Timbuktu

Classifying Paths of Glory as an anti-war film is the result of lazy thinking. Shot in simple black-and-white in 1957, this is the film that put director Stanley Kubrick on the map, and there’s a very good reason why. While loosely based on a true story referred to as the “Corporals of Souain” during World War I…

Simon Kessler is a psychologist high up in the human resources department of the Paris branch of the German company chemical company SC Farb. Kessler’s boss gives him what must be an intimidating job, though he never shows any hesitation. He needs to investigate the company’s CEO, who has been acting irregularly, deteriorating quickly from…

Appreciation coming.  Directed by: Lech Majewski Produced by: Lech Majewski Written by: Michael Francis Gibson Lech Majewski Music by: Lech Majewski Józef Skrzek Cinematography by: Lech Majewski Adam Sikora Editing by: Lech Majewski Norbert Rudzik Release Date: 2011 Running Time: 92 Language: English, Spanish, Flemis Arts & Faith Lists: 2020 Top 100 — #60

Appreciation coming. Directed by: Ermanno Olmi Produced by: Written by: Ermanno Olmi Music by: Cinematography by: Ermanno Olmi Editing by: Ermanno Olmi Release Date: 1978 Running Time: 196 Language: Italian Arts & Faith Lists: 2020 Top 100 — #36

Fritz Lang and Peter Lorre accomplish a remarkable feat in M (1931). They humanize child murderer Hans Beckert. Suspenseful, drenched in tragedy, M brings the audience through Beckert’s harrowing final days as he evades both police and the criminal underground. Beckert’s frantic efforts to escape the tightening noose echo his attempts to overcome his compulsion. A scratched and worn…

Jonathan Demme’s 1984 concert film, Stop Making Sense, begins simple enough. Talking Heads front man David Byrne walks onto a bare stage and places a boombox on the ground. “Hi, I got a tape I wanna play you,” he quips. Byrne turns on the stereo and the musician’s acoustic guitar soon melds to a tight backing…