The Magician (1958)

I was inspired to watch Ingmar Bergman’s The Magician (1958; Ansiktet) by Tracy Letts and Carrie Coon including it in an article for The AV Club where they planned a 24 hour film festival line up. When I read about Bergman, this film doesn’t come up as much as a title and it feels like […]

The Basilisks (1963)

I’ve only seen one Lina Wertmuller movie and that was Love And Anarchy, which was great. Wertmuller’s debut film The Basilisks (1963; I basilischi aka The Lizards) was featured in the Mubi library in a remastered new edition. One sleepy Saturday morning, I decided to take a gamble on it and after the five minutes, […]

The Psychic (1977)

Italian horror maestro Lucio Fulci’s giallo thriller, The Psychic (1977; aka Seven Notes In Black, Sette Note In Nero, Murder To The Tune Of Seven Black Notes), received attention awhile back due to its great soundtrack by Franco Bixo, Fabio Frizzi, and Vince Tempera (listed as Bixo-Frizzi-Tempera); it was another score cannibalised by Quentin Tarantino […]

Faces (1968)

Carousing is one word I’d used to describe the events in Faces (1968), a key John Cassavetes film I’d always be meaning to see (ever since Scorsese referenced it in his Personal Journey Through American Cinema docu-series). Self-financed from acting jobs for other movies, and shot around his own house, Cassavetes explores marriages, love and […]

Blackjack (1998)

“Directed by John Woo” was what the DVD cover advertised. I remember seeing Blackjack (1998) in video stores as a kid and thinking that was a gag – wasn’t Woo’s last movie Face/Off a big hit? Why was his name brandishing a direct-to-video Dolph Lundgren action movie? Turns out Blackjack was a TV pilot that […]