List of the Reviewed Movies from A to Z

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Crossfire (1947)

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Crossfire is an interesting movie for two reasons: the first one is that it is the first B movie to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture; the second one is that it is a social message film and a noir thriller at the same time. Nowadays, it's a rarely remembered movie but to be fair a certain importance should be acknowledged to it, because it is an example of how a relatively low-budget film can still be stylistically and aesthetically remarkable and also because of its attempt to treat a socially significant matter within the story of a murder mystery. That said, it's not a movie that achieves everything it sets out for itself and it's also one that has clearly suffered from the passing of the years. But its ambition is still worthy of praise and respect. The story begins with the beating and killing of Joseph Samuels (Sam Levene) at the hands of two men in his own apartment. Samuels, a discharged soldier, was a Jew. Police captain Finlay (Robert Young) is...
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Rachel Getting Married (2008)

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" I am Shiva the destroyer, your harbinger of doom this evening " says Kym Buchman, a recovering drug addict at the rehearsal dinner of her sister Rachel's (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding. And, as played by Anne Hathaway in a volcanic, unhinged performance, she most certainly is. Don't expect anything light-hearted from Rachel Getting Married , Jonathan Demme's slow-burning, quietly bruising and then finally explosive observation on family dynamics, pain and old wounds. Even the comedic moments leave a bitter aftertaste. But it's not a cruel film that enjoys dwelling into despair: it's a film that talks about that despair and  how to grow from there.  The film opens with Kym's release from rehab so that she can attend her sister's wedding. Right from the beginning it's quite clear that the family relationships are strained: her father Paul (Bill Irwin) is warm and caring towards her, but she sees his concern as mistrust; her mother Abby (De...
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Frances (1982)

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Though presented as a true account of the life of the actress Frances Farmer, Frances  has been proved in later years to be a largely fictionalized telling of her story, more based on the actress' inaccurate biography written by William Arnold rather than historical facts. Speaking for myself, I'm not particularly bothered by the lack of historical inaccuracy as long as it is not ridiculously and blatantly obvious and most importantly does not betray the nature of the person involved (a recent exemple is The Greatest Showman , in which P.T. Barnum, by all accounts an exploiter, is turned into a champion of diversity and human rights). The problems with Frances extend past its historical innacuracy: for instance, the movie's choppy editing results in a rather uneven pace and for every visually appealing frame there is one that feels even clumsily shot. Ultimately it is neither a great biopic nor a great film, but Jessica Lange's incendiary, showstopping performance ...
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