Year of the Month: Jake Gittes on A SUMMER AT GRANDPA’S
If you’ve ever wondered what My Neighbor Totoro might be like in live action, perhaps…
Year of the Month: Jake Gittes on STOP MAKING SENSE
It begins with a close-up of the stage floor, a streak of light cutting vertically…
Year of the Month: Jake Gittes on JUDY AT CARNEGIE HALL
They called it “the greatest night in show business history”, because of course they did—it…
Year of the Month: Jake Gittes on WINGS
Over an assured 81 minutes, Larisa Shepitko’s Wings builds a deft, lyrical, immensely empathetic character…
Year of the Month: Jake Gittes on THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT
Before his career became defined by the twin pillars of The Deer Hunter and Heaven’s…
“Now here comes the big, fat close-up”: Jake Gittes on A Star Is Born (Year of the Month)
When Norman Maine, a troubled, alcoholic film star whose long career is beginning to flounder,…
YEAR OF THE MONTH: Jake Gittes on Stray Dog
In sweltering Tokyo heat, a green, young cop named Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) is tracking down…
Year of the Month: Jake Gittes on Crooklyn
The 1990s were, in large part, Spike Lee’s historical period, his investigations into his country’s…
Year of the Month: Jake Gittes on Touch of Evil
“It’s a free country.” “Shut up.” The opening tracking shot may be its most…
Year of the Month: Jake Gittes on The Lineup
“It inspired Bullitt, which is a yawn by comparison.” James Ellroy, DVD commentary for The…