by Matthew Sorrento. This film desperately wants to be talked about. With great effort, We Need to Talk about Kevin presents itself as, in the words of 19th century critic Matthew Arnold, a work of high seriousness, to pitch a personal hard-sell as high art. This claim is more valid […]
A Conversation with Khavn De La Cruz
By Yusef Sayed. A highly prolific filmmaker who has spearheaded the active and visible presence of Filipino artists at film festivals around the world in recent years, Khavn De La Cruz is tough to pin down. With countless films to his name, including Squatterpunk (2007), Ultimo: Different Ways of Killing […]
Noir City 10
February 25, 2012
Michael T. Toole delivers a list of highlights from the tenth Noir City festival, San Francisco’s Castro Theatre, January 20-29, 2012. For ten straight days, Noir City entertained and informed us to just how fun, disturbing and enthralling the noir genre can be, and boy was it! Stylish and sexy, […]
The Legend of Kaspar Hauser
By Celluloid Liberation Front. “It’s such a struggle to self-produce your own film” sighs Davide Manuli. “You’ve got no idea, cinema is a rigid and harsh structure that does not allow any intrusion among its ranks,” he continues. Far from being dispirited, the director of La Leggenda di Kaspar Hauser […]
The Music Man in Retrospect
By Christopher Sharrett. My recent viewing of Meredith Willson/Morton da Costa’s film The Music Man, for the first time in decades, forced me to reflect on my initial viewing (in 1962, the year of its release) with my parental family while I endured another insufferable summer vacation in Bennington, Vermont, […]
Noir City shines a light on neglected artists
By Michael T. Toole. Noir has many sides, aside from the stunning stylistic things we look for in the films (the imposing verticality of a cityscape, rain soaked streets, darkly lit corridors) there are the more intrinsic elements, like lovers’ betrayal and protecting ill-fated choices, that give it its narrative […]
Saving London’s Cinema Museum: A Little Film Club
By Deirdre O’Neill. The Cinema Museum in London is remaining true to its ongoing attempt to cater for lovers of film whose needs are not met by the multiplex. The Museum is joining forces with Little Joe magazine and the Rio Cinema in Dalston to launch ‘A Little Film Club’, […]
From Where Clooney’s Oscar Nominated Role Descends
By Matthew Sorrento. Many have noted (including the Academy) the strength of George Clooney’s performance in The Descendants, and how the former is essential to the latter. Immediately coming to mind is Clooney’s role in Up in the Air, about a travelling corporate “henchman” whose job is emotionally wearing him […]
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
By Christopher Sharrett. Upon viewing Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, I am reminded of the difficulty the American mind has in conceiving its own destruction, at least by the Other. When it attempts to imagine such destruction, it is cast in apocalyptic terms suggesting no other atrocity could […]
Treasures from the Archives: an interview with Clyde Jeavons
By Parviz Jahed. Clyde Jeavons is the programmer of the London Film Festival’s ‘Treasures from the Archive’ section. He was the former curator of the National Film and Television Archive and the British Film Institute. He’s been retired for some years, but he now annually programs the restored films at […]