Teuvo Tulio’s Martyrs for Love and Cinema
Finnish director Teuvo Tulio’s films go so far over the top that sometimes you wouldn’t think the actors could breathe up there.
romance
10 Writers Remaking African Literature in 2026
The writers demanding our attention in 2026 interrogate power, dissect masculinity, and insist on joy in their works of satire, sorcery, and secrets from Africa and the Diaspora.
What Is Wrong with ‘Bridgerton’?
In Brigerton‘s imagined world, racial inequality appears to be resolved simply through elite inclusion, without any reckoning with empire, exploitation, or power.
MGM’s ‘Lovely to Look At’ Lives Up to It’s Title
MGM musical Lovely to Look At is gorgeous stuff; the colors bleed so richly and profusely that they spread across the frames like melted crayons.
‘Sirius’ Casts a Glittering Eye on WWII Hungary
The not-so-subtle commentary on Hungary’s German and Italian allies, disguised within a lavish, escapist, romantic fantasy, is only one of the surprising things about Sirius.
‘He Who Gets Slapped’ Gets Its Slap-Happy Revenge
Lou Chaney-starring He Who Gets Slapped gives viewers a macabre melodrama with a taste of serious literature – until it ends in bloody revenge.
‘Promise Her Anything’ Leaves Us Holding the Baby
In Hollywood’s eternal battle between the puritan and the prurient, Promise Her Anything shows the puritan still holds the whip. Oh, baby.
‘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.
Red Westerns of the Socialist East
The Red Westerns made in the socialist countries of Eastern Europe appropriated the tropes of the Western to critique America’s mythologies while advancing their own.
‘Girl With a Suitcase’ Charms With Its Magnetic Performances
Despite what appears to be a probing examination of the socioeconomics of the European class system, Girl With a Suitcase‘s pleasures are simple.
The Long Dark Reach of Cornell Woolrich’s Noir Thrillers
Cornell Woolrich’s premise that happiness is always just beyond reach grabs hold of noir thrillers Dark City, Beware, My Lovely, and No Man of Her Own.
‘Anora’, (Sex) Work, and the Fantasies of Genre
Sean Baker’s Anora illustrates how sex work – a working-class job – is a dance between creativity and commerce, art and artifice.