A Book Review by Thomas Puhr. I received Gerd Gemünden’s Contemporary Film Directors: Lucrecia Martel without having seen a single film by the titular artist. To say I’ve been missing out is an understatement. The movies themselves are evidence enough of Martel’s singular vision and its significance to global cinema, […]
Light and Silly: Love Type D
By Elias Savada. Love Type D is a light, silly satire that could use a little more development in its wacky plotline. Still, the feature debut from writer-director Sasha Collington does have its moments until it rushes to solve one big scientific riddle with a bit of madcap ho hum […]
Folks, Please Lock Your Doors!: The Dark End of the Street
By Elias Savada. World premiering at the DC Independent Film Festival, director-writer Kevin Tran’s feature debut brews up a disconcerting cross-sampling of concerned residents in a middle-class, suburban New York City neighborhood. They want to think they are in Mayberry (where no one locks their doors), but one wonders why […]
An Immersive Observational Doc: Paris is Burning (Criterion Collection)
By Gary M. Kramer. Jennie Livingston’s vibrant, groundbreaking 1990 documentary, Paris Is Burning, about the Harlem drag-ball scene, has been digitally remastered and released by Criterion on DVD and Blu-ray. The film, which was part of the New Queer Cinema movement, remains a stunning achievement thirty years after its initial […]
Suspense Gone Sluggish: The Burnt Orange Heresy
By Gary M. Kramer. The Burnt Orange Heresy purports itself to be the power of the critic in shaping the experience of a viewer, or, rather, how one should never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Well the truth about this film, directed by Giuseppe […]
Coding the Language: Corneliu Porumboiu on The Whistlers
By Amir Ganjavie. A la Police, Adjective (2009) and with a tough of noir style, Corneliu Porumboiu’s The Whistlers introduces us to the Canary Islands language and its specificity. The beautiful shots in the film, impressive performances by the cast, a sublime and a pleasant set design; they all have contributed to […]
(Re)considering Rudolph Valentino
By Thomas Gladysz. We are going to see why Rudolph Valentino got his first star billing, in a picture called Blood and Sand…. In 1922, when that picture was released, it was considered the absolute epitome of adult entertainment. Well, it is still a good show. Before this picture, his […]
Trans Lives Matter: The Garden Left Behind
By Elias Savada. Director Flavio Alves’s indie feature The Garden Left Behind is all about dreamers, whether they are transgender people looking for acceptance, or illegal immigrants hoping that armed authorities are more than an arm’s distance away. Alves seriously explores the trials and tribulations of a young Mexican trans […]
The Beast Survives: Ivan Silvestrini on Dragonheart Vengeance (2020)
By Tom Ue. The opening of Dragonheart Vengeance (2020) juxtaposes two seemingly unrelated narratives. First, we learn of the appearance of the dragon Siveth (voiced by Helena Bonham Carter) in a war-torn kingdom. Where formerly it was greeted as a beacon of hope, it has now been banished, becoming the […]
Home Sweet Ho-Hum: José Ramón Larraz’s Deadly Manor (Arrow Video)
By Rod Lott. One month after releasing 1998’s Edge of the Axe on Blu-ray, Arrow Video returns to the José Ramón Larraz well with Deadly Manor, another of the late Spanish director’s three career-twilight reciprocations to the slasher trend. The 1990 film stakes another claim on his CV, being his […]
