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THX 1138 (1971, George Lucas)
Director Lucas makes one attempt at audience accessibility in THX 1138. It’s actually the first thing he does–he shows a clip from an old Flash Gordon serial to let the audience know the story is about...
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Clean and Sober (1988, Glenn Gordon Caron)
In hindsight, as the film settles during its final scene, it becomes clear a lot of Clean and Sober is obvious. Director Caron and writer Tod Carroll withhold a few pieces of information until that...
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Busses Roar (1942, D. Ross Lederman)
Busses Roar is a slight propaganda film. It doesn't fully commit to any of its subplots, not even the patriotism. With the exception of the establishing the villainous Japanese, German and the gangster...
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Edge of Tomorrow (2014, Doug Liman)
Edge of Tomorrow is high concept masquerading as medium concept… masquerading as mainstream high concept. The gimmick–Tom Cruise finds himself reliving every day as he goes into a battle against alien...
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Liberty Heights (1999, Barry Levinson)
Liberty Heights is about protagonist Ben Foster's last year in high school. Levinson never puts it in such simple terms because the film is about quiet, deliberate, but perceivable life events. Every...
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Uncle Tom’s Bungalow (1937, Tex Avery)
Uncle Tom's Bungalow manages to be both appallingly racist and a little progressive. Director Avery turning the slave trader into the devil, poking a little fun at the angelic white girl, general...
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After Hours (1985, Martin Scorsese)
After Hours is meticulous. Director Scorsese, editor Thelma Schoonmaker and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus work with exacting precision throughout, with the first third of the film serving to prepare...
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The Goonies (1985, Richard Donner)
There’s a lack of consistent mood to The Goonies. The film has its phases and the mood and tone change from phase to phase, but Chris Columbus’s script changes characterizations between these phases as...
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Heat (1995, Michael Mann)
Until the final scene, director Mann is still carefully plotting out Heat. The film’s narrative construction–when he introduces a character, when he returns to a character, how he transitions from one...
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The Searchers (1956, John Ford)
John Ford is never trying to be discreet with The Searchers, he’s just not willing to talk down to the audience. In the first ten minutes of the film, he and screenwriter Frank S. Nugent quickly...
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Firefox (1982, Clint Eastwood)
Firefox has three distinct phases. First, there's retired Air Force pilot Clint Eastwood getting recruited into an espionage mission. This part of the film barely takes any time at all–there's three...
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