By Elias Savada. Before Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the ultimately enlightened Pope Francis in March 2013, there were a lot of misguided steps taken on behalf of the Catholic Church by his predecessors. While the mishandling of clerical sexual abuse scandals created too many embarrassing headlines, it was the […]
San Andreas: The Empty Catastrophe
June 3, 2015
By Christopher Sharrett. “Today it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” – Quote attributed to Fredric Jameson, or Slavoj Zizek, or J.G. Ballard, or perhaps an urban legend. “It’s quite enjoyable to watch things being destroyed, sequence after sequence of […]
Remorse in Short Supply: Peace Officer (2015)
June 1, 2015
By Elias Savada. William J. “Dub” Lawrence should not be smiling. And yet his bright teeth light up the screen in the mesmerizing, exceedingly well-structured documentary Peace Officer from Scott Christopherson and Brad Barber, a startlingly impressive first feature. His exuberant confidence disarms you, despite some dour opening remarks (“I […]
An Intriguing Population of 94: Uncertain (2015)
May 30, 2015
By Elias Savada. The new film from Ewan McNicol and Anna Sandilands begins like a mystery. It’s a dark night. A lone flashlight scans the Cypress trees and Irish moss of a murky lake, as insects flit about, their buzzing intensifying to an uneasy cacophony of unsettling noise. Uncertain isn’t […]
Nothing Lost in Times Regained: On the Restored Apu Trilogy
May 25, 2015
By Paul Risker. Fifty-six years have passed since Satyajit Ray added Apur Sansar (The World of Apu, 1959) to Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road, 1955) and Aparajito (The Unvanquished, 1956) to create the series of films known as the Apu trilogy. In this passage of time the narrative […]
A Mind Went Black: Dark Star: H.R. Giger’s World (2014)
May 22, 2015
By Elias Savada. You may not recall who the 20th President of the United States was. Or the name of the British Prime Minister in 1980. But mention the name Hans Ruedi “HR” Giger and one word immediately comes to mind: Alien. As Dark Star: HR Gigers Welt (expanded in the subtitled […]
The Un-Dead Walks: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (2013)
May 22, 2015
By Elias Savada. “Being dead can have its advantages sometimes.” That’s just one of the translated pieces of tossed off dialogue delivered in this Scandinavian smorgasbord of a comedy. No, Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann (The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared), isn’t a […]
“With Women Like You in the World…”: The Girl is in Trouble (2015)
May 20, 2015
By Jude Warne. The title of this thriller perhaps suggests all one needs to know about its plot, tone and perspective. A girl is in trouble. The girl here, Signe (Alicja Bachleda), is a stereotype of stereotypes, a beautiful but double-crossing Euro chick who gets physically and verbally abused by […]
Ex Machina: Woman Abused (to Small Concern)
May 11, 2015
By Christopher Sharrett. Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (some radio announcers have said “ex masheena”—one wonders if anyone knows Athenian drama, and the particular reasons behind theater’s use of the god from the machine) seems to be the must-see sci-fi film of the season, based on comments by newspaper and Internet reviewers. […]
Rhythms of Nature: Kornél Mundruczó’s White God (2015)
May 6, 2015
By Paul Risker. White God (Fehér istenr, 2014) emerges into being amidst a dreamy haze. While there is a lightness to the image of motion, its confinement within the rectangular frame meets with a weightier force. And as the film’s title intrudes quickly upon this dreamlike sequence, a powerful note […]