‘Nobody’s Fool’ Is Paul Newman’s Best Loser Role
In Nobody’s Fool, Paul Newman turns in one of his most purely enjoyable performances as an absentee father from a small town navigating the winter of his life.
Film Feature
‘A Man and a Woman’ and a Dizzy 1960s Romance
Claude Lelouch’s hugely popular A Man and a Woman was criticized for its sleek, chic, starstruck, pie-eyed, romantic wish fulfillment. Yet therein lay its radicalism.
Star Trek’s Ultimate, Absolute, Inarguably Final Frontier
In the minds of Star Trek‘s many creators, the “sky” is the limit(less), but been there, done that. So what’s left for our adventurous mythmakers to explore?
The Microbudget Making of Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater’s largely ignored pre-Slacker microbudget movie was just the start of his ambitious, driven, disciplined dream come true.
‘Hamnet’, Memory and the Politics of Allegory
Zhao’s Hamnet subverts the “great man narrative” not by centering on the rising career of Shakespeare, but instead on the cost of his genius.
What ‘Bridge of Spies’ Gets Right About America
A ten-year-old Steven Spielberg movie starring Tom Hanks may seem a strange inspiration to fight anti-immigration in 2026, but that’s exactly what Bridge of Spies provides.
Jack Benny Tries to Be a Lothario in These Saucy 1930s Comedies
It’s absurd to think of Jack Benny or his characters as lotharios, but he does his best in these 1930s saucy, censor-restricted comedies.
How ‘Aguirre’ and ‘Cannibal Holocaust’ Defy the Wrath of the Green Inferno
Herzog’s Aguirre and Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust present the Amazon as a space of destruction, survival, and moral reckoning. Both approaches raise ethical questions.
Teuvo Tulio’s Martyrs for Love and Cinema
Finnish director Teuvo Tulio’s films go so far over the top that sometimes you wouldn’t think the actors could breathe up there.
Ichi the Killer’s Scar Couture
Ichi the Killer transcends gangster archetypes, becoming a model of how agony can be elevated to art and self-destruction a powerful form of self-expression.
‘Sun Ra: Do the Impossible’ Achieves the Seemingly Impossible
In its gorgeous embroidery of color, sound, and thoughtful reflection, Sun Ra documentary Do the Impossible achieves the seemingly impossible.
Silent Film Restoration Is an Act of Love
To experience restored silent films – even just salvaged bits of them – is to be dazzled and intrigued by a window into the past and to be lit by a desire to see more.