The 10 Best Films of Robert Bresson

Robert Bresson (1901-1999) was among the most unique directors of the European arthouse, with a working theory of cinematic purity (outlined in his 1975 Notes sur le cinématographe) that rejected all the dramatic convention he considered archaic holdover from the theatre, to make exclusive use of the unique capacities of the film medium, namely the […]

10 Great Postmodern Sci-fi Movies To Blow Your Mind

Cloud-Atlas-2012-Movie

Scifi has always been a vehicle for the exploration of philosophical, abstract problems actualized in imaginative technologies, theoretical futures, and alien worlds. Consider the Matrix films’ staging of problems surrounding artificial intelligence, Platonic/Descartian themes of consciousness and reality, in the digestible form of an action thriller, adapted to a reemerging interest in virtual reality technology […]

10 Great UFO Movies For Believers

Extraterrestrial encounters have always been a fascination of science-fiction, visions of strange life forms evolved to the conditions of different worlds, or to technological powers far beyond our own. On film one thinks first of the alien invasion, the saucer fleet of War of the Worlds (1953) and the looming mothership of Independence Day (1996), […]

The 10 Best Paul Schrader Movies

Sometimes overshadowed in his collaborations with Martin Scorcese, writer-director Paul Schrader was a singular voice of the New Hollywood generation who managed to define a style all his own and maintain an auteurist commitment to and repetition of themes spiritual, intellectual, and macabre within the context of the commercial film to present day. Raised in […]

10 Great Films In The Spirit of “Le Samourai”

The hitman as perfectionist, as ardent professional is a much loved trope in crime fiction and film. Often these characters, even when appearing in only minor antagonistic roles make some of the strongest impressions within a given work, like Max Von Sydow’s ultra-pragmatic Joubert from the 1975 Three Days of Condor, an assassin who, working […]