The Comic

Sep 4, 2012 — Umberto D. is perhaps the most astringent film ever made about a poor old man and his dog. Critics today tend to like the astringent parts: the long, deliberately undramatic sequences full of mundane activity (such as a housemaid’s morning...

Feb 23, 2010 — Like many other French cinephiles, I discovered Make Way for Tomorrow relatively late, although we had been interested in Leo McCarey for years. We had hunted down his Laurel and Hardy pictures, adored Duck Soup, the best of the Marx...

Jan 31, 2005 — Like the movie’s rattletrap trucks lurching down the highway as they carry way-too-heavy loads, the characters in Jules Dassin’s brilliantly volatile Thieves’ Highway struggle under psychological and moral baggage until they can lay their burdens down. Working from a novel...

May 22, 2019 — Most critics won’t allow a comically absurd premise or a convoluted plot stand in the way of a good time.

Expect some of the laughs to stick in your throat with these comically sinister visions.

Gerard Jones was once a writer of comics and animation. More recently, he has written Men of Tomorrow, a cultural history of American comics, and Killing Monsters, a defense of some of the scarier elements of popular culture, both from...

May 23, 2022 — A contemporary reimagining of Au hasard Balthazar becomes an unlikely contender for the Palme d’Or.

Jul 1, 2020 — The actor, writer, and director was one of the most beloved comedians of his generation.

Oct 1, 2021 — Deep Dives Because he’s Orson Welles, even during a less-bankable stretch of his career, he received top billing in Three Cases of Murder. Welles was also pictured most prominently on all the promotional materials for this little-known 1955 British anthology...

Oct 19, 2017 — Danielle Darrieux, who turned 100 on May 1 and appeared in over 110 films, perhaps most famously in three directed by Max Ophuls, has passed away, reports the AP.“Unlike most branded stars whose appeal can be captured in one well-chosen...