Reviews

Depending on which way you look at it, this dramatic '58 film is either a stinging condemnation of capital punishment or hysterical propaganda - but more curious minds might want to put aside whether Barbara Graham (Susan Hayward) was guilty of the murder of Mabel Monohan, and focus on the way the j...

I have to admit to having seen both the American and British versions of this movie - there are some interesting differences, and they have completely unique scores composed by different musicians (Franz Waxman the American version and Benjamin Frankel the British.) Obviously they aren't completely ...

Earl Janoth is obsessed with the subject of time - especially with not wasting it - and I liked the way Hagen and Stroud both change the time on a broken clock at the murder scene to either tamper with or correct the evidence related to when the murder was committed.

Melanie Lynskey, who we first met as murderous teenager Pauline in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures way back in 1994, is award-winningly and stupendously great in this film.

Overall, the rest of the film is subtle and really from Sophie's point of view - she's at that difficult age where she's far too young for adult type stuff, but way too old for childish games and being treated differently.

Today, CGI would be used to create a film with a much grander visual scale to it - but that would be an utter disservice to A Man For All Seasons, because it's a film that relies on a certain intimacy to proceedings.

Marfa, Texas was the place used for filming, with the rest of the production wrapped up in Los Angeles - and you walk away from the film with a succinct memory of that harsh, unrelenting sun that Plainview crawls under during the film's famous, long dialogue-free opening.

It's that character my mind goes to whenever I think about the film now.

This was a very intelligent, thoughtful film that didn't have to sacrifice any of it's narrative power to be that way.

The jazzy style is easily amplified when our characters step into the nightclub the film spends moments in, with the very nice visual element of dancers adding spectacle that gives a little feel of how so many heist films have that connection to nightlife, drinking and cabaret.