Omar Ahmed
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BLACK WIDOW (Dir. Bob Rafelson, 1987)
The enigmatic Debra Winger was a reluctant film star who maintained a low public profile, evading the gaze of the media, perhaps to the detriment of longevity. A career restricted to just one decade, Winger seemed to fade out of view by the early 1990s. With a tightly written script by Ron Bass, steely cinematography Continue reading
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NARROW MARGIN (Dir. Peter Hyams, 1990)
This uncomplicated hot garbage from solid genre filmmaker Peter Hyams who often gets overlooked in the oeuvre of competent Hollywood mainstream cinema plays more like an updating than a remake of Fleischer’s original 1950s noir. Hyams is careful not to stretch this out, steering clear of letting it become a two hour overcooked melodrama, which Continue reading
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THE GOLDEN CHILD (Dir. Michael Ritchie, 1986)
Not strictly vintage Murphy, The Golden Child was made at a time when he was the biggest film star in the world. Undeniably a star vehicle for Murphy’s loud mouth antics, when the film was released back in 1986, the poster deliberately alluded to Beverly Hills Cop, and was pitched in a similar vein by Continue reading
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SHALAKO (Dir. Edward Dmytryk, 1968)
Shalako, a ragged Euro-Western, opens with the bombastic lyrics of Jim Dale, another high point of late 1960s kitsch, before giving the false promise that this is going to be a story about Western imperialism. A detestable hunting party, made up of unpleasant British, German and American imperialists, haughtily enter an Indian reservation, provoking a Continue reading
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LEILA (Dir. Deepa Mehta, 2019, India)
Forays into SF are limited in both Indian cinema and the land of television. Any kind of dystopia usually intrigues, bringing with it the propensity for imagining different types of political scenarios, which are often grounded in our world. Adapted from the novel by Prayaag Akbar, Leila, a six part dystopian mini-series, commissioned by Netflix, Continue reading
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