Sex, Violence, and Politics Soak Nagisa Ōshima’s ‘Cruel Story of Youth’
Nagisa Ōshima’s Cruel Story of Youth prefers to understand its protagonists rather than evaluate them, reserving its verdicts for the social structures that define them.
Film
Features, reviews, interviews, and lists about film, covering the latest as well historical topics.
‘Disclosure Day’ Alludes to Societal Anxieties New and Old
By making a private company the antagonist, Disclosure Day subverts the fear that government oppression is the biggest threat to individual freedom.
Dante’s Peak Is the Disaster Movie the Inland Northwest Will Never Forget
The rest of America may have moved on from this 1997 disaster movie, but Dante’s Peak still percolates in the collective Northwestern consciousness, like slow-moving magma that never fully cools.
‘Evil Dead Burn’ Has a Twisted Touch of Artfulness
Director Sébastien Vaniček, cinematographer Philip Lozano, and editor Maxime Caro bring much-appreciated visual artistry to the grotesquerie of Evil Dead Burn.
Love, Death and Caste in Gay Romances ‘Heated Rivalry’ and ‘Cactus Pears’
Canadian series Heated Rivalry and Marathi movie Cactus Pears both center on queer love, but they explore its complexities in different migration and caste locations.
Horror and History Collide in Czech Director Jan S. Kolár’s Silent Films
Two long-forgotten Czech silent films by pioneer Jan S. Kolár are not only artifacts of a fragile history but lessons in how historical legacy will try to kill you.
Claude Sautet Forged an Admirable Path in Character-Study Drama
Many of Claude Sautet’s films were pointed comments on how even the most assured families can be the victims of upheaval when cultural codes are challenged.
How Afropunk’s James Spooner Punked the Movement
DIY Afropunk James Spooner tells how he stuck to his guns and helped alter the punk genre in his memoir, It Starts with Anger.
Edward Burns and the Vanishing Indie Ethos
With the release of his 16th feature film, Finnegan’s Foursome, it’s clear that writer/director Edward Burns is only making movies for one person: himself.
Food Movie ‘Mistura’ Seasons Peruvian Identity Too Lightly
Ricardo de Montreuil’s historical melodrama, Mistura, celebrates Peru’s culinary plurality while sidelining those who sustain it.
Every Christopher Nolan Film Ranked from ‘Batman’ to ‘The Odyssey’
Christopher Nolan, today’s most ambitious director, lets us have our cake and eat it too by mixing avant-garde daring and maximalist spectacle.
‘Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains’ Remains Punk Cinema’s Most Recognizable Signpost
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains built the scaffold on which more successful films about women in punk rock would scale grander heights.