Touchez Pas au Grisbi is a highly influential film from Jacques Becker, who still remains slightly obscure—but with a slew of recent Blu-ray releases, I'm sure his work will get a much overdue reappraisal. It's a gangster film that ended up influencing everyone from director Jean-Pierre Melville to the French New Wave, and even American-born director Jules … Continue reading Touchez pas au grisbi – Blu-Ray Review
Jacques Becker was one of the few older French directors whom the French New Wave loved – Jean Renoir and Jean Vigo were two notable others. They had an insane disdain for Henri-Georges Clouzot, which is bizarre since his films are utter masterworks. They probably liked Becker not only because he was a great filmmaker, but … Continue reading Casque d’Or – Blu-Ray Review
Le Trou was Jacques Becker’s last film. Becker was a well-regarded French director whose work spanned the 193s through 1960, when this movie was completed. It’s a prison drama based on a novel by former convict José Giovanni, set in La Sante Prison. Becker wrote the script with the author. It’s a fairly straightforward prison … Continue reading Le Trou – Blu-Ray Review
Bruce Brown is a director who really found his niche early on and kept turning out documentaries. Most were on surfing, like his best-known film, Endless Summer, but he was also a keen motorcyclist. On Any Sunday (1971) is about motorcycle racing, from local amateurs to the big names of its day. The approach varies, … Continue reading On Any Sunday – DVD Review
Stephen Frears has created an extraordinary body of work over five decades, but it has two very distinct periods. The first comprises the great work he did in the mid-'80s, starting with The Hit and up to 1990's The Grifters and his run of films at the turn of the century, with High Fidelity being the most well-loved from that … Continue reading My Beautiful Laundrette – Blu-Ray Review
psychotroniccinema.com 