Author Spotlight

David Sterritt

David Sterritt is editor in chief of Quarterly Review of Film and Video, a contributing writer at Cineaste, a film professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and past chair of the National Society of Film Critics. His books include Terry Gilliam: Interviews, edited with Lucille Rhodes, and The Cinema of Clint Eastwood: Chronicles of America.

13 Results
Time Bandits: Guerrilla Fantasy

The opening installment of Terry Gilliam’s “Trilogy of Imagination” reminds us we’d be better off if we paid more attention to the kid’s-eye view of things.

By David Sterritt

Breaking the Waves: Breaking the Rules

Lars von Trier brought his brand of provocation to his widest audience yet with this inquiry into faith and human goodness.

By David Sterritt

A Brief History of Time: Macrobiography

Errol Morris’s documentary investigation into the life and theories of Stephen Hawking sets one man against the universe.

By David Sterritt

Seconds: Reborn Again

John Frankenheimer burrows into the insidious side of the American sixties in his visually dazzling thriller.

By David Sterritt

Life Is Sweet: Life Is Bittersweet

Mike Leigh’s breakthrough is a funny film about serious things, and an emotional and slyly political take on consumer culture.

By David Sterritt

Brazil: A Great Place to Visit, Wouldn’t Want to Live There

Misunderstood by Hollywood, embraced by critics, this fatalistic fantasy remains Terry Gilliam’s ultimate trip.

By David Sterritt

All in The Game

No mere jigsaw movie, David Fincher’s thriller is also a nuanced character study, a satire of corporate culture, and a film about filmmaking.

By David Sterritt

3 Women: Dream Project

“Sometimes I feel like little Eva, running across the ice . . . with the dogs yapping at my ass,” Robert Altman said in 1976, the year before 3 Women debuted. “Maybe the reason I’m doing all this is so I can get a lot done before they catch

By David Sterritt

Life During Wartime: Wars on Terror
A fearless tragicomedy about hope, dread, longing, and forgiveness, Life During Wartime (2010) is Todd Solondz’s boldest and most haunting movie to date, carrying his exploration of Middle American malaise into new territory. As before, he probes t…

By David Sterritt

The Thin Red Line: This Side of Paradise
The Thin Red Line, arguably the greatest war film ever made, ended two decades of silence from Terrence Malick, cinema’s wandering auteur. The silence wasn’t entirely self-imposed, since during this time he tried to launch a few productions—…

By David Sterritt

Robert Altman: The Oral Biography
Robert Altman: The Oral Biography (Knopf) begins with an epigram that pretty well sums up Altman’s attitude toward “truth” and “realism” in cinema and life. “I don’t think anybody remembers the truth, the facts,” the great filmmaker s…

By David Sterritt

Sweet Movie: Wake Up!

Whatever you’ve heard about Sweet Movie, the audacious and outrageous political comedy by Yugoslav filmmaker Dušan Makavejev, there’s a good chance it’s wrong. Ever since this mischievous masterpiece had its Cannes premiere, in 1974, ill-advi

By David Sterritt

The Two of Us: War and Peace

As usual, François Truffaut knew exactly what made a great film great. For twenty years, he wrote in 1967, he had been waiting for “the real film” about the Nazi occupation of France, showing the French majority “who were involved neither in t

By David Sterritt