The Edge takes a page directly from the wilderness yarns of Jack London, and is very self-conscious about it. Majestic geography, bone-chilling isolation, fearsome wildlife; the beauty and terror of nature and man’s quest to conquer all are at the forefront. There’s even a sequence showing the struggle to light a fire under the...
Big Shot: The Hot Rock
The Hot Rock (1972) is a real artifact genre-wise, feeling more akin to mid-60s capers like How to Steal A Million or Blake Edward’s Pink Panther films than the hardboiled thrillers of its own decade. Never fully committing to a genre, it picks and chooses at random from thriller and caper tropes. Adapted from...
Big Shot: Sword of the Beast
There doesn’t seem to be much hope for a savior in Sword of the Beast. Everyone is a thief, a murderer, or a coward. Even the great Samurai Gennosuke (Mikijirô Hira) hides in the corn field, hoping to wait out those in hot pursuit. And when he is discovered, he flees instead of facing...
Big Shot: The Devil, Probably
A Robert Bresson film in color, The Devil, Probably is more contemporary than anything from him that we know how to understand. Right off the bat, this is jarring: a film by an old man (who has always been old) about young people, made at a time when everyone was obsessed with diagnosing or...