The Settlers’ Blood-Chilling Journey into Humankind’s ‘Heart of Darkness’
Chilean revisionist Western, The Settlers, is a powerful film whose director shows admirable moral integrity that’s often absent in film history.
Film
Yoko Ono’s Controversial Work at Tate Modern
Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind at Tate Modern is an engaging overview of the polarizing artist’s career, but her career didn’t end post-John Lennon and Fluxus.
A Den of Slack: ‘Reality Bites’ As a Generational Cautionary Tale
Reality Bites‘ central idea is that selling out is no match for following your heart, and good things will come. That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t pay the bills.
Lucy Lawless Reimagines the Myth of Icarus in Margaret Moth Film
Lucy Lawless’ debut documentary about combat journalist and trailblazing camerawoman Margaret Moth, Never Look Away, reimagines the Myth of Icarus.
‘Foreign Land’ and the Dawn of a New Age in Brazilian Cinema
The bleakness in Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas’ 1995 crime thriller Foreign Land would mark the film as a paragon in the newly emerging Brazilian cinema.
‘Frida’ Documentary Explores Honest Expression Versus the Institutionalization of Art
Frida Kahlo speaks from beyond her grave about the institutionalization of art and culture and the dangers posed by intellectuals warming their precious asses.
Stanley Kubrick’s Voracious Vision
Kubrick: An Odyssey by scholars Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams is an ambitious, thorough, and important new take on Stanley Kubrick’s life and work.
Why Hollywood Filmmakers Turn to Poetry When Dialogue Fails
From comedies to horror, biographies to romance, there’s a reason why Hollywood filmmakers turn to poetry when dialogue fails.
‘La Cérémonie’ Explores Social Class Struggles with Chilling Exactitude
Filmed under a cool glass of calm and enwrapped in an airy atmosphere, La Cérémonie makes judicious use of its setting to starkly contrast its warring classes.
1930s Cinema Gets Wild and Funny with ‘French Revelations’
1930s cinema gets wild and funny with French Revelations: Fanfare d’amour and Mauvaise Graine, talkies with impolite elements from Pottier, Wilder, and Esway.
‘Skywalkers: A Love Story’ Dances on the Edge of Love
Skywalkers: A Love Story will endure because it’s not trapped in the moment of a daring acrobatic stunt; it’s rooted in the timeless human experience.
Who Thought Monty Python’s John Cleese Could Be a Romantic Lead?
You can sense Charles Crichton’s stare bearing down on John Cleese every time the former Monty Python actor attempts anything more comedic than a bemused smirk.