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. In Jing Wang’s musical score for Passaddhi, the nine-minute visual music short she created with visual artist Harvey Goldman, we hear […]
Solidarity Against Oppression: Andrzej Wajda’s Afterimage
By Alex Ramon. Two new films about iconic Polish artists screened at the Gdynia Film Festival, Poland’s primary showcase for its national cinema, last September. One was The Last Family (Ostatnia Rodzina), the feature debut of Jan P. Matuszyński, which depicted, in an episodic fashion, the last 25 years in the […]
The Function of Film Criticism at Any Time
By Christopher Sharrett. Readers will note that my title derives from essays and certain phrases by Matthew Arnold, T. S. Eliot, F. R. Leavis, D. H. Lawrence, Robin Wood, and Andrew Britton. I in fact stole it from Leavis, and will risk pomposity. In no way would I claim that […]
A Love-Death Relationship: Obit.
By Elias Savada. This film is for me. I am a genealogist and death is a constant on my family tree. I read obituaries every day. I also peruse death notices, those announcements placed, and paid for, by the deceased’s family. Obituaries are a lot more interesting. My father, Morton, […]
Toppling a God: Citizen Jane|Battle for the City
April 24, 2017
By Elias Savada. Making sense out of urban chaos was more than a dream for Jane Jacobs. It was a battle cry. Jacobs, a writer-journalist turned activist who passed away in 2006, took aim at New York City planning czar Robert Moses, who ruled the Big Apple skyline and parkway system […]
School’s Out, For Good: My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea
April 23, 2017
By Elias Savada. The film is brief (76 minutes), but the title isn’t – My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea. Not as long (word wise) as 1991’s mouthful Night of the Day of the Dawn of the Son of the Bride of the Return of the Revenge of the Terror […]
Editorial isssue 77-78: The Lives and Deaths of the Yuppie on the American Screen
By Daniel Lindvall. The essays in this issue examine the history of the yuppie on the American screen, from the cusp of the Reagan era to the current aftermath of the Great Recession of 2007-2009. The starting point is the contention that the yuppie remains a key character type of […]
An Unsung Professional – The Magnificent Heel: The Life and Films of Ricardo Cortez by Dan Van Neste
A Book Review by Tony Williams. Although countless books have appeared in past and present featuring stars, many who never achieved enduring fame are often unjustly neglected despite the fact that they survived and delivered professional performances throughout their careers. One example is Ricardo Cortez (1900-1977). Born in New York […]
Spiritual Questions: An Interview with Terrence Davies on A Quiet Passion
April 18, 2017
By Amir Ganjavie. It seems that there is no better subject than the life of Emily Dickinson to attract the attention of Terrence Davies, who is fascinated by questions of patriarchy and fundamentalist religion. Davies could easily find an enormous amount of material to work with in relation to these topics […]
Another Legend: An Interview with Jason Connery on Tommy’s Honour
April 17, 2017
By Ali Moosavi. Sometimes it is difficult to establish yourself in an industry where your father has a legendary status. In a few cases, such as Michael and Kirk Douglas, it has happened. Though Jason Connery has been acting in films for over 30 years, he has not managed to […]