Blood Tea and String (2006)
Filmmaker(s): Christiane Cegavske
The aristocratic White Mice and the rustic Creatures Who Dwell Under the Oak battle over the doll of their heart's desire.
Blindness (2008)
Your vision of the world will change forever.
Filmmaker(s): Fernando Meirelles
When a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine.
20 Jan Blindness (2008)
Tosca Sometimes I wonder. At times, it seems that we all have some shared cinematic values — that some art can reach us all. Sure, we usually sacrifice depth in the process, but that’s a small enough occasional price for the joy of laughing with...
Blood Simple (1984)
Breaking up is hard to do.
Filmmaker(s): Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.
20 Jan Blood Simple (1984)
Good Study The Coens are like Soderbergh, they alternate between risky adventures and “commercial” projects. Only in the Coens’ world, it is not so much a matter of commercialism but a matter of respect for the genre. Half of their films are profoundly layered, with...
Invisible (2007)
Life, death and something in between.
Filmmaker(s): David S. Goyer
After an attack leaves him in limbo -- invisible to the living and also near death -- a teenager discovers the only person who might be able help him is his attacker.
19 Jan Invisible (2007)
Disembodied Eye Many of these teen movies have to distinguish themselves by leveraging narrative tricks. That’s because the market restricts the story so much that it is impossible to stand out. The narrative device that interests me is when the viewer is deliberately placed in...
Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (1980)
Filmmaker(s): John Davies, Tony Wharmby
This intriguing story is set in the 1930s at a country house, where two amateur sleuths, Bobby Jones and Lady Frankie Derwent, try to unravel the mystery behind a tale of murder, suspense and false identities. And the only clues the two have to go on are the puzzling last words of a dying man. Featuring characters created by Agatha Christie, Why Didn't They Ask Evans is a classic crime thriller sure to please murder-mystery fans.
19 Jan Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (1980)
The Boomerang Clue I make a habit out of examining film adaptations of classic mystery novels for clues. I’m looking for clues about why the narrative works. There is a reason Christie is the best selling writer in history, even now as print runs are...
Black Swan (2010)
Perfection is not just about control. It's also about letting go.
Filmmaker(s): Darren Aronofsky
A journey through the psyche of a young ballerina whose starring role as the duplicitous swan queen turns out to be a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect.
19 Jan Black Swan (2010)
The Math When I encountered “Pi,” I was profoundly upset. It happened again with “Beautiful Mind” and “Good Will,” other films about mathematical imagination. How, I wondered, could something as inherently cinematic as the mathematical imagination be so clumsily handled? How is it that the...
Black Magic (1944)
Chan stalks a fiendish murderer!
Filmmaker(s): Phil Rosen
Chinese detective Charlie Chan solves a murder linked to the occult. This movie had an alternative title: Meeting at Midnight.
17 Jan Black Magic (1944)
Spooked The original intent of the Chan series, I suppose, was to introduce the “oriental” mind to the mystery genre. As with the equally strange notion of Belgian logic with Poirot, we would be charmed by novel synaptic paths. By the time of this film,...
Black Cadillac (2003)
Revenge in the driver's seat
Filmmaker(s): John Murlowski
Three young men become terrorized in a high-speed car chase with a mysterious pursuant.
17 Jan Black Cadillac (2003)
Fins beyond the Law There are some things that naturally are cinematic. Among these are car chases, smoke and snow. Similarly on the story side, people cast together in a small space with an outside threat and unrevealed past relationships. It terms of flow, the...
A Haunting in Venice (2023)
Death was only the beginning.
Filmmaker(s): Kenneth Branagh
Celebrated sleuth Hercule Poirot, now retired and living in self-imposed exile in Venice, reluctantly attends a Halloween séance at a decaying, haunted palazzo. When one of the guests is murdered, the detective is thrust into a sinister world of shadows and secrets.
15 Nov A Haunting in Venice (2023)
The Influence of Inscrutability Agatha Christie based films are a sort of bellwether for me. I think the most important trend in our culture just now is how we play with awareness. The most obvious and experimental centre for that is long form film. The...
Billy’s Balloon (1998)
Filmmaker(s): Don Hertzfeldt
A balloon wraps itself around a young child's hand, bringing him higher and higher, much to the child's delight, but a sinister truth begins to unravel.
