By Tony Williams. Since companies have decided to issue features accompanying DVD reissues of films available on VHS and Laserdisc in the past, the value of these additions vary with each product. For some distributors, they are extras of little value except to add padding to sell product that many […]
Cat People: Horror, Necessity, and Creative Collaboration
January 13, 2017
By Jeremy Carr. Who gets the credit for Cat People (1942)? Is it first-time producer Val Lewton, who though generally overlooked in his day has since received considerable reappraisal for his innovative, low-budget ingenuity? Or is it director Jacques Tourneur, the French emigre who would bring a shadowy visual flair […]
It’s Complicated: Joss Whedon and Race by Mary Ellen Iatropoulos and Lowery A. Woodall III
January 11, 2017
A Book Review by Jessica Baxter. Let’s face it. White liberals are having a “woke” moment that is shamefully long overdue. Growing up in the 1980s and early 90s as a white middle class kid from a moderately open-minded family (albeit residing in the conservative American south east), I was […]
Equality with a Discursive, Televisual Face: TV Socialism by Aniko Imre
A Book Review by Tony Williams. In Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly (1955) the enigmatic voice of Dr. Soberin delivers one of his voice-of-God traditional thespian pronouncements over the prone, semi-crucified body of savior/destroyer Mike Hammer, whose actor (Ralph Meeker) belongs to a very different performance acting style. “How civilized […]
Jackie: Alone in Oblivion
By Christopher Sharrett. The title to Pablo Larrain’s film Jackie might be more sensibly called The Last Days of Kennedy; the title is misleading if one is prepared to see a Jacqueline Kennedy biography. I say this especially because the film’s unremitting gloom seems to flow from its chronicle of […]
Exploring Cracks in the Tarmac: John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle on Criterion
By Tony Williams. For the new set of John Huston’s bleak 1950 film noir The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Criterion includes a cover that reproduces a still from the film, rather than the company’s recent fascination with bad artwork design. This suitable choice of coverart reflects how this two-disc DVD edition […]
Authenticity in Many Forms: 20th Century Women
January 4, 2017
By Jude Warne. Perhaps there are no two greater examples of cinematic contrast during this year’s Oscar season than Damien Chazelle’s La La Land and Mike Mills’ 20th Century Women. Both films will most likely land some number of Oscar nominations when they’re announced in Hollywood later this month. Both films are […]
The Allure of a Stone Heart: Verhoeven’s Elle
By Elias Savada. There is a brazen, dangerous atmosphere floating about the French-language feature Elle, a dramatic thriller with much to admire but, depending on your sensibilities, not as much to like. Maybe I’m too much of a puritan in this case and need to re-watch it. It’s an edgy […]
Bridging the Ideological Gap: Reform Cinema in Iran by Blake Atwood
December 21, 2016
A Book Review by Ali Moosavi. I have always thought that for a deeper understanding of Iranian films, one has to have a better knowledge of the Iranian culture, history, and politics. Blake Atwood’s Reform Cinema in Iran (Columbia University Press, 2016) goes a long way to bridge the gap that currently […]
Near Silent Complexities of The Quiet Man on Olive Films
By Tony Williams. The Quiet Man (1952) is another excellent addition to that fine series of DVDs released by Olive Films in its Signature editions. Already acclaimed for its reissue and restoration of classics such as Body and Soul (1925), Force of Evil (1948), and Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977), the company is […]