A Matter of Life and Death

A Matter of Life and Death had me stunned when I first saw it. The marvellous opening, makes you feel like you are floating among the stars in a place of your own. Then it moves to the horrors of... Full review

The great talents of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger are noticeable in their wonderful "A Matter of Life and Death". It was part of the recent tribute to Mr. Powell that played at the Walter Reade in New York. This... Full review

Few movies can be viewed almost 60 years later, yet remain as engrossing as this one. Technological advances have not dated this classic love story. Special effects used are remarkable for a 1946 movie. The acting is superb. David Niven,... Full review

This movie has the most beautiful opening sequence ever made. I've seen this movie for the first time a week ago, since then every day I see the opening and every time I feel as thrilled as I felt the... Full review

Enchanting, romantic, innovative, and funny. The vision of this extraordinary film is almost unparalleled, exceeding better known "death romances" such as Ghost. While we know intuitively that Peter and June will find ultimate happiness at the end of that long-long... Full review

WW2. RAF pilot Peter Carter's plane is shot to pieces and his parachute is destroyed. In his final distress call he talks to American WREN June on the radio and they bond at that time, when Peter knows he is... Full review

A Matter of Life and Death, what can you really say that would properly do justice to the genius and beauty of this film. Powell and Pressburger's visual imagination knows no bounds, every frame is filled with fantastically bold compositions.... Full review

To me A Matter of Life and Death is just that- simply the best film ever made.From beginning to end it oozes class. It is stimulating, thought provoking, a mirror to the post war world and the relations between peoples.The... Full review

The opening flourishes left me purring with delight at their inventiveness - the altered version of the Archers' logo, the introductory disclaimer, the way the camera pans over the cosmos. It's strange to think that `It's a Wonderful Life' came... Full review

I LOVE this movie. Director Michael Powell once stated that this was his favorite movie, and it is mine as well. Powell and Pressburger created a seemingly simple, superbly crafted story - the power of love against "the powers that... Full review

The British Ministry of Information commissioned Powell and Pressburger, also known as the Archers, to make this miraculous movie in an attempt to beef up Anglo-American relations, so it has a strange nationalist slant, with certain characters preaching the superiority of one nation over another. ... Full Review

such commercially and critically successful films....in actuality the film is incredibly experimental in terms of both its narrative structure and its cinematic exercise.....Another incredibly bold narrative choice.... ... Full Review

It's his vivid pleasure in his work -- his infatuation with film, his impeccable sense of color, and the warmth and cleverness of his and Pressburger's script -- that come through strongest in ``A Matter of Life and Death. When Michael Powell directed ``A Matter of Life and Death,'' a 1946 classic that opens today at the Castro, England had just emerged from World War II -- exhausted, deeply scarred and desperately in need of light, cheerful entertainment. ... Full Review

Any discussion of A Matter of Life and Death begins not with the romantic storyline, but with its impressive, modernist visual design. Some will see [i]A Matter of Life and Death[/i] as a simple, and simple-minded romantic fantasy, elevated from other entries in the genre by memorably lush, inventive visual design and cinematography (not to mention a dose of British humor or whimsy). ... Full Review

Funny thing though that none of this gets in the way of what is a very sweet and touching tale.....It's a bizarre story....a tender love story that defies death --....Of course, it's the inventive script and equally adept direction that makes it all work out..... ... Full Review

Lawrence Weschler remembers laughter. Did that sentence make you laugh? If you're a fan of Led Zeppelin's concert film/album "The Song Remains the Same" -- in which singer Robert Plant famously ad-libs in the middle of "Stairway to Heaven," "Does... ... Full Article

S teeleye Span used to raise eyebrows in the folk world. Try YouTube-ing the UK band's 1975 video for "All Around My Hat." Singer Maddy Prior is a veritable glitter-rock siren in her yellow satin dress; the guys in the... ... Full Article

Last year I wrote about the predictability of rock radio's holiday countdowns of the best songs ever, which, seemingly by an Act of Congress, year after year anointed Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" the Greatest Tune Ever Played. ... Full Article

Much of the work of the celebrated Bosnian-American writer Aleksandar Hemon seems intent on redefining the texture of the membrane that separates straightforward "autobiographical" fiction from the more nuanced and playful presences of several authorial personae dancing around the figure... ... Full Article

Former CREAM star JACK BRUCE was bombarded with death threats from furious LED ZEPPELIN fans after the bassist criticised the rock legends and dismissed them as "crap" earlier this year (09). ... Full Article

I hear we're in something of a recession (don't ask me. Good god man, I'm a blogger not a doctor of economics!). But apparently being in a recession doesn't prevent rich people from over-paying for things from celebrities. ... Full Article