Pre-Code Films from Directors Beaudine and Vidor Give Creepy Thrills
Restored pre-code films William Beaudine’s ‘The Crime of the Century’ and Charles Vidor’s ‘Double Door’ thrill with their frightening fearlessness.
Film Feature
The Smearing of Silent Film Star Mabel Normand
An accomplished silent film star, screenwriter, director, and producer, Mabel Normand’s career ended abruptly and tragically when she was deemed guilty by association.
Criminal Subterfuge and Dark Desires in Chabrol’s Minimalist Murder-Mysteries
While murder and crime certainly run deep in Claude Chabrol’s world of subterfuge, the dark desires of human nature that provoke them run immeasurably deeper.
Eating Boys and Growing Tails: “Menstruosity” Body Horror in Film
In coming-of-age, “menstruosity” body horror films, the Final Girl is the sexual transgressor. As her sexual freedom grows, so does her monstrosity.
Silent Screen Diva Marion Davies’ Enjoyable Nonsense
Silent screen star Marion Davies makes these two restored films by directors George Hill and Sidney Franklin irresistibly delightful.
‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’: Queer Acceptance at the Edge of Oblivion
Balancing its serious side with silliness and sincerity, queer-positive Everything Everywhere All At Once speaks to a communal determination to press forward, even when it seems the whole world is pressing back.
A Pseudo-Intellectual Defense of a Star Wars Prequel
Just as Camille Paglia praised George Lucas’ magnum opus, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, I too run the gauntlet of jeers and spitballs.
SFIFF 2022: Director Daniel Roher on Navalny, Master of Russian Politics
Director Daniel Roher met face-to-face with the intensely intelligent and deeply motivated Alexei Navalny and together created a film that compels global political action.
Harry Potter and the Death of Childhood
J.K. Rowling’s globally popular Harry Potter series, and the many films it has spawned, were planning the funeral for childhood all along.
Theodore Witcher’s Paean to Hip-Hop ‘Love Jones’ Charms and Seduces
In 1997, you could call Love Jones a small, curious drama that won many critics over. Today, it stands as a cornerstone of Black narrative in cinema.
Erotic Thriller ‘Poison Ivy’ Isn’t the Lolita Story You Think You Remember
Katt Shea’s subversive 1992 erotic thriller Poison Ivy, like its teenage villainess, is misunderstood, and American media remains obsessed with devious girls.