Not Every “Monstrous Bitch” Is a Feminist Victim
Qualities coded as “monstrous” in Eleanor Johnson’s Monstrous Bitch are more interesting than assuming that their monstrosity is itself evidence of patriarchy.
film history
The Nazi Indoctrination of Otto Gebühr’s Frederick the Great
German actor Otto Gebühr’s story shows how consistent artistic work can soften propaganda and shape historical memory more powerfully than a political system.
Laura La Plante’s and Marion Davies’ Gender-Defying Silent Comedies
Marion Davies and Laura La Plante were two of the most delightful comedians of the silent film era, and the charm hasn’t worn off in these gender role reversals.
Horror and History Collide in Czech Director Jan S. Kolár’s Silent Films
Two long-forgotten Czech silent films by pioneer Jan S. Kolár are not only artifacts of a fragile history but lessons in how historical legacy will try to kill you.
Hollywood Classics Sparkle in MoMA’s Silent Film Week
MoMA’s Silent Film Week 2026 showcases Hollywood classics by major filmmakers from the museum’s collection, all restored through the museum’s efforts.
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head’s Quasi-Horror, Proto-Noir, Anti-War Message
The Man Who Reclaimed His Head belongs to its early 1930s era, when the last war and the next one were on everyone’s minds, and public rhetoric often jousted between talk of warmongers, preparedness, and pacifism.
Kinuyo Tanaka’s Films About Women in Japan’s Evolving Postwar Society
Kinuyo Tanaka remains more famous for acting in other directors’ films, but Kinuyo Tanaka Directs demonstrates her command of the qualities needed to marshal major productions under her own baton
Silent Serial ‘Tih-Minh’ Puts You Under Its Drugged Spell
Louis Feuillade’s dreamlike 12-episode silent film series Tih-Minh should be experienced, like laudanum, in discreet doses that will linger in our brains until the next fix.
‘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.
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.
Scorsese’s World Cinema Project #5 Carries Serenity and Chaos
All the films in Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 5 showcase filmmakers whose output deserves restoration, but Kummatty offers the most direct and unapologetic sensual pleasures.
Why Found Footage Horror Movies Keep Creeping Back
In an era when cameras dictate and distort our perception, found-footage horror movies keep creeping back into our never-wholly-real, uncanny world.