Palace of Pleasure
Palace of Pleasure is a therapeutic collage made of previous films by John Hofsess. It is a modern take on classical film, breaking boundaries and taking a new creative direction.
View ArticleThe Manxman
Those studying Hitchcock or early British films will want to see The Manxman, as it is the strongest textually and cinematically of any of Hitchcock’s silent films. Highly Recommended.
View ArticleThe Wounded Man
The Wounded Man is a stellar film and can be educational to those who want to learn more about sexuality and sexual expression. It is also a good way to bring understanding to the struggles different...
View ArticleThe Sunday Woman (La Donna della Domenica)
College film studies instructors will find The Sunday Woman useful to illustrate commedia dell'arte. A Sunday Woman belongs on International, Italian, and Commedia dell'arte shelves in academic and...
View ArticleYakuza Graveyard (Yakuza no Hakaba: Kuchinashi no Hana)
Yakuza Graveyard would be suitable for Japanese-language and crime film collections in academic and public libraries. Yakuza Graveyard would fit into film series on Japanese cinema of the 1970s or the...
View ArticleBig Time Gambling Boss (Bakuchiuci: Sôchô Tobaku)
Big Time Gambling Boss would fit with International, Japanese-language, and crime film shelves in public libraries. In a larger context for audiences, it could provide contrast with the 1970s films of...
View ArticleBacktrack AKA Catchfire (Special Edition)
Backtrack would be suitable for noir, crime, and thriller collections in public libraries. Library programming on visual art in 20th-century cinema could make creative use of Backtrack since Hopper was...
View ArticleEntre Nous
Entre Nous would benefit library programming on French-language cinema, films about postwar France, the Jewish experience in WWII-era Europe, the work of Diane Kurys or Isabelle Huppert, international...
View ArticleThe Lady Vanishes
If you’re looking to expand your Hitchcock or classic film collections, The Lady Vanishes is a no-brainer: The film often appears on various ‘Best Film’ lists—for good reason—and has a Metacritic...
View ArticleYoung and Innocent
If you’re looking to fill out your classic film or Hitchcock collections, Young and Innocent is a solid choice: Of Hitchcock’s British films, Young and Innocent remains surprisingly popular.
View ArticleA Question of Silence
While some college Women’s Studies instructors may be interested in this title, its biggest draw will be among patrons looking for a thrilling drama with an obvious feminist lens.
View ArticleThe Grand Tour
The Grand Tour is an overlooked film of the Sci-Fi golden age. Jeff Daniels brings one of his best performances to the film, creating unique nightmare and ‘talking to myself’ time travel scenes.
View ArticleSabotage
While one of the director’s more minor films, Sabotage employs many elements typical to Hitchcock and remains an entertaining thriller despite its age. Highly Recommended. Sabotage would fit best in...
View ArticleIlya Muromets (The Sword and The Dragon)
While the storyline and much of the dialogue may struggle to engage the modern viewer unassisted, the film's sheer visual beauty and its fantastical elements are sure to captivate those with an...
View ArticleThe Strangler (L'Étrangleur)
The Strangler’s visual style displays early Giallo aesthetics, utilizing suspenseful camerawork and a haunting soundtrack. It has a strangely compelling cast and enough cinematographic beauty to keep...
View ArticleViolent Streets (Bôryoku gai)
There is truth in advertising with the title Violent Streets; bloodletting and levels of sex and savagery for director Hideo Gosha's noirish yakuza-crime pulp fiction are extreme. How Quentin Tarantino...
View ArticleSpellbound
The cinematography is classic Hitchcock throughout, showcasing his voyeuristic stylings and smooth camera movements. If your classic film collection needs to be filled out, consider Spellbound before...
View ArticleTod Browning's Sideshow Shockers
From opportunistic spiritualists to sympathetic carnival performers, Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers brings three films from his cinematic “dark carnival” into the 21st century, in a collection worthy...
View ArticleUnman, Wittering and Zigo
Unman, Wittering and Zigo belongs on Drama and British Film shelves in public libraries. A film series on the work of Scottish director John Mackenzie and British actor/producer David Hemmings would...
View ArticleThe Swiss Conspiracy
Oscar-nominated director Jack Arnold brought his illustrious career to a close with this 1976 adaption of co-writer Michael Stanley's novel starring The Fugitive's David Janssen, the Swiss Alps, and an...
View ArticleThe Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show, particularly in this restored version, holds up like gangbusters. It's truly one of the finest films ever made about small-town America.
View ArticleStella Maris
Stella Maris is an absolutely essential release for any public or academic library film collection devoted to melodrama, silent cinema, or the work of the marvelous Mary Pickford.
View ArticleRope
Public librarians looking to flesh out Hitchcock or thriller collections should consider Rope before other films. Highly Recommended.
View ArticleA Moment of Romance (Tin Joek Yau Ching)
Undergraduate and graduate-level film studies instructors could use A Moment of Romance in a course or section on 20th-century Hong Kong cinema, particularly that of the 1980s and 1990s when "heroic...
View ArticleThe Last Island
For the final film in the Marleen Gorris Trilogy, the Oscar-winning director shot the film outside of the Netherlands, traded Dutch for English, and molded the castaway genre to her own devices.
View ArticleThe Iron Prefect (Il Prefetto di Ferro)
Italian filmmaker Pasquale Squitieri's 1977 adaptation of Arrigo Petacco's biography, The Iron Prefect, centers on a relentless lawman who sets out to curtail the Mafia's stranglehold on Sicily in 1925.
View ArticleOzon's Transgressive Triple: Sitcom, Criminal Lovers, and Water Drops on...
This transgressive triple feature from one of Europe’s modern auteurs earns its title – very few taboos are left unbroken – and belongs in any film collection that specializes in French or LGBTQ+ cinema.
View ArticleBroken Mirrors (Gebroken Spiegels)
Broken Mirrors belongs in academic and public libraries with other films by Marleen Gorris which have also been restored by Cult Epics. The three would fit in international and feminist film collections.
View ArticleLe Combat dans L'ile
French filmmaker Alain Cavalier's 1962 directorial debut melds a political allegory with a love triangle to powerful effect. Le Combat dans L'ile would be suitable for courses on the non-nouvelle vague...
View ArticleCarlito's Way
Library programming on Latino/Puerto Rican culture and 20th-century literary adaptations could use Carlito's Way as part of the lineup, in addition to De Palma's Oliver Stone-penned, Cuban-American...
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