‘Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands’ Is a Spicy Brazilian Cinema Classic
Bruno Barreto’s romantic charmer Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands is rich with sensuous detail that fills every scene with dizzying amounts of culture, music, and atmosphere.
Film Feature
The 10 Best English Language Propaganda Films of World War II
“All art is propaganda,” George Orwell observed. Indeed, these 10 Best English Language Propaganda Films from WWII are quite artful with their propaganda.
Sebastián Lelio’s ‘The Wonder’ Trashes History
What we have with The Wonder is a film that begins by discussing a historical crime and ends up committing one – or at least the narrative equivalent.
Freedom Is an Endless Meeting: The Utopian Vision in ‘Women Talking’
In Women Talking, director Sarah Polley masterfully illustrates how new futures can be possible by reckoning and wrestling with the past and present.
Differing Depictions of Poverty in Brazilian Films ‘Barren Lives’ and ‘Central Station’
Brazil’s recent presidential inauguration provides the background for excavating Brazilian Cinema’s depictions of poverty in Barren Lives and Central Station.
The High Before the Fall: Terry Gilliam’s ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’
Stranger than Terry Gilliam’s 1990s hits and less aggressive than his later work, the glorious fantasy The Adventures of Baron Munchausen was the last film where his talents fully flowered.
The Alchemy of the Velvet Underground’s Art
In The Velvet Underground documentary, Todd Haynes shows the music catapulting across time and space to Andy Warhol’s Factory, where the alchemy worked its magic.
Don DeLillo’s ‘White Noise’ Remains Unfilmable
Noah Baumbach’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s White Noise shows what a movie can do, but mainly what fiction still does better.
Director Mark Pellington on His Timeless Coming-of-Age Debut ‘Going All the Way’
Still courtesy of Oscilloscope
Film-Noir ‘Peking Express’ Is Hollywood’s First Encounter with Red China
The 1951 film-noir Peking Express (not to be confused with Shanghai Express) should be seen as Hollywood’s first attempt to deal with Communist China in the context of the Red Scare.
The 10 Best Classic Films on Blu-ray and DVD in 2022
From gentle satire to something like an anarchist paint bomb tossed into an uptight dinner party, we feature the 10 Best Classic Films on Blu-ray and DVD in 2022 – and we toss in a few more, just for kicks.
