By James Slaymaker. The Rehearsal embodies the three core characteristics of the essay film as outlined by Rascaroli: it is a hybrid form, crossing genre boundaries and destabilising the line between ‘fiction’ and ‘non–fiction’; it is highly self–reflexive, constantly encouraging the viewer to consider the construction of its own images […]
The Soderbergh of the Sticks: Mickey Reece and the Prehistory of Every Heavy Thing
By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. I don’t particularly believe in the idea of working around a proven formula, so I tend to start where a horror movie would and end up in another direction almost subconsciously.” —Mickey Reece Even in the context of the often radically elastic parameters of independent filmmaking, Mickey […]
The Older and Newer: Budapest Classics Film Marathon 2025
By Yun-hua Chen. Showcasing restored films that are over 20 years old, the festival embraces the entire arc of cinematic history….” Now in its eighth year, the Budapest Classics Film Marathon showcases restored films that are over 20 years old. The festival embraces the entire arc of cinematic history—from the […]
A Friend of the Audience, and the Producers – There’s No Going Back: The Life and Work of Jonathan Demme
A Book Review by Ali Moosavi. An illuminating and loving portrait, packed with fascinating behind-the-scenes details….” I first came across Jonathan Demme’s name at college, when I watched Citizens Band (1977) at our local arts movie theatre. I thought this is a true quality independent picture. A few years later […]
Cinema to the Edge: Alireza Khatami on The Things You Kill
By Ali Moosavi. To me this is human nature…. It’s knowing the roots of things, knowing the history of things. It doesn’t erase the pain but that’s how to face the world: with empathy.” —Alireza Khatami Next year’s Oscars mark a unique achievement for Iranian directors. No less than four […]
Replicating Neoliberal Reform: Failed Mothers in John Singleton’s Boyz N the Hood (1991) and Baby Boy (2001)
By Indya J. Jackson. Ultimately [through the depiction of failed mothers] Singleton replicates the anti-Black, anti-poor, and misogynistic rhetoric of neoliberal reformists by embedding a definite preference for fathers and the heteropatriarchal family structure within his films.” After Boyz N the Hood (1991) launched John Singleton into rarefied air, he […]
A Prototype for Future African Works: Producer Mo Abudu on Dust to Dreams
By M. Sellers Johnson. When I approached Idris (Elba to direct), I wanted to tell a story that was embedded in music and had music as a character; as well as, a relatable story that would deal with the dynamics of family, Lagos being a character itself….” –Producer Mo Abudu […]
The Plain Truth – Rick Goldsmith on Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink
By William Blick. The country’s journalists – local or national – are working for all of us. They are our soldiers. And we need to support them.” Rick Goldsmith’s Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink is the third installment in a trilogy of documentaries by Goldsmith about American journalism. It appears […]
Analyzing “on a Forensic Level”: Tim Lucas on the 30th Anniversary of Throat Sprockets
By Jonathan Monovich. When I do commentaries now, I find myself examining films on a more forensic level, responding to individual scenes and shots and taking them apart. My rule with commentaries is that I need to learn something, and I need to know more coming out than I did […]
Object Incidents and the Wilderness of Speech in Howard Hawks’s Ball of Fire (1941)
By George Toles. Expressive objects abound in the world of Ball of Fire. What makes an object cinematically expressive? Let us begin by thinking about a door [which] becomes more charged with significance if we are led to assume that the room behind it contains an armed criminal or a […]