‘Mettlework’ Excavates Myths of American Motherhood
Poet and author Jessica E. Johnson’s memoir Mettlework excavates myths of motherhood and girlhood in mining towns across America.
history
‘The Underground Railroad’ and Cinema’s Origins in White Supremacy
In adapting the alternative history The Underground Railroad, Barry Jenkins and his crew made cinema – a medium with origins in white supremacy – work for them.
Crime Sells in TV: ‘The Responder’, ‘Shardlake’, and ‘Eric’
For compelling and worrisome reasons, crime sells in our TV entertainment. The Responder, Shardlake, and Eric feed our brutal compulsion in varying ways.
Zionism, Belonging, and George Eliot’s ‘Daniel Deronda’
George Eliot was not Jewish, but her 1876 novel Daniel Deronda took on the “Jewish question” and brought forth the concept of Zionism with knowledge and grace.
‘The Sympathizer’ Fractures Identity into a Knockout Kaleidoscopic Tale
The mini-series adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s kaleidoscopic tale The Sympathizer is a knockout account of colonialism, war, and (the loss of) identity.
Three TV Shows That Promise an Intriguing Viewing Experience
These three TV shows of early spring 2024 are the most compelling, mind-boggling, and expensive-looking ones to watch before you go back out in the sun.
‘Small Things Like These’ Is a Haunting Meditation on Collective Sin
Which is the greater horror, Small Things Like These asks; the women who suffered under Ireland’s abusive Magdalene Laundries or the citizens’ complicity?
Film Producer David Puttnam on the Making of ‘The Killing Fields’
The Killing Fields, the harrowing film set in Cambodia during the Pol Pot regime, could not be made until after Chariots of Fire, Producer David Puttnam recalls.
‘The Zone of Interest’ and Our Modern Day Comforts
Can The Zone of Interest, a film about a Nazi commandant and his family, have something to say about the modern day comforts so many enjoy?
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.
The Amplified Silence in Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’
There are taboo subjects in the context of Indigenous Americans in Killers of the Flower Moon. Scorsese’s film only amplifies the silence surrounding them.