Classic Cinema

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

Action/Drama, Classic Cinema, Crime Drama, FIVE STARS, Literary Adaptation, Neo Western, Reviews Blog

October 1, 2007

After a string of disappointing projects (“The Man Who Wasn’t There” 2001, “Intolerable Cruelty”—2003, and “The Ladykillers”—2004) Joel and Ethan…

BLACK BOOK — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Classic Cinema, Dutch Cinema, FIVE STARS, Reviews Blog, War, Women's Cinema

April 5, 2007

At 68, Paul Verhoeven is an artistic and intelligent director on a scale with Bernardo Bertolucci (“1900”). “Black Book” is…

GRINDHOUSE — SHOCKTOBER!

Classic Cinema, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Grindhouse, Horror, Reviews Blog, sex, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Video Essay, Women's Cinema

April 2, 2007

The palpable cinematic elation and hip vibe that wafts from the screen is more than contagious; it’s stupefying. In their…

ZODIAC —CLASSIC FILM PICK

Classic Cinema, FIVE STARS, Reviews Blog, Thiller, True Crime

March 1, 2007

There is an unobtrusive perfectionism in Fincher’s telling of a difficult story. He knows where reality and cinema meet, and…

BLACK SNAKE MOAN

Classic Cinema, Drama, FOUR STARS, Reviews Blog, Women's Cinema

February 24, 2007

“Black Snake Moan” is not the best film that Craig Brewer will ever write and direct, but it comes from…

COLE SMITHEY’S BEST 100 MOVIES

Articles Blog, Classic Cinema, Film

January 31, 2006

COLE SMITHEY’S BEST 100 MOVIES

GOOD NIGHT. AND, GOOD LUCK.

Agitprop, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Drama, FIVE STARS, Political History

October 11, 2005

George Clooney knocks the ball out of the park with his second directorial effort — behind “Confessions Of A Dangerous…

MYSTERIOUS SKIN

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Drama, FIVE STARS, LGBTQ, Literary Adaptation, Transgressive Cinema

September 18, 2005

Hack exploitation filmmakers like Todd Solondz (“Palindromes”) or Larry Clark (“Kids”) will quake in their boots at Gregg Araki’s innovative…

WARNER HERZOG ON GRIZZLY MAN

Classic Cinema, Comedy, Craft Beer, Documentary, Film, Filmmakers, Food and Drink, Horror, Media, Podcasts Blog, Politics, Religion

August 30, 2005

In “Grizzly Man,” Herzog performs a Herculean editorial task by structuring copious wildlife footage from the late Timothy Treadwell, a…

MYSTERIOUS SKIN — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Classic Cinema, Drama, FIVE STARS, LGBTQ, Literary Adaptation, Reviews Blog

July 17, 2005

Hack child exploitation filmmakers like Todd Solondz (“Palindromes”) or Larry Clark (“Kids”) should quake in their boots. Gregg Araki returns…

KUNG FU HUSTLE — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Capsules Blog, Chinese Cinema, Classic Cinema, FOUR STARS, Martial Arts

July 16, 2005

The ever-shifting genre of martial arts films takes on yet another variation with writer/director/actor Stephen Chow’s CGI spectacle-infused comic Kung…

TERRENCE HOWARD ON “HUSTLE AND FLOW”

Actors, Classic Cinema, Comedy, Current Affairs, Film, Filmmakers, Music, Patreon, Podcasts Blog

July 16, 2005

Writer/director Craig Brewer’s Memphis-centric debut “Hustle & Flow” won the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, and the…

BILL MURRAY: THE MASTER OF TONE TALKS ABOUT “BROKEN FLOWERS”

Classic Cinema, Comedy, Craft Beer, Current Affairs, Film, Filmmakers, Podcasts Blog, Politics, sex, Streaming, Travel

June 11, 2005

In Jim Jarmusch’s enjoyable upcoming film “Broken Flowers” Bill Murray plays Don Johnston, an aging bachelor who goes on a…

HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE

Classic Cinema, Comedy, Cult Film, FOUR STARS, Reviews Blog

June 5, 2005

The amiable film is groundbreaking for its fresh depiction of Asian American and Indian American youth culture, with characters that…

SIN CITY

Animation, BDSM, Black and White, Classic Cinema, FIVE STARS, Noir, Reviews Blog, sex, Video Essay, Women's Cinema

May 9, 2005

“Sin City” is a high contrast tour de force cinematic adaptation of Frank Miller’s hugely popular, and wickedly grotesque, graphic-novel-homage…

TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE — CLASSIC FILM PICK

Classic Cinema, Comedy, FIVE STARS, Political Satire, Reviews Blog, Satire, War, War Fantasy

May 8, 2005

Geniuses of satire Matt Stone and Trey Parker bring big laughs to the big screen with a cast of square-jawed…

FREDDY GOT FINGERED — CLASSIC FILM PICK

BDSM, Classic Cinema, Comedy, FIVE STARS, Reviews Blog, sex, Transgressive Cinema, Video Essay

May 8, 2005

Class clown extraordinaire Tom Green brings his anti-establishment performance art comedy to a recurring boil with a movie that combines…

COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA

Classic Cinema

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

BLACK BOOK — CLASSIC FILM PICK

GRINDHOUSE — SHOCKTOBER!

ZODIAC —CLASSIC FILM PICK

BLACK SNAKE MOAN

COLE SMITHEY’S BEST 100 MOVIES

GOOD NIGHT. AND, GOOD LUCK.

MYSTERIOUS SKIN

WARNER HERZOG ON GRIZZLY MAN

MYSTERIOUS SKIN — CLASSIC FILM PICK

KUNG FU HUSTLE — CLASSIC FILM PICK

TERRENCE HOWARD ON “HUSTLE AND FLOW”

BILL MURRAY: THE MASTER OF TONE TALKS ABOUT “BROKEN FLOWERS”

HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE

SIN CITY

TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE — CLASSIC FILM PICK

FREDDY GOT FINGERED — CLASSIC FILM PICK

FEATURED VIDEO

COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA

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