looking back Archives — Crooked Marquee

11/20/202511/19/2025inLooking Backby Steve Erickson

The Red Spectacles: A Brutal Cop Trapped By His Own Fantasies

For a director who’s experienced great popular success, Mamoru Oshii is a remarkably eccentric artist. He’s lamented the fact that his […]

11/19/202511/19/2025inLooking Back, Happy Birthdayby Craig J. Clark

Even After 50 Years, Pasolini’s Salò Retains the Power to Shock and Repulse

Pier Paolo Pasolini’s final film is just as hard to watch as it was half a century ago, but it’s even more necessary today.

11/17/202511/16/2025inHappy Birthday, Looking Backby Marshall Shaffer

20 Years Later, Can Walk the Line Escape the Shadow of Walk Hard?

“Walk Hard” was a diss track in cinematic form that dismantles the script of “Walk the Line” so thoroughly that it might as well be a beat-for-beat remake

11/17/202511/16/2025inLooking Backby Craig D. Lindsey

Harvey’s Hellhole: Shall We Dance?

Welcome to Harvey’s Hellhole, a monthly column devoted to spotlighting the movies that were poorly marketed, mishandled, reshaped, neglected or just […]

11/14/202511/13/2025inHappy Birthday, Looking Backby Josh Bell

Classic Corner: Alligator

Released 45 years ago this week, Lewis Teague’s witty and well-crafted animal-attack thriller is far more than a “Jaws” rip-off.

11/12/202511/11/2025inLooking Backby Kayleigh Donaldson

Red Sorghum Kickstarted One of the Great Actor-Director Collaborations

Zhang Yimou’s début kicked off a legendary partnership with actress Gong Li, and signaled the beginning of a new era of Chinese cinema.

11/10/202511/09/2025inHappy Birthday, Looking Backby Craig J. Clark

Life Is Hard, Brutish, and Short in Luis Buñuel’s Los Olvidados

There are images and moments in Luis Buñuel’s Los Olvidados that stick in the memory long after the final fadeout, and […]

11/10/202511/09/2025inHappy Birthday, Looking Backby Sara Batkie

Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came In From the Cold is a Performance For All Seasons

In honor of the actor’s 100th birthday this week, we look back at a role that offered him the rare chance to underplay his brash persona.

11/07/202511/06/2025inLooking Backby Chelsea Spear

She’s So Unusual: Cyndi Lauper, Marquee Star

Cyndi Lauper’s willingness to experiment in different media has played a role in her career-long ubiquity…including a side hustle as a character actress.

11/07/202511/06/2025inClassic Corner, Looking Backby Sean Burns

Classic Corner: Out of the Past

Jacques Tourneur’s 1947 thriller is one of the greatest of all films noir, full of dangerous dames, cigarette smoke, and Robert Mitchum not giving a damn.