By Salomon Rogberg. The other day I read in one of Sweden’s largest daily newspapers Dagens Nyheter, that biopics were on the rise. Maybe the critic was right. Both Margaret Thatcher, who was the British prime minister between the years 1979 to 1990, and J Edgar Hoover, the first director of […]
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 Devil Inside (2012)
By Steven Harrison Gibbs. A new year in horror cinema is upon us, and kicking it off is another entry into the exceedingly popular ‘found footage’ subgenre. The film opens – as many of its kind do – with intertitles explaining what lies ahead; this is followed by audio and […]
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 […]
The Skin I Live In (2011)
By Jacob Mertens. The iconic image of Dr. Frankenstein hunched over a slab of metal, peering into the glassy eyes of his patch-work creation, cannot be easily forgotten when watching Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In. In its place, Antonio Banderas, playing Dr. Robert Ledgard, watches his own mysterious […]
Sex in the City of Pornocracy
By Celluloid Liberation Front. A bruised urban womb, livid with solitude and alienation: New York, phallocratic capital of the New World. Venting his inner but tangible malaise is Brandon, a successful man in his thirties whose days are tormented by an unforgiving addiction. What appears as an accomplished individual is […]
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
By Steven Harrison Gibbs. Based on Stieg Larsson’s internationally-acclaimed novel (originally titled The Men Who Hate Women), the latest film from David Fincher struck a chord of dissonance during its production among those who were content with the Swedish adaptation helmed by Niels Arden Oplev, which made its U.S. debut […]
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
By William Frasca. One of the best family films to see this holiday season is The Adventures of Tintin. This full-length animated film is a smart, simple adventure movie that is entertaining from beginning to end. The film is an adaptation of the comic series and is able to take […]
The Descendants (2011)
By Jacob Mertens. At the beginning of Alexander Payne’s The Descendants, George Clooney’s disembodied voice hovers over idyllic imagery of Hawaii, warning the audience that the content of the film will not compliment the scenery. The film soon cuts to a series of shots: clogged traffic, an urban sprawl laid […]
The Artist (2011)
By Janine Gericke. If you feel wary of committing yourself to a 100-minute silent black and white film, I beg you to reconsider: The Artist may be one of 2011’s best films. In the spirit of complete confession, you must know I love silent films. Okay, I love all films, […]