It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World – 1963

When Stanley Kramer drove a thief into the desert and let him flip his car and die, he started a chain reaction of destruction that created a hilarious romp with unforseen consequences. The film takes the idea of buried treasure and modernizes it by having a thief hide treasure and he reveals the location to […]

The Illusionist – 2010

Jacques Tati was a revolutionary in the world of comedy and there are numerous tributes to him in films and television. None is more significant than The Illusionist, a film written by Tati towards the end of his career. This film pays tribute to Tati in a number of ways, chiefly the relationship the title […]

Election – 1999

As my love affair with Alexander Payne continues, I have chosen to watch Election. An indictment of high school cliches and of the democratic process, this film pits a socially conscious high school teacher against an overachieving student. The plot mostly revolves around Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) slowly derailing his own life in order to […]

Spirited Away – 2001

No list of great animated films is complete without Hayao Miyazaki. A master of creating fantastical world and amazing creatures, the imagination of Miyazaki is perfectly illustrated by animation. And while any number of his films could make a list of greats, there is one stand out in his repertoire and that film is Spirited […]

The Adventures of Prince Achmed – 1926

Well that was weird. The oldest surviving animated film was a passion project by Lotte Reiniger, who was one of the first female directors of a feature-length film. The film took three years and handmade cardboard cutouts to create this work of originality. The painstaking detail that went into this film is the most important […]

Kubo and the Two Strings – 2016

Laika has been on an upswing for the past few years; they started with Coraline and have been on the rise ever since. Their most recent effort, Kubo, is a tale that plays like an ancient Japanese folktale, but has the spirit of a modern adventure story. The animation is impressive and I am constantly […]