A Book Review by Dávid Szőke. A carefully detailed account of the vampire archetype’s journey from literary and folkloric origins to the silent screen….” “Schreck’s peculiarities are like lovemaking games,” so says the fictional F.W. Murnau (John Malkovich) in E. Elias Merhige’s Shadow of the Vampire (2000), a vampire film […]
More Happy Accidents: Accidentally Preserved, Vol. 5
By Jeremy Carr. Ben Model and his Undercrank Productions continue to deliver eclectic fare from the annals of film history, distributing movies that shed light on their respective era, their audiences, and their creators.” Given the nature of what is discovered, handled, and ultimately distributed as part of the Accidentally […]
Sleepless Nights: Alex Andre’s Pratfall (2023)
By Thomas M. Puhr. A film about the very-human desire to be seen – really seen – by another, and the accompanying fear of what that vulnerability may bring.” “Do I look happy or satisfied?” Eli (Joshua Burge) asks an unsuspecting couple in Central Park. “I wouldn’t know. I can’t […]
The Triple Protagonist Film: Challengers, Sex, and Gender
By David Greven. Echoing classical Hollywood and classical myth, the triple protagonist film of the present breaks new ground while reinforcing longstanding myths about sexuality and gender stereotypes.” In Luca Guadagnino’s great films, such as Call Me By Your Name (2017), Bones and All (2022), and I Am Love (2009), […]
Creatively Tributing the Master – A Hint of Hitchcock: Stories Inspired by the Master of Suspense
A Book Review by Brian Greene. The original stories are well-written and compelling enough to stand on their own apart from their associations with the great auteur.” Alfred Hitchcock had a deep connection to literature. The authors whose novels and short stories served as the bases of his films include […]
Bodies Bodies Bodies: Francis Galluppi’s The Last Stop in Yuma County
By Thomas M. Puhr. Even at its bleakest – and it features some shockingly meanspirited turns of fate – the film keeps one eye on being a good time at the movies.” Francis Galluppi’s The Last Stop in Yuma County (2023) opens with a bird sitting atop an empty pump […]
Be Kind, Rewind: Kim’s Video
By Jonathan Monovich. More than anything, Kim’s Video proves that physical media for many is much more than nostalgic, it is a way of life.” Since their inception, video stores have been places of sacred proportions for film fanatics. Lance Lawson’s legendary Manhattan Beach video store, Video Archives, famously helped […]
Representative of a Global Tradition – Arab World Cinemas: A Reader and Guide
A Book Review by Ali Moosavi. Its format of selecting representative films from various parts of the Arab world and analyzing them in detail is quite refreshing and very conducive to understanding the cinema from these parts of the world.” Any book with the title “Arab World Cinemas” immediately raises […]
On an “Interior” Documentary: Filmmaker Rachel Elizabeth Seed on A Photographic Memory
By M. Sellers Johnson. I loved the idea that I could convey the interior of my imagination in my documentary and that it could be anything, like a narrative film, because no one can argue with your imagination. And yet, it’s really my story, and these are real people.” Documentarian […]
Strength in Representation: Filmmaker Jen Rainin on the Queer Doc Ahead of the Curve
By Brad Windhauser. My producing partner, Rivkah Beth Medow, and I kept talking about how frustrated we were with the lack of nuanced, well-told stories that represented strong queer women. We just weren’t seeing very many of them….” Jen Rainin’s excellent documentary Ahead of the Curve (2023), which debuted on […]