The Humanist Dilemma in Kobayashi’s ‘The Human Condition’
Kobayashi’s The Human Condition demonstrates the impossibility of realizing the ideals of humanism.
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Mohammad Rasoulof’s Brave and Brilliant ‘There Is No Evil’
The Iranian government does its best to support the ruling metaphor in Mohammad Rasoulof’s body of work: his country as a prison.
Shiori Ito and the ‘Black Box’ of Sexual Assault in Japan
Shiori Ito’s memoir ‘Black Box’ smashes open the legal norms that box in sexual assault victim’s rights in Japan and drags the system’s misogyny into the light.
Astrophysicist Sara Seager’s Memoir Uses the Dark to Find the Light
Astrophysicist Sara Seager’s memoir illuminates an astute practitioner of metaphor as a form of reasoning, illustration, and artful emotional resonance.
‘Beirut 2020’ Portends What Awaits America
Charif Majdalani’s Beirut 2020 warns that unwillingness to enforce rules and due process lies at the heart of the problems plaguing both Lebanon and America.
Robert Altman’s ‘Nashville’ Is a Many-Headed Musical-Political Animal
Robert Altman’s Nashville is sour and sympathetic, accurate and exaggerated, messy and beady-eyed, a sprawling canvas reminiscent of Bosch or Breugel.
Latinx Short Story Collection ‘Las Biuty Queens’ Finds Joy Amidst Danger
Iván Monalisa Ojeda conveys complexity with a deft, effective touch in his/her short story collection, ‘Las Biuty Queens’.
Lecklider’s Historical Work Love’s Next Meeting Examines Homosexuals and Communism in the US
In the virulently anti-Communist and homophobic climate of the postwar era many feared any association between the emerging lesbian and gay cause and Communism.
William Gay’s Posthumous ‘Fugitives of the Heart’ Wanders Far from the Path of Reason
In William Gay’s posthumous ‘Fugitives of the Heart’, we find a dark coming-of-age tale of youthful lust tinged with comic relief.
‘The Railway Children’ Shows the World Needn’t Be Beastly
Lionel Jeffries’ film version of Edith Nesbit’s The Railway Children is rich with a charm rooted in a bedrock of social awareness as hard as Charles Dickens.
Disney’s ‘Cruella’ Is a Derivative Yet Brilliant Pastiche
Craig Gellispe’s ‘Cruella’ uses jaw-dropping fashion with stunning ingenuity to tell this classic tale of descent into madness.
René Clair’s ‘It Happened Tomorrow’ Is the First Great Film About Time Paradoxes
Meant to divert wartime audiences with sheer escapism, René Clair’s ‘It Happened Tomorrow’ dives into a past where tomorrow looks troublesome.