William Friedkin

  • William Friedkin – The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)

    William Friedkin2021-2030DramaUSAWar
    The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (2023)
    The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (2023)

    Follows a naval officer who stands trial for mutiny after taking command from a ship captain he felt was acting in an unstable way, putting both the ship and its crew in danger.Read More »

  • William Friedkin – The Boys in the Band (1970)

    1961-1970DramaQueer Cinema(s)USAWilliam Friedkin

    Quote:
    It’s Harold’s birthday, and his closest friends throw him a party at Michael’s apartment. Among Harold’s presents is “Cowboy”, since Harold may have trouble finding a cute young man on his own now that he’s getting older. As the party progresses the self-deprecating humor of the group takes a nasty turn as the men become drunker. Climaxed by a cruel telephone “game” where each man must call someone and tell him (or her?) of his love for them.Read More »

  • William Friedkin – A Conversation with Fritz Lang (1975)

    1971-1980DocumentaryUSAWilliam Friedkin

    “Conversation with Fritz Lang“ is a 50-minute conversation between directors Lang and William Friedkin shot on February 21 & 24, 1975, a year before Lang died.
    He takes us on a historical journey, outlining his early days in the Germany of the Weimar Republic through to his “dramatic“ departure after meeting Joseph Goebbels (we now know the story isn’t true as Lang went back to Germany several times after his “flight,” and he may not have met Goebbels at all) to become a reluctant Hollywood studio director.
    Don’t get your hopes too high though. This isn’t a filmmaking masterclass nor a debate between the self proclaimed “master of the unusual“ and “Hurricane Billy“ as you won’t see much of Friedkin, except for his neck. It still is extremely interesting as Lang knows how to tell a good story and to grip the viewer’s attention with vivid and colorful details that might be totally true or not.Read More »

  • William Friedkin – Cruising (1980) (HD)

    1971-1980CrimeQueer Cinema(s)ThrillerUSAWilliam Friedkin

    Quote:
    Academy Award-winner William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) directs Al Pacino as an undercover cop pitched into New York’s seedy underbelly in Cruising – available for the first time on Blu-ray in a brand new director-approved transfer.

    New York is caught in the grip of a sadistic serial killer who is preying on the patrons of the city’s underground bars. Captain Edelson (Paul Sorvino) tasks young rookie Steve Burns (Pacino) with infiltrating the S&M subculture to try and lure the killer out of the shadows – but as he immerses himself deeper and deeper into the underworld, Steve risks losing his own identity in the process.Read More »

  • William Friedkin – The Brink’s Job (1978)

    1971-1980ComedyCrimeUSAWilliam Friedkin

    The Brink’s Job tells the real-life story of a group of small-time, working-class robbers in Boston, who came together and pulled off the largest robbery in US history, taking the Brink’s security company for $2.8 million in 1950. Peter Falk plays the ringleader. He tells his wife (Gena Rowlands): “All that money is in there, and it’s being held prisoner, it’s just screaming to me through the walls… Well I’m going in there, and I’m gonna get it out.” The film follows the group’s task (and their environment, and their pursuers) with an eye to the pragmatic, but it’s not so procedural (in the sense of Friedkin’s earlier Sorcerer or French Connection) as to hamper the movie’s broad purpose: reanimating an old news headline, into a fun sort of ensemble heist folktale.Read More »

  • William Friedkin – Cruising (1980)

    1971-1980CrimeExploitationQueer Cinema(s)USAWilliam Friedkin

    A 1980 psychological thriller film directed by William Friedkin and starring Al Pacino. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name, by New York Times reporter Gerald Walker, about a serial killer targeting gay men, in particular those associated with the S&M scene.
    Poorly reviewed by critics, Cruising was a modest financial success, though the filming and promotion were dogged by gay rights protesters. The title is a play on words with a dual meaning, as “cruising” can describe police officers on patrol and also cruising for sex.Read More »

  • William Friedkin – The People vs. Paul Crump (1962)

    1961-1970DocumentaryUSAWilliam Friedkin

    Quote:
    A very young William Friedkin produced and directed this documentary for television in 1962 when Paul Crump had been in prison for nine years, waiting on death row. Crump was convicted for the shooting death of a Chicago meat-packing plant’s security guard during an armed robbery, which netted some $20,000. Chicago police quickly moved in, arrested Crump, and convicted him, primarily based on the testimony of one of those convicted for the crime. Crump claims he’s innocent, was with a woman the day of the crime, and the woman later testifies in his defense, only to disappear later due to a public outcry and ridicule.Read More »

  • William Friedkin – To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

    1981-1990ActionThrillerUSAWilliam Friedkin

    Quote:
    Worthy of the director of “French Connection,” the pace of this set- in-LA action thriller immediately draws the view in and never lets up. A car chase in the best traditions of “Bullitt” and of Friedkin’s own “French Connection” is centers the action, but the motivation of a rogue agent obsessed with the death of his partner, and clearly with his own death, are well- and credibly- drawn. The most sympathetic character in the story is not one of the principals. It is a female informer. An ex-con at the mercy of those on both sides of the law, she is callously exploited by all. Her feelings for Agent Chance are more implied than explicit, but they are believable as is his indifference to her as a person. This riveting film never lets your attention wander. Thanks to Friedkin, we are told, we are given a credible ending to this taut, tightly- wound thriller. An under-exposed, under-appreciated work; excellent for the genre.Read More »

  • William Friedkin – Bug (2006)

    Drama2001-2010HorrorUSAWilliam Friedkin

    Synopsis:
    Having escaped her abusive ex-husband Goss (Harry Connick Jr.), recently released from state prison, Agnes (Ashley Judd), a lonely waitress with a tragic past moves into a sleazy, run-down motel and her lesbian co-worker R.C (Lynn Collins) introduces her to Gulf War veteran Peter (Michael Shannon), a peculiar, paranoiac drifter and they begin a tentative romance. However, things don’t always seem as they appear and Agnes is about to experience a claustrophobic nightmare reality as the bugs begin to arrive…Read More »

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