Based on the novella by Don Winslow, director and screenwriter Bart Layton’s Crime 101 has the look and feel of a 1940’s noir, complete with a long opening sequence, shot in dark shadows. Set in Los Angeles, Chris Hemsworth stars…
A film that took fifteen years to make, Taylor Hackford’s Ray chronicles the life and work of musical icon Ray Charles. Starring Jamie Foxx in the title role (who deservedly won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance), the film…
Based on Michael Lewis’ nonfiction best seller of the same name, Moneyball centers around the Oakland Athletics baseball team during the 2001 season. An underachiever during his playing days, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is now the A’s General Manager. Entering…
In a career spanning more than fifty years, George Stevens directed nearly sixty films and took home the Oscar for Best Director twice, in 1951 for A Place in the Sun, and again in 1956, for Giant. In 1985, ten…
Set during the McCarthy-era witch-hunts of the early 1950s, when the US government was exposing supposed communists in the entertainment industry, 1976’s The Front was the first film to address the issue, with a cast and crew including individuals who…
Best known for his string of thrillers during the 1970’s and 1980’s, and his action films in the 1990’s, Brian De Palma has always had a subversive streak, never afraid to explore more playful themes. Released in 1970, Hi, Mom!,…
A social crusader and a champion of the first amendment, Lenny Bruce was a man ahead of his time. Incarcerated repeatedly for his act, comedians such as George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and a slew of others owe him…
Originally titled Cutter and Bone, the script by Jeffrey Alan Fiskin found its way to Paul Gurian, a neophyte producer with a couple of short films and a TV movie on his resume. Based on a novel by Newton Thornburg,…
With their careers in decline, Peter Sellers and director Edwards put their differences aside, joining forces for 1975’s Return of the Pink Panther, more than a decade away from the franchise did nothing to dull the humor of Peter Sellers…
After the success at the Battle of Normandy, the allies spent six months planning Operation Market Garden—an attempt to secure several bridges in the Netherlands by land and by air—assembled in just seven days. The tide had started to turn,…