rugged gust

It’s amazing to realize that in just four years—between 1972 and 1975—a young Al Pacino starred in a quartet of American films that are now classics: The Godfather, Serpico, The Godfather Part Two, and Dog Day Afternoon. Incredibly, Pacino almost didn’t make Dog Day because he was too exhausted from acting in the second Godfather film. But when the producers of Dog Day moved to replace him in the cast with Dustin Hoffman, Pacino changed his mind. A good rivalry works wonders

The year was 1998 and I was digging my way through stacks of used and cut-out CDs at a record store when I came across an album with an interesting cover by a band I’d never heard of. It was Strung Out in Heaven by The Brian Jonestown Massacre. I bought it and, man, was I hooked. Big time. So much so that I started buying everything by them and going to their live shows whenever I could. Led by Anton Newcombe, The Brian Jonestown Massacre burst onto the West Coast music scene

Of the 50-some movies that Woody Allen has written and directed in his long career, one of my favorites is Crimes and Misdemeanors. It’s a boldly original, provocative film about crime and punishment and questions of morality. “The eyes of god are always watching”. Made in 1989, the film stars Martin Landau as Judah Rosenthal, a wealthy, happily married ophthalmologist and respected pillar of his community. Raised in a religious family, Judah’s father taught him that “the eye

The movie Cool Hand Luke, starring Paul Newman, was released in 1967 and instantly became an iconic film of the era. The battle cry of the 1960s was non-conformity and rebelling against the establishment, and the movie hit those nerve endings like a lightning strike that excited and resonated with audiences. Originally, Cool Hand Luke was a novel written by the author Donn Pearce, a World War II vet who ended up serving time on a Florida prison chain gang. And the cruel world

I love books and movies about people marooned on a deserted island. More than just a tale of adventure, storytellers often use the idea of being trapped on an island as a metaphor for what it means to be or feel alone in life, desperately hoping to escape that solitude and find a way to connect with the world. For me, the movie Cast Away—made in 2000—is a terrific example of the island allegory at work. Tom Hanks gives a memorable performance as Chuck Noland—“no land”, get it

I’ve never been very interested in gambling. The idea of betting my money and maybe losing was always more painful to me than the imagined pleasure of maybe winning. But movies about gamblers and their compulsion to bet entice me like an ant to sugar, and one of my favorites is 1974’s California Split. Masterfully directed by Robert Altman, the film stars Elliott Gould as Charlie, an easy-going, die-hard gambler who only stops placing bets when he’s asleep….and George Segal i

1968 was a monster year for movie lovers. Releases that year included 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rosemary’s Baby, Planet of the Apes, Night of the Living Dead, Monterey Pop, Once Upon a Time in the West…and the granddaddy of all modern crime-action movies, Bullitt. Directed by Peter Yates and starring Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn and Jacqueline Bissett, Bullitt is justifiably regarded as the film that gave birth to years of memorable Hollywood cop movies--from The French Connect