By Elias Savada. German-born filmmaker Patrick Vollrath’s first feature, the foreign-financed, English-language 7500 (pronounced seven-five-zero-zero), is the latest in a long string of airplane hijacking movies. Since most folks are not doing any flying these days (stay home, stay safe), you might find meager travel points accumulating in your frequent […]
Episodic Exploration: Mazursky’s An Unmarried Woman (Criterion Collection)
By Gary M. Kramer. The first reel of An Unmarried Woman practically eavesdrops on the lives of its characters, Erica (Jill Clayburgh) and Martin (Michael Murphy), who have been married for 16 years. They live comfortably in the Upper East Side of New York, and have a smart, 15 year-old […]
Whose Truth is the Truth? Agnieszka Holland’s Mr. Jones
Thomas Puhr
June 11, 2020
By Thomas Puhr. “I don’t have an agenda,” intones journalist Gareth Jones (James Norton) in Agnieszka Holland’s historical drama, Mr. Jones (2019). “Unless you call truth an agenda.” While some write off his stance as idealistic naivete, he is not speaking in an abstract, philosophical sense. The truth, in this […]
Bruce McDonald’s Dreamland: Side Effects Include Drowsiness
Rod Lott
June 5, 2020
By Rod Lott. With Dreamland, the Canadian creative triumvirate of raconteurs behind 2008’s beloved Pontypool are back together, Musketeers-style: director Bruce McDonald, writer Tony Burgess and actor Stephen McHattie. To cut right to the chase, lightning does not strike twice. Set in Europe – the part that throbs with the […]
Screen and Canvas – Cinemagritte: René Magritte within the Frame of Film History, Theory, and Practice by Lucy Fischer
Thomas Puhr
June 1, 2020
La belle captive (1983) A Book Review by Thomas Puhr. Given their ubiquity in the public consciousness (who wouldn’t recognize The Son of Man’s [1964] bowler-hatted gentleman with an apple covering his face?), it comes as a surprise that Lucy Fischer’s Cinemagritte (Wayne State, 2019) is the first book-length analysis […]
Praise and Loathing in Bozeman, Montana: The Rabbi Goes West
Elias Savada
May 30, 2020
By Elias Savada. I’ve known critic-archivist-filmmaker Gerald Peary for at least a dozen years. He sought me out in 2007 to do some copyright research, and I’ve worked for him on numerous projects (For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism, Archie’s Betty) ever since, although I’m […]
The Poetry and Politics of Dropping Balls: J-P Valkeapää’s Dogs Don’t Wear Pants
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
May 29, 2020
By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. In some of its most famous forays into mainstream cinema, BDSM seems to almost instantly bestow some filmmakers with the belief they have found a one-way ticket straight to Cutting Edge Town. Instantly, with a few consensual slaps and saucily deployed feather dusters, we’re meant to believe […]
Move Over Hallmark, Here Comes The High Note
Elias Savada
May 28, 2020
By Elias Savada. In a pandemic-free world, The High Note would have been playing in movie theaters, maybe to decent business but not stellar success. The coronavirus playbook for every film these days is still questionable as we wait for the “all clear” signal from various authority figures. For now, […]
Wild at Heart: Philip Barantini’s Villain
Thomas Puhr
May 22, 2020
By Thomas Puhr. The latest poster for Philip Barantini’s Villain (2020) smacks of an effort to reach as broad an audience as possible. Adorned by flames and sporting a stylish suit, star Craig Fairbrass grimaces at something, perhaps his next victim, offscreen. “FURY UNLEASHED,” the tagline announces, prepping viewers for […]
The Case of the Poorly Hidden Bunker: Vaughn Stein’s Inheritance
Thomas Puhr
May 22, 2020
By Thomas Puhr. The opening montage of Vaughn Stein’s Inheritance (2020) exposes a fundamental flaw: in a sequence that juxtaposes DA Lauren Monroe (Lily Collins) sparring in court, Congressman William Monroe (Chace Crawford) prepping for an upcoming election, and their father, Archer (Patrick Warburton, squandered in a rare dramatic role), […]