By Constantine Frangos. When renowned cartoonist, author, and comics theorist Scott McCloud first suggested the idea of creating a full 24-page comic book within a single day to fellow comics artist Stephen R. Bisette, it was conceived as an exercise to stoke creative agility. More than twenty years later, the […]
Trust and the System: Andrew Cohn on Night School
June 9, 2017
By Matthew Fullerton. Night School, which premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, is the latest documentary from Emmy award-winning filmmaker Andrew Cohn (Medora 2013). It follows the challenges of three adults, Greg, Melissa and Shynika, as they pursue their high school diplomas from an adult learning centre in Indianapolis, […]
The 3rd Annual Ecuadorian Film Festival
June 8, 2017
By Gary M. Kramer. Ecuadorian cinema has been booming in recent years, and the 3rd Ecuadorian Film Festival in New York, June 9-17, showcases films by some of the most intriguing directors from Latin America. This year’s program screens not only in Manhattan, but also in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, […]
Enter the Cousin: Filmmaker James Fanizza on Sebastian
June 8, 2017
By Tom Ue. Actor, writer, and filmmaker James Fanizza graduated from York University before making his television debut in a commercial for NBC/Universal. His first feature, an adaptation of his first short film “Sebastian,” was released in 2017 and screened in InsideOut. His films have have screened in festivals internationally. Sebastian follows […]
Surviving An Infectious Trend: Filmmaker Brandon E. Brooks on Sickness
By Melissa Webb. In David Cronenberg’s Shivers (1975), a parasite gets loose in an apartment complex and begins infecting the residents, who subsequently turn into zombie-like creatures needing to satisfy their most primal desires. A resident doctor must attempt to contain the threat within the building and prevent the parasite from […]
Film Scratches: A Network of Networks – Memento Mori (2012)
June 4, 2017
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. Memento Mori, Dan Browne’s profound 28 minute short, starts off seeming more banal and simplistic than it really is. The title […]
Film Scratches: Pregnant Poetry – The River (2016)
June 4, 2017
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. The opening of Ya-Ting Hsu and Geoffrey Hughes’ The River, their 16 minute examination of the repeated traumas of Hsu’s pregnancy, […]
No Pity for Emily Dickinson: A Quiet Passion
June 4, 2017
By John Duncan Talbird. Terrance Davies’ most recent film, A Quiet Passion, is a strange drama. It is a biopic and a period piece, an adaptation without a source text, an homage, and a fiercely original work. Most of the action takes place inside the walls of Emily Dickinson’s home in […]
Phoenix Sans Gimmicks: You Were Never Really Here (Cannes 2017 Review)
June 2, 2017
By Ali Moosavi. Lynn Ramsey’s violent film noir was the last film to be shown at the Cannes Official Competition. It is based on a short novella by Jonathan Ames. Joaquin Phoenix has considerably beefed up to play the role of Joe, a heavy, doing jobs for a private dick. He […]
The Lights Are On, But Is Anybody Home?: House & House II on Arrow/MVD
June 1, 2017
By Jeremy Carr. The 1980s was a pivotal period for horror films. As low-budget “Video Nasty” provocations steadily faded from America’s grindhouse screens, the down and dirty days of the 1970s were getting displaced by family-friendly creature features and box office-busting franchises. Though there had been historical antecedents for decades, […]