Paul Thomas Anderson’s sophomore feature is a surprisingly vibrant, funny, and at times quite warm story of a dysfunctional filmmaking family in the adult film industry of the late 1970s.
This parody of classic James Bond and 1960s spy movies careens from gag to gag with such pop art color and energy that you don’t really mind when it misses the target.
The crazy spoof of disaster movies, a mix of old school vaudeville, Looney Tunes cartoon gags, and “Mad” magazine irreverence, has my vote for the funniest film ever made.
Denis Villeneuve builds on the science fiction movie landmark for a sequel set 30 years later, a futuristic detective story as art movie tone poem starring Ryan Gosling as a next generation Replicant.
Ridley Scott’s visionary reworking of Philip K. Dick’s novel may have flopped when it was released but it has become a science fiction touchstone and has colonized the imaginations of writers, directors, and die-hard fans of science fiction.
Carpenter’s witty, scruffy little science fiction film is a pulpy alien invasion tale turned into a piece of socio-political commentary that is still relevent and resonant. It’s also a lot of fun.
Director Jacques Tourneur and producer Val Lewton launched an amazing run of B-horror films built on mood, suggestion, and psychology with this masterpiece of poetic horror.
