Jonathan Rosenbaum's Blog: jonathanrosenbaum.com, page 48

Acid Western

From the Chicago Reader (June 28, 1996). This essay subsequently grew into a book, commissioned by Rob White for the BFI Modern Classics, that came out in 2000, proved to be one of my most popular, and went into a second edition; a French edition is also available (2005), translated by Louis Malle’s daughter Justine, [...]

Here’s a Movie in the Making That I Really Want To See

Please go to kickstarter.com/projects/1209470946/a... for details. — J.R. [8/20/12]









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The Decade’s Finest [The Ten Best Movies of the 90s]

From the December 24, 1999 issue of the Chicago Reader. — J.R.
Ten Best Movies of the 90s

(not including but with notes on Cradle Will Rock)
Does one’s integrity ever lie in what he is not able to do? I think that usually it does, for free will does not mean one will, but many wills conflicting [...]

The Unmaking of I’LL DO ANYTHING

From the January-February 2011 Film Comment. — J.R.






“In describing rarely screened movies like Lev Kuleshov’s The Great Consoler or Ritwik Ghatak’s Ajantrik,” wrote a Boston Globe reviewer of my latest collection, “Rosenbaum is like a restaurant critic describing the mouth-watering meal he had at a restaurant that just closed in another city.” Since [...]

Hellzapoppin’

From the Chicago Reader (January 21, 2005). — J.R.


Rarely shown in the U.S. these days, this 1941 film of the wildly deconstructive stage farce with Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson is still regarded as a classic in Europe, and it lives up to its reputation. The credit sequence establishes the wartime mood with its vision [...]

Richard Linklater as Global Regionalist [on BERNIE]

My 27th column for Caiman Cuadernos de Cine, formerly known as Cahiers du Cinéma España, which appeared, I believe, in their July issue. — J.R.





I have a habit as a critic that I suspect irritates some of my readers. When I find [...]

Muse Abuse [LIGHT SLEEPER]

From the Chicago Reader (September 4, 1992). — J.R.



LIGHT SLEEPER
** (Worth seeing)
Directed and written by Paul Schrader
With Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, Dana Delany, David Clennon, Mary Beth Hurt, Victor Garber, Jane Adams, Paul Jabara, and Robert Cicchini.


The French New Wave of the 60s offers many examples of film critics of some substance who became [...]

Gilbert Adair (December 29, 1944 — December 8, 2011)

From Film Comment (March-April 2012). — J.R.




Ever since Gilbert Adair died three weeks short of his 67th birthday, in London, I’ve been rereading him compulsively. And I’ve had a lot to choose from — not only many online articles (including pieces written for this magazine and for Sight & Sound), but all but one of [...]

The Unobserved Life [KILLER OF SHEEP]

From the August 3, 2007 Chicago Reader. — J.R.

KILLER OF SHEEP ****
DIRECTED AND WRITTEN BY CHARLES BURNETT
WITH HENRY GAYLE SANDERS, KAYCEE MOORE, CHARLES BRACY, EUGENE CHERRY, JACK DRUMMOND, AND ANGELA BURNETT
WHEN Opens Fri 8/3
WHERE Music Box, 3733 N. Southport
INFO 773-871-6604
Thanks to the excellent restoration work of the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the patient [...]

OUT 1: SPECTRE

From Oui (August 1974). As unlikely as this may sound to some, Out 1: Spectre enjoyed a week-long run in Paris at a Left Bank cinema (Studio Gît-le-Coeur) in my own neighborhood around the same time I wrote this capsule, so I had many opportunities to make return visits. –- J.R.




Out 1: Spectre. “Who are [...]