It’s amazing how much plot you can cram into a film when you actually try to be economical with your storytelling. This is a sprawling epic of a film told in 90 minutes. Really, really great stuff!!

Format: streaming (criterion channel)

It’s amazing how much plot you can cram into a film when you actually try to be economical with your storytelling. This is a sprawling epic of a film told in 90 minutes. Really, really great stuff!!

Format: streaming (criterion channel)

A very, very important film with an incredible performance from Paul Muni and great direction. It truly exemplifies how bleak and utterly hopeless the world can be. The ending will stick with me.

A very, very important film with an incredible performance from Paul Muni and great direction. It truly exemplifies how bleak and utterly hopeless the world can be. The ending will stick with me.

He really picked Allen James as his fake name.

He really picked Allen James as his fake name.

Genuinely shocked by how good this was and even more shocked it had sound

Genuinely shocked by how good this was and even more shocked it had sound

Turns out that the American prison system has always been horrible. In watching criterion’s precode Mervyn Leroy collection, it has really thrown into relief all the films we probably missed out on because of the Hays code. This is some well crafted, thorny, and revolutionary stuff indeed.

Turns out that the American prison system has always been horrible. In watching criterion’s precode Mervyn Leroy collection, it has really thrown into relief all the films we probably missed out on because of the Hays code. This is some well crafted, thorny, and revolutionary stuff indeed.