Rediscover: The Early Films of Sean Baker
Filmmaker Sean Baker made waves in 2015 with his smash indie hit, Tangerine, which prompted cinematic and cultural conversations regarding the film’s gorgeously guerilla cinematography (it was shot on...
View ArticleAshes in the Snow
On one of the more momentous days in human history, 23 August 1939, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin signed a mutual non-aggression treaty called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In addition to ensuring that...
View ArticleThe Heiresses
The Heiresses, the feature debut of Paraguayan writer-direct Marcelo Martinessi, adds a queer spin to big-changes-late-in-life genre. While its slow pace and quiet performances make it a lesser cousin...
View ArticleHoly Hell! The Insider Turns 20
Michael Mann’s corporate thriller, The Insider, opens in strange fashion. Adhering to the director’s love of instant immersion, the film begins with a blindfolded man being driven through the streets...
View ArticleOeuvre: Carpenter: Assault on Precinct 13
Though Dark Star showcased a wry, inventive talent, Assault on Precinct 13 is where John Carpenter truly emerged. It is a film of almost elemental simplicity: derived from Howard Hawks’ bottle-episode...
View ArticleStan and Ollie
So here’s one of the beautiful things about living in a world where cable was this magic service that only your richer friends could afford and you survived with only five TV channels: Syndication....
View ArticleGlass
Over the past two decades, the ascension of comic book characters from pop culture novelty to the apex of the mainstream has reached a point where even the much-maligned Aquaman has achieved box office...
View ArticleThe Last Man
There was a moment in time when it seemed like Hayden Christensen was set to become a movie star. Appearing in Star Wars movies can do that for a person. However, much like his Skywalker predecessor...
View ArticleAdult Life Skills
Adult Life Skills begins with two thumbs adorned with ballpoint faces waxing on about life’s more existential questions and from those initial seconds you know exactly what kind of movie you’re in for....
View ArticleRevisit: Unbreakable
As much a tense family drama as it is a superhero origin story, M. Night Shyamalan’s slow-burning Unbreakable couldn’t escape comparisons to his breakthrough debut, The Sixth Sense. Arriving just one...
View ArticleDon’t Come Back from the Moon
The Mojave Desert of the US Southwest has captured the imaginations of artists, visionaries and utopians of every stripe for centuries. Deserts engender magic, madness and a keen sense of the unknown....
View ArticleFrom the Vaults of Streaming Hell: Alex Strangelove
Teen romantic comedies appear to be making a bit of a comeback thanks to newer distribution models and streaming platforms. Netflix, in particular, has unleashed a bunch of successful, sugary films on...
View ArticleThe Standoff at Sparrow Creek
The Standoff at Sparrow Creek begins deep in backwoods America. One night, as a man in a remote trailer home stands on his porch, the distant sound of automatic gunfire punctures the isolated silence....
View ArticleThe Kid Who Would Be King
It’s usually a bad sign when a CGI-heavy action film is released in January, the most barren month of the theatrical year. Which makes the quality of Attack the Block director Joe Cornish’s sophomore...
View ArticleOeuvre: Carpenter: Someone’s Watching Me!
Four films written by John Carpenter saw release in 1978, with only one of them (the frothy TV beach romp Zuma Beach) not organized around the sickening allure of a good murder. The other three...
View ArticleSerenity
Is successfully pulling the rug out from under an audience’s feet still impressive if they all land on their necks? David Mamet once wrote in his book Three Uses of the Knife that a good ending to a...
View ArticleThe Image Book
It probably should not be surprising that, even after 60 years behind the camera, one of the grandest cinematic artists to ever create a film still has his fastball, but The Image Book does startle...
View ArticleThe Invisibles
There was a time the recent past when there was a tragic ease to finding Jews who had survived Nazi Germany. Some were neighbors. Others volunteered to go to schools and tell the stories of their...
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Revisit: Female Trouble
If anyone thinks John Waters has calmed down now that he is in his 70s, they are mistaken. At his Christmas shows, the provocateur still talks about elves with giant erections, frozen cum and his...
View ArticleKing of Thieves
An homage to the grimy-yet-golden era of British crime cinema, the entertaining King of Thieves is self-consciously aware of its ‘70s roots. But although the whole cast seems to be having a good time,...
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