The Drama

Nov 22, 1999 — Breathtaking, fastmoving, and overflowing with a delightfully self-mocking sense of humor, Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai is one of the most popular and influential Japanese films ever made. Released in 1954, this rip-snorting action-adventure epic about a sixteenth-century farm community led...

Hailing from New Zealand, the Oscar-winning director has made lush historical dramas, harrowing coming-of-age tales, and seedy detective thrillers—all united by an interest in emotional turmoil and the vagaries of desire.

Feb 12, 2019 — The competition is struggling as China yanks one film and theater owners threaten another.

Jun 29, 2016 — In this essay, first published in Grand Street in 1994, Dr. Strangelove coscreenwriter Terry Southern offers a lively behind-the-scenes look at the film’s production.

Dec 24, 2015 — As the perfect companion for your holiday blues, spend the final days of the year indulging in a good cry with Douglas Sirk at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Apr 21, 2026 — From new titles on the silent era and Hollywood’s Golden Age to forthcoming novels and memoirs, this month offers something for every reader.

Oct 19, 2023 — The UK celebrates Powell and Pressburger, two writers tune into Robert Bresson, and The Exorcist turns fifty.

Sep 22, 2022 — This month we’re reading about Jean-Luc Godard, Dirk Bogarde, Michael K. Williams, a few new novels, and just the state of things in general.

Aug 17, 2022 — The music of the legendary, multiple-Oscar-winning composer brought the freedom and anxiety of postwar America to life.

Jan 28, 2021 — Locarno dedicates its retrospective to the filmmaker Andrew Sarris once called a “grossly unappreciated directorial talent.”