The Transformational Film Lens: D. Mitry on ‘My True Fairytale’
Director D. Mitry talks with PopMatters about his debut feature film, My True Fairytale, whose story aligns with the tragic loss of his daughter.
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‘I Care a Lot’ and the Art of Portraying Awful People
In good films and shows with villains as leads, the protagonists’ ethically questionable actions are at least understandable, and perhaps even defensible. Not so in J Blakeson’s ‘I Care a Lot’.
Park Chan-wook’s ‘JSA: Joint Security Area’ Fights Violence with Brotherhood
Park Chan-wook’s South Korean thriller ‘Joint Security Area’ shows us how easy it could be to build a brotherhood with our enemies.
‘Test Pattern’ Director Shatara Michelle Ford Wonders if Dissonance Is Exploding Your Brain, Too
‘Test Pattern’ director Shatara Michelle Ford talks with PopMatters about putting everyday fear into film.
Time-Transcending Paranoia in ‘The Parallax View’
Fear of unseen powers causing public tragedies was so widespread in 1974 America that filmmakers knew audiences would believe the corporate murder machine of The Parallax View.
Director Thomas Bezucha on His Neo-Western, ‘Let Him Go’
Adapting Larry Watson's novel, director Thomas Bezucha sets the quest of a retired sheriff and his wife to the era of American society's fall from grace.
Sundance 2021: Sion Sono’s Gonzo ‘Prisoners of the Ghostland’
Prisoners of the Ghostland, starring a whacked-out Nicholas Cage, is exciting, wild, bold, and joyfully ridiculous -- pretty much what you expect from a Sion Sono film.
Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Parasite’ and the Geometry of Suffering
The problem Joon-ho presents in Parasite is geometrical. Is this the only shape of society we can imagine as workable, as livable? Is this livable?
The Best Classic Films on Blu-ray in 2020
Many formats have come and gone and streaming competes, to a degree, but these best classic films offered on Blu-ray in 2020 prove irresistible.
Shirley Jackson’s Story on Film Is But a Flickering Shadow
In Josephine Decker's biographical film, Shirley, Shirley Jackson is only partially seen as the darkness conveyed obscures the light.
Kamala Harris’ 2020 VP Run Evokes Rod Lurie’s 2000 ‘The Contender’
Like The Contender's Laine Hanson 20 years prior, US Democratic Party Vice-President choice, Kamala Harris, cuts the oxygen feeding the US political climate's raging sexism.