KeithGordan

"While everyone loves Bicycle Thieves, I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for DeSica’s heartbreaking film about an old man and his little dog. It is a great object lesson for the idea that you can deal with tremendous, unabashed, heartbreaking emotion and not be manipulative or schmaltzy."

"I still think this may be the most nerve-racking film I’ve ever seen. It blows away modern action thrillers, doing so much more with so much less. No big effects, no CGI. Just a few desperate men, a few old trucks, a bumpy old road, and tons of explosives. Add in a political consciousness that was sharp enough it was censored out of early U.S. cuts, and a sense of irony that raises this beyond “entertainment,” and you have a thriller unlike anything before or since."

"I loved this film when I was younger (still do), dragging friends and family to revival houses to see its wonderful, pointed, sad satirical lunacy. It also has one of the best in-camera scene transitions ever done, and Peter O’Toole’s gloriously over-the-top performance is priceless. I understand some of the criticisms I’ve heard—it’s theatrical, it’s awkward at times, but it’s also fearless, funny, chilling, and unique, qualities that trump anything else you can say about it."

"One of the scariest, most disturbing, and most beautifully shot films ever made, this was somewhat overlooked until recent years, and I’m glad it’s finally getting the reputation it deserves. It’s as much like actually experiencing someone’s nightmare as I can remember a film being. It blew me away when I first saw it on-screen (knowing nothing about it only added to its power), and I was so happy that Criterion gave us a beautiful transfer—which is the only way this film can really be appreciated."