After the shocking events of the third season finale—in which heir Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) was killed off in a bloody car accident—one wouldn’t blame viewers for hoping for a sunnier fourth season. However, in the wake of major changes…
Director Paul Schrader’s stylishly atmospheric remake of Val Lewton’s 1942 horror classic should be looked at on its own terms. Released in 1982, it’s likely that the same film wouldn’t have made it to the big screen today. Known for…
Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has been brought to both film and television numerous times. Three film adaptations appeared in 1920, including this one that made John Barrymore a star. The…
Based on Henri Murger’s Scenes de la Vie de Boheme—the same 19th century novel that inspired Puccini’s opera, La Vie de Bohème is a very subdued film; so much so, that if you watch just the first fifteen minutes or…
Given The Doors enduring popularity and continuing influence on a variety of musicians, it sometimes seems hard to believe that the band was only on the national stage for three years, from 1967 to 1970. It’s likely that part of…
Directed by Norman Jewison (Moonstruck, The Hurricane), In the Heat of the Night won five Oscars in 1967: Best Picture, Best Actor (Rod Steiger), Best Screenplay (Stirling Silliphant), Best Editing (Hal Ashby), and Best Sound. Nearly fifty years later, the…
Chronicling the rise to prominence of whistle blowing website WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch), The Fifth Estate is told from the perspective of Daniel Dumsheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl), former spokesperson for the site, a computer genius who was…
Based on a true story, The Killing Fields was released to critical acclaim in 1984, and garnered three Oscars. Set largely during 1975, the film focuses on the period when the Cambodian government, backed by the United States, under tremendous…
Released in 1985, A Chorus Line, based on the 1975 Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical by James Kirkwood, Jr., Nicholas Dante, Edward Kleban and Marvin Hamlisch, examines a single, intense Broadway audition for a chorus line of dancers. It’s a…
A true visual feast, The Long Day Closes tracks several months in the life of Bud (Leigh McCormack), a twelve year old boy growing up in 1956 Liverpool, England. Introspective and slightly gawky, Bud doesn’t talk a lot, often lost…