By Danny Stewart. While Rollerball was an inspiration [when writing the film in the 1970s], another major one was Rocky, [which] focused more on endurance, courage, and the punishment the main character endured rather than his skill.” –David Webb Peoples The interview below was excerpted from Saluting The Blood of Heroes: Behind The […]
Connecting to the Illusions – The Flesh of Animation: Bodily Sensations in Film and Digital Media
A Book Review by William Blick. Despite its jargon-laden density, Sandra Annett offers some new insights and perspective into what is usually a misunderstood genre.” In The Flesh of Animation: Bodily Sensations in Film and Digital Media (University of Minnesota Press, 2024), Sandra Annett argues that digital media and animation […]
Notes on Anatole Litvak’s City for Conquest (1940) and the Tough Vulnerability of James Cagney
By Theresa Rodewald. City for Conquest revitalizes the sports drama formula: losing does not break Danny.” Danny is a truck driver, a boxer, a brother to Eddie (Arthur Kennedy) and a boyfriend to Peggy (Ann Sheridan). He drives a truck to earn money, to pay the rent and put food […]
Sometimes They Come Back: Bob Clark’s Deathdream (Blue Underground)
By Thomas M. Puhr. Much more than an interesting time capsule…it’s also a minor horror classic in its own right, one well-deserving of a spot alongside Clark’s superior genre work.” Movies like Bob Clark’s Deathdream (aka Dead of Night, aka The Night Andy Came Home, 1974) operate by blunt-force symbolism. […]
Interdisciplinary “Others”: The Monster Theory Reader
A Book Review by Caroline Joan S. Picart. The edited collection aspires to supply a set of ‘tools’ for researchers and students – that is, common approaches and vocabularies for theorizing monstrosity – and then provides an interdisciplinary selection of important readings theorizing monsters and monstrosity….” The Monster Theory Reader […]
A Comedic Journey into Tragedy: Joel Potrykus on Vulcanizadora
By Jenny Paola Ortega Castillo. The goal, really, was to keep the audience off balance and unsure of how to feel.” –Joel Potrykus Joel Potrykus has crafted yet another unforgettable cinematic experience with his latest chilling film, Vulcanizadora (2024). Potrykus weaves a narrative that oscillates between moments of comedic camaraderie […]
Beauty Surrounding Us: Elene Naveriani on Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
By Yun-hua Chen. I believe that all characters possess innate sensibility, which surfaces when given a chance.” —Elene Naveriani “Do you realize how much beauty surrounds us? I wish to be alone, to do what I want, how I like, and when I like,” declares Etero, a 48-year-old woman from […]
Wartime Routine: Murder Company
By Jeremy Carr. The repeated, formulaic structure, lack of development, and its insistence on by-the-numbers genre touchstones make for what is merely a passable war movie….” Murder Company almost immediately recalls many of the war movies produced during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Not the big budget, star-studded epics, but […]
Twisters: Good Ole Tornado Porn
By Elias Savada. A great Dolbyized and super-sized disaster ride.” Youngsters, let me tell you something. Back a generation or so, in the late 20th century, there was a very popular film called Twister (catch it on MAX), an action trembler with a very sexy Helen Hunt and the late […]
Black and White, with a Splash of Color: Three from Il Cinema Ritrovato 2024
By Theresa Rodewald. There is a lot of dark, a lot of noir to be found in Bologna after all….” Bologna in late June is terracotta porticos, scorching sun and sweat. A city in dusty pastel colours, full of medieval remnants, with the world’s oldest university. Quite possibly the opposite […]