By Janine Gericke. Director Megan Griffiths has made a captivating film about how one parent’s absence can have immense complications on the family. While her military father is serving multiple tours overseas, Sadie (a bold performance by Sophia Mitri Schloss) takes it upon herself to make sure he still has […]
From a Longtime Insider/Outsider – Two Cheers for Hollywood: Joseph McBride on Movies
October 24, 2018
A Book Review Essay by Tony Williams. Joseph McBride, currently Professor of Film Studies at San Francisco State University, has had a long and varied career both in the film industry and as an independent critic for many decades. Soon we will finally get to see his long-awaited role as […]
A Great Profile Piece – Murray Pomerance and Steven Rybin’s Hamlet Lives in Hollywood: John Barrymore and the Acting Tradition Onscreen
October 23, 2018
A Book Review by Brandon Konecny. For many today, the name John Barrymore means little – except, perhaps, that it shares the same surname with Drew Barrymore (yes, there’s a relation). But in his day, John Barrymore’s work elicited the admiration of many beholders, including Orson Welles. In fact, Welles […]
Colette in the #MeToo Era
By Elizabeth Toohey. If ever a movie was ripe for release, it’s the new bio-pic Colette. The life and career of one of France’s most celebrated novelists hits in rapid succession all the major notes of the MeToo movement, which shows no signs of slowing down, now with the recent […]
Ghostly Souls: Soudade Kaadan on The Day I Lost My Shadow
By Roberto Cavallini. Yom Adaatou Zouli (The Day I Lost my Shadow) by Syrian director Soudade Kaadan, was presented as a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Orizzonti Competition, where it won the prestigious “Lion of the Future, Luigi De Laurentiis award for a debut film”. The film soon […]
Charm in Spades: Tea with Dames
October 12, 2018
By Gary M. Kramer. The gentle, charming documentary, Tea with the Dames eavesdrops on the gossip, memories, and laughs shared by four grand British actresses: Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Eileen Atkins. Director Roger Michell films these longtime friends together, or in pairs, at Plowright’s “cottage,” asking questions […]
White Boy Rick: The Father and the City
By Christopher Sharrett. Yann Demange’s White Boy Rick is a smaller-budget film of the season almost buried by franchise movies like The Nun (of “the Conjuring Universe”), Predator (another franchise reboot), and the usual cascade of juvenilia. The film deserves notice. I want first to take note of one of […]
Film Scratches: Queen of the Nile Digest – Cleopatra Burst (2016)
October 4, 2018
Film Scratches focuses on the world of experimental and avant-garde film, especially as practiced by individual artists. It features a mixture of reviews, interviews, and essays. A Review by David Finkelstein. Cleopatra Burst is a 4 and a half minute found footage work by Dina Yanni with a very straightforward structure. Eleven […]
Film Scratches: Moving Between the Worlds – Trapped Between Frames (2014)
October 4, 2018
Film Scratches focuses on the world of experimental and avant-garde film, especially as practiced by individual artists. It features a mixture of reviews, interviews, and essays. A Review by David Finkelstein. Trapped Between Frames is a poetic 11 minute video by Nazare Soares which uses film as a metaphor for the experience […]
Film Scratches: Seduced by Spectacle – Where the Night is Going (2015)
October 4, 2018
Film Scratches focuses on the world of experimental and avant-garde film, especially as practiced by individual artists. It features a mixture of reviews, interviews, and essays. A Review by David Finkelstein. Near the beginning of Where the Night is Going, Mike Hoolboom’s sophisticated eleven minute essay film, a subtitle announces “On the […]