Tag Archives: New York

379. Midnight Cowboy

This 60s’ American classic mixes avant-garde with mythology to examine male identity, intimacy, sexuality and trauma.

338. Man with a Movie Camera

Once “too revolutionary”, Dziga Vertov’s avant-garde masterpiece is now felt in Man on Fire, Ratatouille and Inception.

323. Saturday Night Fever

While mostly remembered for John Travolta’s dancing, his white suit hides misogyny, racism, homophobia and gang rape.

283. Dog Day Afternoon

With Frank Pierson’s Oscar-winning script, Sidney Lumet’s thriller is a masterclass in breaking the basic rules of screenwriting.

281. Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver was written in ten days by first-time screenwriter, Paul Schrader as a means to exorcise his festering, masochistic, narcissistic anger.

254. Amélie

5 Oscar nominations, 4 Cesar wins, 2 BAFTAs and over $170m at the global box office. So why does Amélie still manage to polarise audiences?

234. Great Shots – Part One

What makes for a great shot? Beauty? The lens? Lighting? Combine them and you have more than just an image.

232. The Age of Innocence

Best known for his crime dramas, Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Edith Wharton’s romantic novel is one of his most incisive works.

222. The Night Of

In adapting Peter Moffat’s original BBC series, Criminal Justice how did Steven Zaillian and Richard Price turn it from a legal thriller into a social drama?

219. Klute

With its progressive attitude toward gender and sexuality, is Alan J Pakula’s 1971 film more a character study than it is a psychological thriller?

214. Revolutionary Road

Like the novel, Revolutionary Road so probed its subject audiences stayed away. Their loss. It is Sam Mendes’ best film.

208. The French Connection

William Friedkin’s Oscar-winner may be a gritty thriller but it owes an enormous debt to a classic of 19th century American literature.

155. Jazz in Film

If jazz really is the authentic American art form, why are there so few great jazz movies? No matter, at least there are dozens of great jazz soundtracks.

145. Sweet Smell of Success

To make a masterpiece about greed, media manipulation and McCarthyism, you hire a director whose background is in comedy.

137. Fatal Attraction

Earning 5 Oscar nominations and $600m around the globe, the success (and controversy) of Fatal Attraction should be squarely laid at the feet of its producers.

107. The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson may share his surname with other directors, but there’s no mistaking his films for anybody elses.

104. The Grifters

Based on Jim Thompson’s grimey story about smalltime criminals, Stephen Frears’ film was robbed when it didn’t win a single Oscar from its four nominations.

92. Moonstruck

Originally called The Bride and The Wolf, Moonstruck is as much about irritability, irrationality and mortality as it is about romance. Is that what makes it so good?

65. Working Girl

Before the Devil wore Prada, there was Working Girl, a fairytale in New York about big hair, big shoulder pads and even bigger dreams.

52. Once Upon a Time in America

Originally intended to run at four and a half hours, Sergio Leone’s gangster epic suffered greatly at the hands of its distributors.

50. LA Confidential

LA Confidential is adapted from James Ellroy’s highly regarded crime novel that spans seven scandalous years in the life of Los Angeles.

43. The Bourne Trilogy

The Bourne Trilogy was a shot in the arm to the action genre and each new installment raised the expectation as to what an action picture can do and say.

42. Tony Scott

Despite his many box-office successes, critics did not hold Tony Scott in high regard. With the sad news of his death, we offer a re-evaluation of his work.

40. Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Blake Edwards’ adaptation of Truman Capote’s novella has an enduring appeal but is far removed from its literary source.

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