A Rich Space for Personal Expression – Alexandra Heller-Nicholas on The Cinema Coven: Witches, Witchcraft and Women’s Filmmaking

By Jenny Paola Ortega Castillo. Hopefully the book will be part of a broader shift towards more focused, deeper critical dives into the nitty gritty of women’s horror filmmaking now that the field has been broadly solidified with incredible foundational texts….” Alexandra Heller-Nicholas’ career offers a rich tapestry of interests […]

Both Sides Now: Arrival by David Roche

A Book Review by Thomas M. Puhr. Entertaining to everyday audiences without sacrificing philosophical complexity or skimping on actual research.” For nearly a decade now, Denis Villeneuve has worked exclusively within the science fiction genre. Thanks to his popular Dune saga and the cultural legacy attached to his sequel Blade […]

Autumn of Life: Francois Ozon on When Fall is Coming

By Ali Moosavi. I alternate between small films and bigger films with stars…. I have no strategy, I follow my instincts.” The French writer-director Francois Ozon is not just one of France’s best known and most lauded film makers, but also one of the busiest. His latest film, When Fall […]

“Empathy is Key”: Nele Wohlatz on Sleep with Your Eyes Open

By Yun-hua Chen. What’s important is understanding that pain cannot be compared. We can’t measure how someone else’s pain impacts them versus our own. Empathy is key.” It’s an unexpected encounter during a summer in Recife, Brazil. Kai, a tourist from Taiwan, finds herself alone after being abandoned by her […]

“Night Wanderings” with Nosferatu (2024)

By Gary D. Rhodes. Few filmmakers are as capable of waking the dead, and of transporting us to them, than Robert Eggers, the Charon of American cinema.” “He is coming,” we learn of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård) during Robert Eggers’ new film, just as we have heard for many years […]

In with the Old, in with the New: The Sword (1980)

By Jeremy Carr. An excellent primer for those new to the genre and a satisfyingly novel entry for its more seasoned fans.” To anyone even somewhat familiar with the martial arts films that came out of Hong Kong prior to and following 1980, critic Andrew Heskins’ observation that The Sword […]

The Bombardment (2021): a Prologue, a Post-mortem, and an Antenarrative

By David Ryan. The film strikes deeply when focusing on the losses we share when innocent people, families, and children perish through the actions of tyrants and the mistakes of gallant, smart but altogether remarkably ordinary people.” A Prologue A tragic film dealing with intimate themes about the effects of […]

With No Future, All That’s Left is the Past: Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada

By Jonathan Monovich. An enthralling existential piece by one of cinema’s greatest talents.” Oh, Canada, Paul Schrader’s latest film, continues his ongoing exploration of the transcendental style. Schrader’s monumental book, Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer, recognized that cinema and spirituality were interconnected via style, time, and movement. It’s an […]

How Coca-Cola Stole Christmas, 2024

By Gary D. Rhodes. Once upon a time, Coke actually had cocaine in its formula. New ingredient: lumps of coal.” Coca-Cola’s controversial new series of Christmas commercials are literally inhuman, the results of A.I. Human intelligence created artificial flavoring; artificial intelligence created these ads’ “humans” and iconic “polar bears,” as […]