The tale is a familiar one from film history. Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon is selected for competition at the 1951 Venice Film Festival, scoops the top prize and, in the process, allows the critics to finally discover Japanese cinema. Within the year an Aca

The best way to find a good guy in the westerns of director Sergio Leone is to look for a worse guy. The Italian director's penchant for blurring of the lines between heroes and villains stood in stark contrast with the clear distinctions found in tradit

In 1951, a virtually unknown director from Japan stunned the cinematic world when his Rashomon, the heavily allegorical story of a nobleman caught in a psychological struggle over the nature of truth itself, garnered top awards at the Venice Film Festiva

Somehow Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini, the two greatest film directors to emerge in Italy after World War II, sparked a rivalry in the public’s imagination that didn’t really exist for either of them. Cinema buffs still sometimes ask, “Are

Actors Shakespeare Company at New Jersey City University will present “Shakespeare on Screen: Throne of Blood,” the final event in a series of free screenings of films based on or inspired by a play by the world’s most famous playwright. Akira Kurosawa’s

Entertainment Weekly reported that there was a proliferation of sites being registered like diediediejarjar.com and there was a song by Damn Nation called "Jar Jar Binks Must Die!" Jar Jar Binks is probably the most reviled cha

Of the relatively emerging New York school of designers, Kimberly Ovitz has been one of the few to hone in on a dark point of view, which was at its sharpest for fall. It’s Gothic and brooding without ignoring a woman’s sexuality — a plus when you’re pit

Alfred Hitchcock and James Stewart. Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro. Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune. John Ford and John Wayne. There have been any number of great director-actor pairings throughout movie history. But n

While some want to question his authorship, there is no denying the lasting influence of William Shakespeare. These 10 titles prove that with accolades to spare. From declarations of undeniable greatness to questions of legitimacy, the literary world con

When the Journal of Economic Literature appears next month, it will contain two review essays surveying broadly the literature that has appeared so far on the financial crisis and its aftermath. For anyone who doesn’t want to wait, both articles are avai

—Mr. Cowie has written some 30 books on film, the most recent being "Akira Kurosawa: Master of Cinema" (Rizzoli). Only the director's third feature, the film proved an instant hit in the U.S. When François Truffaut died in 1984, at the age of just 52, he

"There have been lots of books that tell the history of the movies, but so far almost no films," Mark Cousins told indieWIRE's Peter Knegt last September. We should qualify that statement, of course. As Nick Pinkerton notes in the Voice, there have been

Sergei Parajanov's Color of the Pomegranate, is a biography of the Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova (king of song) and reveals the poet's life more through his poetry than a conventional narration of important events in his life. We see the poet grow up, f

Five books -- five views about the collapse of the Mubarak dynasty -- bring to mind Akira Kurosawa "Rashomon". Which one is the truth, asks Gamal Nkrumah Only once is there a jolt of spurious simplification of history. Hosni Mubarak is out of office, but

Throughout the history of film there has been countless indelible cinematic collaborations. On a rare occasion, certain artists are lucky enough to find creative kindred spirits - Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, Ingmar Bergman and Max von Sydow, Marti

If 2011 saw Joel Edgerton getting his feet wet in Hollywood with roles in "Warrior" and "The Thing," 2012 will see the Aussie actor fully diving into those waters. He'll feature prominently in two films slated to be major awards season players, Baz Luhrm

With celebrities like Mani Ratnam and Vyjayanthimala Bali gracing the function, it was a trip down memory lane for many as snippets of the legendary veena player were discussed and shared. In a way, Balachander was responsible for Mani Ratnam taking up t

“From Kill Bill to Tom Cruise's turn as The Last Samurai, the samurai ethos has long captured the contemporary American imagination. See their inspiration when the San Francisco Film Society presents four of the most iconic samurai films of all time with

Soon, cinephiles won't have George Lucas to kick around anymore. The 67-year-old mogul, once among Hollywood's most revered filmmakers but increasingly the target of criticism on account of sub-par late-career output and what many view as excessive Star