Based on a subversive set of trading cards, I was intrigued when I learned that Tim Burton had agreed to direct Mars Attacks! Each card graphically depicted a Martian invasion of Earth with lots of gory detail. Knowing that, I…
One of the best noir films ever made, Chinatown is considered by many to be the finest film of the 1970’s. Though filming began without a finished script, screenwriter Robert Towne ended up crafting a truly original story; one that…
Based on the unfinished F. Scott Fitzgerald novel of the same name, 1976’s The Last Tycoon marks the first time Robert De Niro played an even remotely likable character. Set in the 1930’s, the film follows Monroe Stahr (De Niro,…
In a career that has spanned more than fifty years, writer/director James L. Brooks has had success in both television and film. Having created Room 222 in 1969, Brooks teamed up with Allan Burns to create The Mary Tyler Moore…
[amazon_link asins=’B071NWDSCD’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’moviegazett03-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’8703af8e-82d5-11e7-9b19-f97cb3acd9d6′]Adapted by Richard Condon from his own novel and directed by John Huston (The Maltese Falcon, Fat City) Prizzi’s Honor stars Jack Nicholson (Terms of Endearment, As Good As It Gets) as Charley a hitman…
Initially available as part of the America Lost and Found: The BBS Story box set in 2010, Criterion has now made Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy Pieces available as a standalone release. For those that either couldn’t afford the pricey box,…
The Postman Always Rings Twice, adapted from the 1934 novel by James M. Cain, saw its first Hollywood release in 1946. Starring Lana Turner, John Garfield, and Cecil Kellaway, the film was a huge hit, but the strict production code…
In a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, writer/director James L. Brooks has had success in both television and film. Having created Room 222 in 1969, Brooks teamed up with Allan Burns to create The Mary Tyler Moore Show,…
Nearly forty years later, the disappearance Jimmy Hoffa still fascinates. Just as this edition of Hoffa was hitting stores, the mystery of what happened to the vanished former Teamster boss was in the news again. In suburban Detroit, the FBI…
One of the best noir films ever made, Chinatown is considered by many to be the finest film of the 1970’s. Though filming began without a finished script, screenwriter Robert Towne ended up crafting a truly original story; one that…