A Book Review by Irv Slifkin. Say the name and the image of an overweight, balding man with a neatly trimmed beard and unctuous demeanor comes to mind. In productions released by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures during the 1970s, Bartel seems to be there all the time, stealing scenes […]
Gazpacho with A Shot of Estrogen: Almodovar’s Women On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
By Kate Hearst. As statistics continue to demonstrate the persistent imbalance of women’s representation on screen,[1] Pedro Almodovar’s Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), beautifully restored by Criterion, is like a shot of pure estrogen. This screwball comedy, one of Almodovar’s best, packs a full range of […]
The Dark Tower: The Mighty King Has Fallen
August 5, 2017
By Elias Savada. The phrase “lump of coal” comes to mind after watching The Dark Tower, a lavish and most definitely lackluster CliffsNotes abridgment of a CliffsNotes adaptation of the Stephen King science fiction-fantasy-western magnum opus. The film prides itself by drop-kicking the prerequisite landscapes, people, myths, and phrases that abound […]
After Love: Verity and Banality
August 3, 2017
By Jeremy Carr. While watching After Love, a 2016 film about a Brussels couple in the midst of an emotionally evolving but physically inert separation, it’s often tempting to pick a side. Boris (Cédric Kahn) and Marie (Bérénice Bejo), partners of 15 years and parents of two young girls (sisters Jade […]
On the Road to Nirvana: Jodorowsky’s Endless Poetry
August 2, 2017
By Elias Savada. “A naked virgin will illuminate your path with a blazing butterfly.” Yes, just the kind of fertile, fantastic utterance you would expect to hear in any luxuriant, eccentric Alejandro Jodorowsky film, especially in his ultra personal Endless Poetry (Poesía sin fin), and you’ll have to take the two-hour-plus […]
Bisarjan: Kaushik Ganguly on Unrequited Love
August 2, 2017
By Devapriya Sanyal and Melissa Webb. On the banks of the Padma lives Padma Halder, named after one of the bigger rivers flowing between the two countries of Bangladesh and India, divided by religion but sharing a common history. But Kaushik Ganguly’s new venture Bisorjon (or Bisarjan) chooses to look beyond that to explore the trope […]
Two California Raisins Walk Into a Sitcom: Landline
July 29, 2017
By Elias Savada. Three years ago, filmmaker Gillian Robespierre arrived at the Sundance Film Festival with her first feature, Obvious Child, a small, smart comedy-drama about pregnancy and abortion. It was a charming and perceptive rookie endeavor that made many critics’ Top Ten lists. It also unleashed a new star in […]
Coppola’s Dazzling Teenage Dream: Rumble Fish (Criterion Collection)
July 27, 2017
By Jeremy Carr. Two credits stand out on Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film Rumble Fish. One is Stewart Copeland, then drummer for The Police, who provided the picture’s hypnotic, dissonant rock-jazz score. The second is Michael Smuin, choreographer and co-director of the San Francisco Ballet; he staged an early fight scene […]
Laid to Rest: Frederic Mermoud’s Moka
By Devapriya Sanyal and Melissa Webb. Frederic Mermoud’s French-thriller Moka (2016) centers on a grieving woman who is on the hunt for the killers of her young son, fatally wounded in a hit-and-run accident. The film shows her pursuit of a couple in Evian, whom she suspects are the responsible perpetrators. […]
Beatriz at Dinner: Necessary Cinema
July 25, 2017
By Christopher Sharrett. There are certainly films more perceptive about class and race than Beatriz at Dinner, a film I put off seeing since its basic idea (a lower-class woman stuck in an upper-class dinner) seemed too familiar. The film is indeed based on an old concept most of us would recognize, […]