Ferdy on Films, etc. (Free subscription) | 12/06/2009
Venus in Furs (aka Paroxismus or Black Angel, 1969) Director: Jésus Franco By Roderick Heath Venus in Furs is one of Jésus Franco’s personal favourites from amongst his colossal roster of wild and woolly films. In spite its widely...
Ferdy on Films, etc. (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009
Samson & Delilah (2009) Director/Screenwriter/Cinematographer: Warwick Thornton By Roderick Heath In its poetically sparse, yet intimately realistic first 45 minutes, Warwick Thornton’s debut feature film, which won the Camera d’Or prize at Cannes this year, is an account of...
Ferdy on Films, etc. (Free subscription) | 11/28/2009
The Big Parade (1925) Director: King Vidor By Roderick Heath King Vidor probably deserves to be held high in the pantheon of American directors, and yet he’s never quite gained the stature he deserved in comparison with the likes...
Ferdy on Films, etc. (Free subscription) | 11/24/2009
Adventureland (2009) Director/Screenwriter: Greg Mottola By Roderick Heath Greg Mottola’s debut film The Daytrippers (1996) stood out from other mid 1990s factotum indie films through its novelistic intelligence and acerbic perspective on artistic aspiration. Adventureland, his semiautobiographical follow-up, got...
Ferdy on Films, etc. (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups, 1959) Director: Francois Truffaut By Roderick Heath The 400 Blows, Francois Truffaut’s debut film, is a work around which implicit ironies swirl. It looks as much backwards as it does forwards, to...
Ferdy on Films, etc. (Free subscription) | 11/17/2009
Batman (1989) Director: Tim Burton By Roderick Heath Yeah, I can’t believe it’s been 20 years, either. And it’s been at least 15 since I last saw Tim Burton’s grandiose redesign of the classic comic strip and the campy...
Ferdy on Films, etc. (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
Pretty in Pink (1986) Director: Howard Deutch By Roderick Heath The death of Michael Jackson and John Hughes within a few weeks of each other had me thinking a lot about the 1980s. I never had much time for...
Ferdy on Films, etc. (Free subscription) | 11/10/2009
The Hurt Locker (2008) Director: Kathryn Bigelow By Roderick Heath Here There Be Spoilers. “War is a drug,” The Hurt Locker’s foreword assays, and the film follows this thesis to the bitter end. An Iraq War film in all...
Ferdy on Films, etc. (Free subscription) | 11/04/2009
Eyes Wide Shut (1999) Director: Stanley Kubrick By Roderick Heath Legendary and lauded as most of them have become, few of Stanley Kubrick’s later films landed immediate punches with viewers. 2001: A Space Odyssey took time to find an...
Ferdy on Films, etc. (Free subscription) | 10/31/2009
Amityville 2: The Possession (1982) Director: Damiano Damiani By Roderick Heath Long my private vote for the best worst film of all time, Amityville 2: The Possession is the sort of film that ought to be utterly humdrum, but...
