By Thomas M. Puhr. Like their traditional method of travel, Nick and Liam’s temporal destination underlines Jenkin’s disinterest in sci-fi spectacle.” Time travel stories naturally conflate space and time. In such narratives, the non-present is like a location—the word “travel” itself suggests physical movement to a place either behind (the past) […]
Romance and Devastation: Looking for America in Closer to Home (1995)
By Ellie Dean. Unusually for a film (ostensibly) produced for the American audience—it is the Filipino perspective that is most often preferenced. The emotional authenticity of Ortaliz’s performance as Dalisay is consistently accentuated in long, thoughtful takes and intimate close-ups.” New Jersey. Mid 1990s. A gruff ex-merchant marine sits in […]
A Scholar’s Swansong – Italian Western: Rounding the Circle
A Book Review by Roberto Curti. A treasure trove of material, presented in an intriguing manner….” The title for the late Tony Williams’ final work (forthcoming from BearManor Media) is nothing short of appropriate: returning to the wide-open plains of the Italian Western, the British film scholar completed a journey […]
Another Return to the Stars: Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day
By Thomas M. Puhr. At a time when genre film has reached new heights of creativity and daring, audiences deserve so much more from one of the greatest directors….” The story goes that Stanley Kubrick, in the early stages of adapting The Shining, phoned Stephen King one morning to expound […]
Unpacking the Military Background – War is Hell: Making Hellraiser III
A Book Review by William Blick. In addition to offering a production history, Stewart revisits an underseen and underappreciated contribution to the horror genre, in the military horror tradition.” Niche-genre critic and historian Danny Stewart explores the hybrid-genre entry Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, produced by Clive Barker with Anthony […]
Roads to Nowhere: Kane Parsons’s Backrooms
By Thomas M. Puhr. Watching a character look around in bewildered awe as they first encounter the backrooms gets old pretty quick. How many times must we see someone gasp as a part of their body disappears into that basement wall?” Splotchy, coagulated gray fills the screen. Is this an […]
In the Weeds: The Divided City and Its New Cinemas, 1920-1980
A Book Review by John Talbird. Instead of throwing a heaping helping of film titles at us, substituting lists and anecdote for real analysis, each chapter takes a deep dive into one specific movie, contextualizing the film with the real-world effects of white flight, government abandonment of urban locales, urban […]
The Ancients on the Chicago Streets: Moses the Black
By Mina Radovic. A visionary gangland highlighting a connection to Black America and ancient Egypt.” Writer-director Yelena Popovic’s new film Moses the Black is a visionary gangland epic that turns the tables on the redemption story and highlights a connection to Black America and ancient Egypt. Feared gang leader Malik […]
The Making of a Silent Legacy: Early Buster Keaton
A Book Review by Thomas Gladysz. A detailed, well-wrought look into the comedian’s early career(s)….” Like Charlie Chaplin, there are more than a handful of books about Buster Keaton – the stone-faced comedian who sported a pork-pie hat. And like Chaplin, Keaton remains one of the truly great performers of […]
Now a Believer: Caroline Golum’s Revelations of Divine Love
By William Blick. Made for about $200,000 through crowdfunding via way of Brooklyn, Revelations achieves the scope necessary for a fascinating, faithful telling of the spiritual and historic journey of Julian of Norwich.” Different stories of religious faith and suffering have manifested themselves in one way or another in cinema […]