Let’s make one thing clear: The Next Best Thing is not the next best anything. It’s not the next best rom-com, not the next best Madonna film (yes, even Swept Away looks slightly more coherent in hindsight), and certainly not the next best career move for the late, once-glorious John Schlesinger. Watching this 2000 misfire … Read More “The Next Best Thing (2000): When Madonna and Schlesinger Killed the Rom-Com, and Buried It with a Yoga Mat” »
John Schlesinger, the guy who gave us Midnight Cowboy and Darling, aimed for political thrill with The Innocent—a Cold War espionage drama that promised eerie intrigue and moral riddles. What we got instead was a snooze in Armani, pocked by awkward attraction and international dullness. It’s the cinematic equivalent of ordering caviar and getting a … Read More ““The Innocent” (1993): When John Schlesinger Tries Sonic Missile, Ends Up With a Defective Firecracker” »
In the long, echoing halls of British cinema, Madame Sousatzka clangs around like a Steinway dropped down a marble staircase—elegant on paper, bruised in execution. Directed by John Schlesinger, this 1988 drama is the cinematic equivalent of a moldy tea biscuit: supposedly refined, but stale, crumbling, and better off tossed to the pigeons. Set in … Read More “Madame Sousatzka (1988): A Grand Piano of Pretension, Tuned to the Wrong Key” »
🎬 Spy Drama or Dysfunctional Bromance on Tilt? John Schlesinger’s The Falcon and the Snowman isn’t your typical cloak-and-dagger flick—it’s more like point-and-laugh-sarcasm-meets-showdown. Adapted from the true story by Robert Lindsey, the film follows Christopher Boyce(Timothy Hutton), a falcon-obsessed idealist who posts his CIA satellite secrets to the Soviets out of moral indignation—or midlife crisis. … Read More ““The Falcon and the Snowman” (1985): Idealism Meets Cocaine—An Entertaining Spy Fable With a Whiff of Moral Hangover 🕶️” »
John Schlesinger, genius behind Midnight Cowboy, only to follow it up with Honky Tonk Freeway—a so-called epic road-trip comedy that crashes land into incoherent farce. Picture an all-star cast stumbling through a pastel-colored shovel of absurdity, and you’ll still come up short when trying to wrap your head around this sprawling, $24 million dumpster fire … Read More ““Honky Tonk Freeway” (1981): A Glitter-Wrapped Flop on Wheels – A Bad Review With Dark Humor” »
John Schlesinger’s The Day of the Locust adapts Nathanael West’s bitter 1939 novel into a fever dream of pre–World War II Hollywood. This isn’t your fluffy screen-fantasy: it’s a nightmarish carnival of fame-chasers gone feral, a place where even Goya would say “No thanks.” In Schlesinger’s hands, L.A. becomes Dante’s Inferno—sun-drenched, vacancy-filled, and teeming with … Read More ““The Day of the Locust” (1975): Hollywood Hellscape with a Side of Dark Satire” »
Let’s be clear: Midnight Cowboy isn’t a cowboy movie—it’s a trench coat epic drenched in piss, plastic, and desperate survival. Directed by John Schlesinger, the film slices through late‑’60s New York like a razor on a frozen peach, chronicling the sordid downward spiral of two outsiders: Joe Buck (Jon Voight), a naïve Texan wannabe gigolo, … Read More ““Midnight Cowboy” (1969): Neon Dreams, Piss-Poor Sanity, and a Friendship Built on Broken Vinyl” »
John Schlesinger’s Darling is a 60s portrait of ambition, glamour, and emptiness so sharply observed it’s like someone photographed obsession under a microscope—then smashed the lens for effect. Equal parts romantic comedy and moral fable, this swinging-London satire follows Diana Scott (Julie Christie) as she ascends social ladders only to tumble into a void beneath … Read More ““Darling” (1965): Champagne Bubble, Moral Flatline” »
John Schlesinger’s A Kind of Loving is like finding a line-dried letter stuffed between dryer sheets—nostalgic, damp around the edges, and the kind of honest Northern English drama that still knows how to sting. Released in 1962, this kitchen-sink realist romance isn’t your typical cinematic comfort food. Instead, expect soggy trousers in a laundrette, chemistry … Read More ““A Kind of Loving” (1962): Northern Grit, Great Expectations, and a Britain’s Romantic Miscalculation” »
So—Protection (2001), the mob-in-witness-protection thriller directed by John Flynn (his swan song before vanishing behind streaming credits), promises tense drama and existential double lives. Instead, it lands like a sneeze in church—a moment that happens, sparks mild discomfort, and is quickly forgotten. 🎬 The Set-Up: A Mobster Who Can’t Shake His Own Shadow Stephen Baldwin … Read More ““Protection” (2001): Witness Protection or Witness That This Film Should’ve Been Protected from Itself?” »