Friday, February 10 2012
And the Academy Awards Nominees Are… Straight
Films about LGBT people that are aimed at mass audiences win awards; films about LGBT people that are aimed at LGBT audiences… not so much. So, here's the Queer, Isn't It? Best Pic nominees.
Tuesday, February 7 2012
Film Archiving: The Importance of Enlightening Those Audiences Sitting in the Dark
Special programs devoted to cinematic greats like Alfred Hitchcock or Deborah Kerr might be the flashiest part of an archivist’s job, but fiction curator Jo Botting also enjoys tracking down rare films and ensuring the next generation gets to see them.
Friday, February 3 2012
Kafka Noir: ‘The Sickroom’ and ‘A Country Doctor’
Serge Marcotte's The Sickroom compresses Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor into a nightmarish rush of hard-boiled film noir cynicism that, like all the best literary adaptations, is simultaneously faithful and unique.
Tuesday, January 24 2012
The Not-So-Global Globes: International Tensions in the Film Industry
Now that The Artist gave the Golden Globes a distinctly French flavor, and Meryl Streep fueled the controversy in the British camp, a simultaneous rapprochement and tension defines the relationship between the European and American film industry.
Thursday, January 19 2012
Doing The Worst Things Well: What We Can Learn from Anthony Burgess
The 50th anniversary of Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange, along with the recent discovery of a vast archive of the author's unpublished work, should shine fresh light on one of the 20th century's most prolific, daring and underrated writers.
Wednesday, January 11 2012
What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Vampire
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part I is a gratifying escape from reality. Those who are familiar with the books will be pleased with Director Bill Condon's attention to detail.
Monday, January 9 2012
Queer Country: Chely Wright’s Coming Out
The upcoming documentary, Wish Me Away, centered on country singer Chely Wright chronicles the pains of coming out in Nashville and raises questions about why more country musicians haven’t come out.
Friday, January 6 2012
Director D. R. Hood and the Dramatic Poetry of ‘Wreckers’
Powerful relationship drama Wreckers takes audiences on a suspenseful trip to the countryside. From London to Palm Springs’ International Film Festival, it’s been a rollercoaster ride for first-time feature director Dictynna Hood.
Thursday, January 5 2012
Return of the Movie Blurb Game
Notional, portable and entirely analog, the Movie Blurb Game can be played anywhere, at any time.
Tuesday, January 3 2012
Designing Fantasy Worlds the Weta Way
Weta Workshop’s Daniel Falconer has designed creatures and worlds from A (Avatar) to X (Xena: Warrior Princess), but with so many projects in his busy schedule, he doesn’t have time for a lot of Zzzzzzzs.
Friday, December 16 2011
O Captain! My Captain! Going Where No Octogenarian Has Gone Before
As "Bill" explores the meaninglessness of celebrity, "Shatner" embraces the shallow and the superficial like an Andy Warhol soup can come to life.
Wednesday, December 14 2011
Truth is Fiction: The Work of Haskell Wexler, Part 2, ‘Medium Cool’
Medium Cool is the ultimate amalgamation of reality and illusion. Fictional characters live in real situations; real characters exist in fictional situations.
Monday, December 12 2011
Hollywood’s Steep Hills: Gender Inequality and ‘Miss Representation’
Gender inequality in Hollywood reigns supreme, but as Miss Representation shows, the male/female binary is so insidious that it even makes its way into productions that aim to counter it.
Friday, December 2 2011
‘Caligula’s Ghost: Why Cinema Needs Epic Failure More than Mediocre Success
Obscene, grandiose and artistically worthless -- such is the monstrous reputation of the 1979 art-porn blockbuster Caligula. Is this most shocking of Roman epics worthy of reappraisal?
Tuesday, November 29 2011
Cold Wars End, Betrayal is Forever: ‘Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy’
What is espionage if not getting into bed with people -- physically or ideologically -- for purposes of betrayal?
Thursday, November 17 2011
Truth is Fiction: The Work of Haskell Wexler, Part 1
Haskell Wexler helped popularize the use of hand-held cameras and natural lighting in Hollywood features. However, like all forms of art, the truth behind these techniques became just another method of illusion.
Friday, November 11 2011
Let’s Get Physical: In Praise of Kay Kendall’s Joie De Vivre
Kay Kendall's mercurial performances in George Cukor's Les Girls and Vincente Minnelli's The Reluctant Debutante highlight a romantic Englishwoman and her knack for graceful physical comedy.
Thursday, November 10 2011
How Would You Like It, a Little More Off the Top?
Makeup and special effects artist Genevieve Garner can transform the average beast into a beauty—or vice versa.
Wednesday, November 9 2011
Does Angelina Jolie Owe Bosnia More Than Blood and Honey?
When making a movie about the horrors of the Bosnian War, what is Angelina Jolie's responsibility as an artist?
Wednesday, November 2 2011
Before There Was ‘The Exorcist’, There Was ‘The Possession of Joel Delaney’
Once again, the film industry came in and took a perfectly creepy book and upped the sensationalism because nothing can ever be too shocking in Hollywood.
