Recent

'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch' Amplifies What Happens to Us When We Experience Narrative Without Form

Without a set form, there can be no water-cooler talk about Bandersnatch, no collective reflection and analysis, because each viewer watched a different movie.

Film

In Two Minds: Robert Altman's 'Images' Essays the Terrors of Schizophrenia

Altman's Images is a complex, haunting and always disturbing film about the slow realization that one's sanity is a stake.

Film

Rivette's 'Paris nous appartient' Nods to McCarthyism, Communist Witch Hunts, and Cold War Paranoia in the USA

Jacques Rivette's first French New Wave film, Paris nous appartient, is infused with the look and feel of Hollywood's more paranoid, conspiratorial and apocalyptic films noir.

Film

Sherlock Holmes' Silent Film(s) 'Der Hund von Baskerville'

A boon for Sherlockians and silent film fans, Flicker Alley presents Der Hund von Baskerville, a DVD/Blu-ray combo containing the 1914 and 1929 silent German versions.

Film

On Burt Lancaster's 'The Midnight Man' and a Hard-knock Life

Burt Lancaster's second film, The Midnight Man (1974), reflects a weary outlook of disillusion and regret within the trappings of gumshoe noir.

Film

Visual Feasts: Merchant Ivory Do What They Do Best in 'Feast of July'

Visual aestheticism has never been a weak point for the Merchant Ivory production team and they certainly don't slack in their abilities with the sumptuous Feast of July.

Film

Outsmarting the Auteur: Reassigning Power in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Marnie'

A contemporary viewing of Alfred Hitchcock's 1964 film, Marnie, makes it clear: we must understand the inner workings of the male gaze and subsequently annihilate it.

Film

Searching for Answers in Denis Villeneuve’s 'Prisoners'

As in all the best detective stories, the heroes of Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners are wrestling with questions much deeper than those of the case itself.

Film

Our Private Prisons: Interview with 'Still' Director, Takashi Doscher

Takashi Doscher reflects on Still's emergence from a personal lifetime commitment and whether time transforms the meaning of our social constructs and relationships.

Film

'The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle' Is a Stellar Mystery Yarn

Travel journalist Stuart Turton borrows and remixes the best of the genre in his fiction debut, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

Books

Through the Looking-Glass of Black Mirror's 'Bandersnatch'

Netflix's interactive movie, Bandersnatch, doesn't really offer choices, but it does offer something else: a warning.

Film

Lee Chang-dong's Mysterious 'Burning' Simmers with an Inquisitive Tension

Burning is more interested in exploring ennui and desperation in the abstract than offering distinct answers about its characters, and it's all the more riveting because of it.

Film

Mirroring Humans through Westworld’s Othered Artificial Intelligence

In the fantasy world of AI-populated Westworld, unchecked humankind regresses into violence toward the "Other" -- just as we do in the chaotic real world. Is that the essence of human nature, to always reject its' self as seen in the visage of the Other?

Television

At the Crossroads of Pity and Revolt: Intensity and Time in Lino Brocka's 'Manila in the Claws of Light'

Lino Brocka's Manila in the Claws of Light seethes with rage against colonial oppression without ever becoming overt agitprop.

Film

The Outer Limits of Spookery: Resurrecting 'The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre'

The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre feels like an unknown episode of The Outer Limits dropped in from an alternate dimension.

Film

'Apostle' Director Gareth Evans on Filmmaking, Narcissism, and Intent

Director Gareth Evans reflects on wanting to once again flex the muscle of making a horror film after his unintentional hiatus from making a film.

Film

Pop Ten

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

MetalMatters: April 2019 - It Is April So "Why So Serious?"

The 25 Best Electronic Albums of 2018

Collapse Expand Pop Ten

Mixed Media

Collapse Expand Mixed Media

PM Picks

Collapse Expand Pm Picks