Monday, April 15 2013
‘John Dies at the End’ Has Its Own Plans for You
John Dies at the End feels like a collaborative effort between David Cronenberg, Richard Rodriguez and Eric Rohmer… with the screenplay written by William S. Burroughs.
Bundle Up for ‘Into the Cold’
This adventure documentary captures the scenery -- and chill -- of the Arctic while sharing a message about global warming.
Friday, April 12 2013
Highly Political, Highly Personal: ‘Zero Dark Thirty’
Director Kathryn Bigelow asked questions to which she didn't have the answers, reminding us about the way in which arts and politics are deeply interconnected.
Thursday, April 11 2013
Stylish Propaganda: ‘Roundabout 1963: A Year in Colour’
Intended for distribution throughout British Commonwealth countries, this cine-magazine was essentially an elaborate PR exercise, with each of its productions designed to internationally promote both the industrial relations and the cultural values of Britain.
Wednesday, April 10 2013
‘The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp’ Is Moving and Funny in Equal Measures
Far from depicting him as a saint, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger observe Major General Clive Wynne-Candy without any prejudice, instead providing viewers with a balance between satire and drama.
Tuesday, April 9 2013
‘The Ballad of Narayama’ Is Both Universal and Distant
In one of the most experimental films to arrive from Japan during the ‘50s, Keisuke Kinoshita took a story from a Japanese book and turned it into an artificial spectacle, which combined kabuki theater with bittersweet storytelling akin to folk.
Monday, April 8 2013
‘We Are Egypt’ Details How the Revolution Happened and Why Opposition Parties Are Still Fighting
We Are Egypt makes us confront the ghastly way so many world leaders talked about Mubarak's regime as a strong ally and centerpiece of the Middle East while dismissing the concerns of the vast majority of Egyptian citizens.
Four Different Kinds of Dumb: ‘Action-Packed Movie Marathon’
This quartet of '80s-era low-budget flicks, Alienator, Cyclone, Exterminator 2 and Eye of the Tiger offers some campy thrills (and a few real ones, too).
Friday, April 5 2013
Suffering Stripped to Its Lineaments: ‘Sansho the Bailiff’
This film would retain its beauty even if the print were dragged through the mud.
The Rural Heartbreak and Victorian Gender Politics of ‘Tess’
In addition to being a hymn to doomed romance, Tess is an unflinching examination of the unpleasant mores of a resolutely sexist and thoroughly patriarchal Victorian society, when women were viewed at best as subservient, and at worst as male possessions, prone to the whims of the disrespectful.
Thursday, April 4 2013
Did Buñuel Hide Subversive Political Meaning in ‘Tristana’?
Catherine Deneuve shines in this simple tale that might be about more than meets the eye.
The Wall That Divides: ‘The Other Son’
The Other Son peers into the depths of selfhood, asking why we so often forge our identities through opposition and exclusion. But its sensational premise and abrupt resolution detract from the film's hopeful and humanistic intent.
Wednesday, April 3 2013
Pop-Up Horror: ‘Tormented: 3D Blu-ray’
You’ll never look at rabbits, or mermaids, in quite the same way, again.
‘The Blob’ Is Bloated With the Blood of Its Victims! Run!
The Blob reminds us of how the '50s sci-fi genre combined so many elements of that deeply optimistic period in American history that W.H. Auden also described, paradoxically, as an “age of anxiety”.
Tuesday, April 2 2013
Writing as War: ‘Hemingway & Gellhorn’
For Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway, their love is their writing, and their writing—much like the wars they cover—lacerates, brutalizes, and kills.
This Wasn’t It: ‘Moscow Case 1993: When the King of Pop Met the Soviets’
Having no footage of the 1993 Moscow concert, part of the Dangerous tour, to speak of, Trubnikoff can hardly concern himself with conveying quite what it was like to attend the show.
The Handsome and the Stupid: ‘The Tartars’
Orson Welles and Victor Mature grumble and sneer while their nations go to hell in a horseblanket.
Monday, April 1 2013
‘Reality Kills’: The Slasher Movie Gets House-Broken
This attempt to cross The Toolbox Murders with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is every bit as bad, but not nearly as funny, as it sounds.
Friday, March 29 2013
A History Unchallenged: ‘Lincoln’
Despite its considerable credentials, Lincoln avoids succumbing to the requisite Spielberg traps—save for a key few. What's interesting, and a little bit disturbing, is how procedurally it treats a sensitive topic like the passage of the 13th Amendment.
