By Anees Aref. A loosely structured film veering back and forth between the past and present….It’s filled with nostalgia and sentiment, though as we hang around Omara we find she is interested in neither [and] focused on the present….” Omara Portuondo, the Grand Dame of the Riviera, aka the Grand […]
“There Seems to be a Slight Mistake” – Edward Everett Horton: 8 Silent Comedies
By Jeremy Carr. As a silent film comedian, Horton crafted a distinctive identity, and when working under the aegis of Harold Lloyd, starring in a series of two-reel shorts for the celebrated filmmaker’s Hollywood Productions, he reveled in stories perfectly suited to his comic temperament.” Edward Everett Horton looked funny, […]
Abel and an Eerily Empty Rome: an Interview with Abel Ferrara on Zeros and Ones
By Yun-hua Chen. At the beginning [of the pandemic and lockdown], I wouldn’t have had the nerve to [make a film on it] because I didn’t know what was going on, the amount of tragedy, the amount of suffering going around, and I was trying to just deal with what […]
Stay Hungry: Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s Julia
By Elias Savada. The anecdotes and stories fly by with breathtaking glee, broken up by rare footage of the master at work. The directors keep the talking heads on target as diary entries explore her broadening excitement.” Julia Child always left me smiling. And hungry. She may have died 17 […]
The Perks of Being a Chameleon – Eye of the Taika: New Zealand Comedy and the Films of Taika Waititi
A Book Review by Thomas Puhr. Matthew Bannister’s goal [is] to go beyond merely celebrating/adoring its subject. Cheeky title notwithstanding, this book is no puff piece.” I’d only seen two Taika Waititi films – What We Do in the Shadows (2014) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017) – before picking up Matthew […]
The Peckinpah Masterpiece that Never Was: Major Dundee (Arrow Video)
By Tony Williams. Major Dundee dissects the soul of a particular form of dangerous American ambition taking short cuts, left and right, to achieve its aims.” The films of Sam Peckinpah are as controversial as the director’s personality, especially the problematic question of Major Dundee (1965). Was this a possible […]
Corporate Gangsters, Rogue Cops, and Big Heists: Robert Miklitsch on Gangster Noir in Midcentury America
By Theresa Rodewald. In my books on ’50s noir, I was particularly intrigued with how certain ‘structures of feeling’ impact the genre, be it ‘the Bomb’ or the ‘red scare,’ the civil rights movement or the beginning of the end of the classical studio system.” The 1940s and 1950s are […]
Eyes Wide Shut: The Legacy of Abu Ghraib in Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter
By James Slaymaker. The final act of retribution may not have any longstanding effect on the military-industrial complex, but Tell has, at least, committed himself to one, concrete action which he knows to be just.” In the opening sequence of The Addiction (1995), Abel Ferrara’s deeply chilling existential horror film […]
The Man Who Wasn’t There: Speer Goes to Hollywood
By Anees Aref. An informative if somewhat dry history lesson, Speer is a cautionary tale of historical whitewashing that reaches for urgency in a time of increased worries over misinformation and “fake news” being peddled around the world.” Whatever one may say about the Nazis, and a lot has been […]
No Magic Allowed: Elle Callahan’s Witch Hunt
By Thomas Puhr. Embodies the most grating qualities of the message movie. Calling this supernatural allegory on-the-nose would be giving it far too much credit.” Most, if not all, films convey a message – implicit or explicit – but some are a message; that is, they have little reason to […]