An Evening Illuminated

This blog is no longer updated, but similar content can be found atAn Evening Illuminated – the latest updates for which are linked to below.The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941)Where's That Fire? (1940)Good Morning, Boys! (1937)Where There's a Will (1936)The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942)The Pickaninnies (1894)Annabelle Butterfly Dance (18...

Read More

A Band Apart: Greatest Films Poll (2011)

The full results, including individual ballots, can be found here. My ballot, which I drew up a couple of months ago (reproduced underneath the main results below), already feels (inevitably) out of date.2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)Pulp Fiction (1994)Taxi Driver (1976)Stalker (1979)Persona (1966)Mulholland Dr. (2001)Mirror (1975)City Lights (1931)The Godfather (1972)Apocalypse Now (1979)À Bout de Souffle (1960)Vertigo (1958)A Clockwork Orange (1971)8½...

Read More

CFB's Top 40 Films of 1998 (2011)

The Thin Red Line (1998)The Big Lebowski (1998)Happiness (1998)Saving Private Ryan (1998)Run Lola Run (1998)The Truman Show (1998)Gods and Monsters (1998)Festen (1998)Dark City (1998)A Simple Plan (1998)American History X (1998)Shakespeare in Love (1998)Show Me Love (1998)Pleasantville (1998)Pi (1998)Central Station (1998)Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)The Opposite of Sex (1998)Elizabeth (1998)Flowers of Shanghai (1998)The Last Days of Disco...

Read More

CFB's Top 25 Obscure Films of 1998 (2011)

Cabaret Balkan (1998)Christmas in August (1998)The Power of Kangwon Province (1998)42: Forty Two Up (1998)Mr. Zhao (1998)Khrustalyov, My Car! (1998)Of Freaks and Men (1998)The Terrorist (1998)The Farm: Angola, USA (1998)The Last Days (1998)Confession (1998)Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train (1998)Barrio (1998)Dr. Akagi (1998)Flammes (1998)Secret Défense (1998)Flatworld (1998)Talking Heads 2 (1998)Billy’s Balloon (1998)Ruskin (1998)The Quarry (1998)Hollywoodism:...

Read More

Fawlty Towers: Series 2 (1979)

Essential ViewingUKTelevision SeriesDirector: Bob SpiersWriters: Connie Booth, John CleeseCast: John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth, Ballard Berkeley, Brian HallThough Cleese’s performance is slightly less manic and physical than in the first series, and his character a tad more sympathetic, this second series is, if anything, even funnier, smarter, and more memorable than its hilarious predecessor.1. Communication ProblemsWhen...

Read More

Fawlty Towers: Series 1 (1975)

Essential ViewingUKTelevision SeriesDirector: John Howard DaviesWriters: Connie Booth, John CleeseComposer: Dennis WilsonCast: John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth, Ballard BerkeleyA bigoted, elitist hotel owner – prone to fawning over nobility and treating with disdain the common man – manages to find himself in farcical situation after farcical situation, in this hilarious, brilliantly written first series, which benefits greatly...

Read More

Northern Exposure: Season 2 (1991)

RecommendedUSATelevision SeriesCreators: Joshua Brand, John FalseyCast: Rob Morrow, Janine Turner, Barry Corbin, Darren E. Burrows, John Cullum, Cynthia Geary, Elaine Miles, Peg PhillipsThe second season of Northern Exposure, following the misadventure of a Jewish New York doctor marooned in the rural no-man’s-land of Cicely, Alaska, is a consistently entertaining work with no real weak episodes and at least one classic – Episode 2: The Big Kiss1....

Read More