In Praise Of

Why What’s Up, Doc? remains a perfect screwball comedy

By Meg Walters

Peter Bogdanovich’s 1972 homage to the Hollywood romantic comedies of old is chaotic, silly, and utterly joyful.

Why Harold and Maude remains one of cinema’s great survivor stories

By Zoe Kurland

In Hal Ashby’s unconventional 1971 romance, the central protagonists have very different ideas about life and death.

In praise of two hats in Jim Jarmusch’s Night on Earth

By Liz Gorny

In Jim Jarmusch’s 1991 film, a cab driver and his passenger’s identical hats capture the power and poignancy in cultural exchange.

Why I love Rachel Weisz’s performance in The Deep Blue Sea

By Sophie Monks Kaufman

In Terence Davies’ postwar melodrama, she turns Hester Collyer into one of cinema’s great tragic heroines.

Why 49th Parallel is one of the most cunning war films ever made

By Sam Manning

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger employed propaganda to potent effect in their 1941 submarine drama.

In defence of Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain

By Simon Bland

Dismissed as a self-indulgent folly upon release, this fatalistic fantasy drama deserves a second look.

How The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour pioneered the visual album

By Mark Allison

In 1967, the Fab Four embarked on an extravagant, experimental journey that would redefine what a promotional film could be.

Why The Portrait of a Lady remains Jane Campion’s most bittersweet film

By Kayleigh Donaldson

Twenty-five years on, this adaptation of the classic Henry James novel offers an unflinching study of female sorrow.

How Duel paved the foundation for Steven Spielberg’s career

By Mitchell Beaupre

This made-for-TV feature has all the trademarks that would go on to define one of America’s most acclaimed filmmakers.

Kōji Shiraishi’s Noroi is a found footage horror like no other

By Kitty Richardson

Unlike most possession-based pseudo-documentaries, this 2005 J-horror delivers its biggest scares in broad daylight.

Why Secrets & Lies remains a masterclass in framing

By James Morton

Director Mike Leigh emphasises the lack of connection between the characters, and British society as a whole.

Why I love Ellen Burstyn’s performance in The Last Picture Show

By Rafa Sales Ross

She inhabits the role of the frustrated housewife in Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 drama with apparent effortlessness.

In defence of Halloween: Resurrection

By Oumar Saleh

In breaking from franchise tradition, this maligned 2002 slasher foreshadowed the rise of live streaming and viral fame.

Nothing Gold Can Stay – In praise of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders

By James Clarke

This teenage drama from 1983 is the pinnacle of the director’s career-long obsession with the passage of time.

How The French Connection reinvented the Hollywood cop movie

By Jarek Kupść

Gene Hackman maniacally navigates New York’s crime world in William Friedkin’s enduring procedural.

Why Timothy Dalton is the best James Bond actor

By Mark Allison

In The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill, Dalton created the template for Daniel Craig’s hard-edged 21st century Bond.

Why excessive swearing is essential to Martin Scorsese’s The Departed

By Susannah Goldsbrough

Foul language and filthy humour characterise the cruel, cynical world of this hardboiled Boston-set crime-drama.

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About Little White Lies

Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. We believe in Truth & Movies.

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