The Metropolis Times

The Fly

Adam Call Roberts — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:17:51 +0000

The Fly (1986) dir. David Cronenberg Like many of the best horror films, The Fly builds slowly. Not much happens during the first half hour. Boy meets girl, they awkwardly flirt, and we check the back of the DVD case … Continue reading →

Monsieur Verdoux

Adam Call Roberts — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:39:45 +0000

Monsieur Verdoux (1947) dir. Charles Chaplin Broadly, there are two types of black comedies. One is black in topic, but has a light and happy tone. Kind Hearts and Coronets, Death at a Funeral and Arsenic and Old Lace are … Continue reading →

My 2011 Razzies Ballot

Adam Call Roberts — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:58:44 +0000

The big loser is Sucker Punch. I’m shocked it wasn’t nominated. I wrote it in at least once in every category.

Death in Venice

Adam Call Roberts — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:00:51 +0000

Death in Venice (1971) dir. Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti was an Italian communist who started his career as a pioneer of neorealism. La terra trema follows the story of a working class fishing village on the Sicilian coast. It is … Continue reading →

Film Canon’s Boomer Bias

Adam Call Roberts — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:42:20 +0000

A Hard Day’s Night (1964) dir. Richard Lester A Hard Day’s Night made me like the Beatles less. They come across as asshole who don’t like their fans, don’t like their jobs and act like 14-year-olds at age 24. The … Continue reading →

Heaven Can Wait (1943)

Adam Call Roberts — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:29:52 +0000

Heaven Can Wait (1943) dir. Ernst Lubitsch Don Ameche goes to Hell. Or, at least he thinks he does. Ameche plays Henry van Cleve, who assures the devil that he has lived a life of sin, and can’t imagine being … Continue reading →

Cul-de-sac (1966)

Adam Call Roberts — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 04:51:25 +0000

Cul-de-sac (1966) dir. Roman Polanski I feel a bit out of my depth trying to evaluate Cul-de-sac, because a) I’ve never seen a production of absurdist theater and b) I didn’t enjoy Cul-de-sac very much at all, aside from Donald … Continue reading →

Zelig

Adam Call Roberts — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:16:04 +0000

Zelig (1983) dir. Woody Allen As a Woody Allen film, it stands out more for being unusual than for being particularly funny. Zelig is a mockumentary about Leonard Zelig, the “human chameleon.” He has sort of a Quantum Leap type … Continue reading →

The Man in the White Suit

Adam Call Roberts — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:38:38 +0000

The Man in the White Suit (1951) dir. Alexander Mackendrick The early parts of The Man in the White Suit could have been written by Ayn Rand. Alec Guiness is a genius inventor who cares only for his work. He … Continue reading →

The Asphalt Jungle

Adam Call Roberts — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 04:11:21 +0000

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) dir. John Huston The real fun heist movies are the ones that let you think “I could do that.” You can look around at your friends and pick out which one would be the heavy, which … Continue reading →