By Matthew Sorrento. Beginning as a rather conventional documentary – at times so familiar we fear it will play like formulaic television – The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne soon finds a matter-of-fact style that nicely reflects its subject. A career jewelry thief, Doris Payne (born 1930) has used […]
Primal Ponderings: Home Invasion Horrors
A Book Review by William Blick. The last word on this niche genre, with a dense amount of information….” No genre of film is more subdivided and diverse than the horror genre. Over the years, this form of cinema has radically morphed into myriad subgenres that reflect the most primal […]
Now Available – Becoming Nosferatu: Stories Inspired by Silent German Horror
A new collection featuring stories and poems in the tradition of Nosferatu and other silent expressionist classics….” Becoming Nosferatu: Stories Inspired by Silent German Horror, edited by Matthew Sorrento (editor, FilmInt Online) and Gary D. Rhodes (contributing editor) is out now from BearManor Media, featuring stories and poems in the tradition of Nosferatu and other silent expressionist […]
Alchemy, Technology, and the Cinematic Grimoire: E. Elias Merhige’s Begotten (1989)
By Gary D. Rhodes. How of one ounce of Silver maie Silver be noe more.” – Thomas Norton, The Ordinall of Alchimy (1477)* Embodied practice and cinematic technology yields alchemical crucible in E. Elias Merhige’s Begotten, a non-dialogue film of 1989 that the London Film Festival declared “breaks all moulds, […]
All the Fear Looking Back at You – Us: The Complete Annotated Screenplay
A Book Review by Matthew Sorrento. The supplementary footnotes included in Us: The Complete Annotated Screenplay should launch more needed commentary, showing that a scholarly monograph on the film is already overdue….” In his very informative and enjoyable 2008 autobiography, X Films, Alex Cox finishes a discussion of his cult […]
Taking Martial Arts Practice to the Movies: Filmmaker Jim Towns and Actor-Producer Jose Luis Torres II on Killer Ex
By Matthew Sorrento. In so many films, heroes have this unlimited, almost inhuman stamina, but anyone who’s done any sparring knows just how fast you get totally exhausted during physical combat. I think being mindful of something like that when directing a fight scene both humanizes a character….” –Killer-Ex Director […]
Everyone’s Cinema Scholar: Remembering David Bordwell (1947-2024)
Film International editors, contributors, and correspondents offer personal tributes and commentary on the late scholar of cinema. I regret never having the pleasure of meeting David Bordwell. My only interaction with him was a lively email exchange little over 10 years ago. I was planning an article on the early […]
More “Dead Men and Broken Hearts”: Liminal Noir in Classical World Cinema
A Book Review by Dávid Szőke. While acknowledging the broadening of the debated canon, this volume, edited by Elyce Rae Helford and Christopher Weedman, focuses on how liminality extends beyond physical spaces, emphasizing the fragmented psychological and social realms onscreen after the war.” “Dead men are heavier than broken hearts,” […]
Mastering the Multiverse –Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
By Matthew Sorrento. It’s invigorating to see a broad entertainment reach the heights of cinema’s visual potential.” While preparing the classic horror comedy Re-Animator, producer Brian Yunza had his director Stuart Gordon and other team members sit for a marathon VHS film festival of recent horror. The purpose: to top […]
Don’t Let It Drain – Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game
By Matthew Sorrento. Just what the pinball tribe needs, and offers a whole lot for feel-good indie fans, too.” This new release, aptly titled Pinball, celebrates the game, its ignored legacy, along with an important page in its history. Those (mostly older) who sing the famous hit from Tommy do […]