Color Lines: 1930 Colonial Film ‘Mamba’ in Early Technicolor
Albert S. Rogell’s 1930 Technicolor film Mamba offers a colonial critique that’s sometimes explicit, sometimes implicit, and sometimes contradictory.
drama
Alias’ Carl Lumbly and Michael Vartan on Its Legacy and Streaming Rebirth
Alias actors Carl Lumbly and Michael Vartan recall their work with J.J. Abrams, Jennifer Garner, and others on the spy/sci-fi action thriller, now airing on Disney+.
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.
SFIFF 2022: ‘Emily the Criminal’ Director on Rejecting the American Dream
Director John Patton Ford discusses his debut feature Emily the Criminal, a critique of American society borne within the death of the American Dream.
‘The Dropout’ and the Vice of Virtue
Hulu’s limited series, The Dropout, uses the tragic saga of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos to expose Silicon Valley’s exploitation of virtue, an American vice.
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.
Neorealism Meets Fairy Tale in Vittorio De Sica’s ‘Miracle in Milan’
If the escapism in Vittorio De Sica’s Miracle in Milan seems simple-minded, even simpler is the cure to society’s ills.
Comedy/Drama ‘Somebody Somewhere’ Won’t Let Kansas Be the Joke
Set in America’s “flyover country”, HBO comedy/drama Somebody Somewhere, starring Bridget Everett, defies small-town America stereotyping.
What Roger Corman’s Psychedelic Film ‘The Trip’ Helps Us Realize
Roger Corman’s film about psychedelics and self-awareness, The Trip, turns 55 this summer, yet its message resonates to this day.
Anatomy of the Wounded: Márta Mészáros’ ‘Adoption’
Márta Mészáros’ film Adoption is empathetic and beady-eyed about the negotiations and indignities of those caught up in social prejudices, especially women.
OVIDtv’s ‘Fric-Frac’ and ‘The Scheming Women’ Showcase Major French Stars in Minor Films
Fric-Frac is a character study of Jeanne Moreau’s role early in her starring career and The Scheming Women is bright with future French stars.