‘Streets of Fire’ as Global Myth
Streets of Fire boldly rejects conventional genre boundaries, merging action, rock opera, MTV video, and neo-noir into an audacious and stylized urban myth that resonates globally.
drama
‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ Boldly Explores the Concept of Mentoring
Star Trek: Enterprise offers a rare dramatization of a process that is often condensed in fictional universes: the messy, contested, exhilarating journey from tutelage to independence.
French Political Thrillers Deliver Never-Ending Paranoia
In these two political thrillers from Henri Verneuil, neither is above faking out the viewer and both are obsessed with the architecture of the modern city.
Marebito’s Unnerving Subterranean Horror
Sharing stylistic and thematic similarities with other enigmatic Japanese horror films the Lovecraftian Marebito prioritizes mood, mystery, and existential dread over conventional thrill.
‘Los Golfos’ Returns from Franco-Censored Purgatory
Carlos Saura’s once censored Los Golfos exists in a purgatory between the relatively plot-less freedom of some neorealist films and the excesses of delinquent youth melodrama.
‘Inter Alia’ Is a Feminist Beast of Its Own
Suzie Miller’s legal drama Inter Alia is a scathing, urgent piece on feminism, patriarchy, and the ever-looming threat of our moral failures.
‘Keep Quiet’ Pits Inner Peace Against Social Turmoil
Crime drama Keep Quiet may seem abrupt and pared-back, but there’s confidence and depth in its study of inner peace amidst social turmoil.
First Love’s Slow Seduction
Spare, yet strangely ornate, Swiss film First Love sings of a decadence that evokes the richly embroidered tales of Russian literature.
‘The Celebration’ Rocks the Cradle of Authoritarianism
Thomas Vinterberg’s acclaimed dark comedy The Celebration strongly evidences the root causes of humanity’s unrestrained aggression, bigotry, and fascist proclivities.
‘The Betrayal’ Returns in All Its Nihilistic Glory
Like its filmmaker Tokuzô Tanaka, The Betrayal has been largely sidelined by other jidaigeki (historical) and chanbara (samurai) films in Japan’s traditional canon, but this revelatory new release rewrites the record.
‘Cairo Station’ Jumbles Sex, Politics, and Noir
With bustling filming and moments of hybrid musical lyricism, the Nasser-era Cairo Station is half neorealism and half noir melodrama.
In Love with ‘Her’ Hallucination in Our Era of Rising AI
Spike Jonze’s Her is a work of art that is far more influential than predictive; ahead of its time in exploring the murky obsessions and ambiguities that haunt our relationship with AI.