Shanghai Express (1932)
A film like this that deals openly with the subject of prostitution and pokes fun at conventional morality would be impossible to make in Hollywood after the Hays Code began to be rigidly enforced in 1934.
Category: Criterion Collection
The Honeymoon Killers (1970)
Film review by Dan Willard. The Honeymoon Killers is in a way a response to the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde in that it seeks to de-glamorize crime.
Maidstone (1970)
Film review by Dan Willard. Norman Mailer’s failed attempt to make a Cassavetes style film is an embarrassing train wreck.
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Film review by Dan Willard. Though visually impressive with good performances by Conrad Veidt and Sabu, coming to this as an adult I can only regard the film as juvenile popcorn fare.
The Great Dictator (1940)
Film review by Dan Willard. Charles Chaplin courageously lampoons Hitler in this controversial film which culminates in a speech that is even more relevant today than it was in 1940.
George Washington (2000)
George Washington is a coming of age story of sorts that isn’t formulaic and at times feels like it’s based on a story by William Faulkner.
The Phantom Carriage (1921)
Review of ‘The Phantom Carriage’ (1921), a silent Swedish film directed by and starring Victor Sjöström and considered by Ingmar Bergman as an absolute masterpiece in cinematic history.
