By Dean Brandum. The following was originally written as a chapter for inclusion in ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May (Edinburgh University Press, 2019, edited by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Dean Brandum). Due to space issues, however, it does not feature in the final version of the book and is thus published […]
The Mountain: A Discouraging Word
August 6, 2019
By Christopher Sharrett. My subtitle is taken from a moment in Rick Alverson’s film The Mountain, where we see a black-and-white, furniture-bound TV, the type representative of the 1950s, showing Perry Como singing “Home on the Range,” a song that is close to a national anthem, and is referred to as […]
A Deep Affect for Regional Genre Films: Aaron Harvey on Into the Ashes
Tom Ue
August 2, 2019
By Tom Ue. Aaron Harvey is the writer and director of several award-winning feature films including Catch.44 (2011), starring Bruce Willis, Forest Whitaker and Malin Akerman, and The Neighbor (2018), William Fichtner, Michael Rosenbaum and Jessica McNamee. Into the Ashes (2019), his latest, centres on Nick (Luke Grimes), a former […]
Scoring Films Quickly, with Inspiration: An Interview with Mike Hall
David A. Ellis
July 31, 2019
By David A. Ellis. Fifty-year-old Mike Hall is a film composer who lives in Le Claire Iowa. He grew up in the small town of Tipton. He has over twenty-five years experience in sound design, composing for films, TV and record. For a few years he performed in several bands, […]
“I Don’t Know the Person You Talk About”: Ingmar Bergman’s Novels
July 30, 2019
A Book Review Essay by John Talbird. “Words flown out can’t be caught on the wing.” Supposedly, this is a saying from Martin Luther, although Google gives me no hits except for from Ingmar Bergman’s novel, The Best Intentions (1991), where it is referenced. Perhaps it’s not an accurate quote […]
Producer-Director Aldrich at a Crossroads: The Killing of Sister George (1968) and The Grissom Gang (1971) from Kino Lorber
Tony Williams
July 29, 2019
A Review Essay by Tony Williams. Following the commercial success of The Dirty Dozen (1967), iconoclastic director Robert Aldrich fulfilled his dream of purchasing his own studio. As well as attempting full independence from the Hollywood studio system that he was both part of, and opposed to, the director aimed […]
Diverted Dreams: Astronaut (2019)
Jeremy Carr
July 26, 2019
By Jeremy Carr. Septuagenarian grandfather Angus (Richard Dreyfuss) has harbored dreams of space since he was a child. Although the waning years of his life have generally clouded those fancies, thanks to life’s bitter two-pronged tinge of disappointment and regret, he still looks to the stars in order to “see […]
Joining the Flow: An Interview with Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jeremy Carr
July 25, 2019
By Jeremy Carr. On the occasion of two recently published collections – Cinematic Encounters: Interviews and Dialogues (2018) and Cinematic Encounters 2: Portraits and Polemics (2019), both from The University of Illinois Press – Jonathan Rosenbaum discusses a career’s worth of experience. Sharing his views with Film International, he reflects […]
On the Border, with Soap Opera: Tel Aviv on Fire (2018)
Yun-hua Chen
July 25, 2019
By Yun-hua Chen. What would bring the two opposing sides across the Israel-Palestinian borders together? Tel Aviv on Fire’s answer is, through a popular tear-jerking soap opera and some good hummus. The film follows a naïve and melancholic young Palestinian man, Salam (Kais Nashif), who initially works as an assistant […]
The Kurious Kase of a Kinski Krimi: Riccardo Freda’s Double Face
July 24, 2019
By Rod Lott. Ah, young love! When John (enfant terrible extraordinaire Klaus Kinski) meets Helen (Margaret Lee, Venus in Furs) on holiday in 1969’s Double Face, their courtship is instant and intense, with bedding and wedding in quick succession. Within two years, predictably, the white-hot flame of love has burned […]