REVIEW: Touch of Evil [1958]

“Your future’s all used up” Back in Hollywood a decade after his The Lady from Shanghai debacle, Orson Welles‘ Touch of Evil almost met the same fate. He presented his rough cut on time yet Universal brought in Harry Keller to reshoot scenes—replacements and brand new—and truncated it to 93-minutes nonetheless. While the studio destroyed any unused footage, they did let Welles take a gander before its bow. Their cut was ultimately released, but seeing it early allowed Welles the opportunity to write a 58-page memo outlying its problems. He…

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REVIEW: Sisters [1973]

“There is no body because there was no murder” Many people out there seem to have some sort of indifference when it comes to the subject of director Brian De Palma. I’m not quite sure what it is, but I have enjoyed every film I’ve seen by him. In anticipation of his new The Black Dahlia, I decided to revisit one of his earlier films, Sisters. I hadn’t seen it in over five years or so, but always remembered finding it intellectually disturbing and containing one of the most surreal,…

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