Blowback: Peter Berg’s ‘Mile 22’
“Blowback occurs when policymakers fail to take into account the far-reaching ramifications of their actions.”
Advertisements
Advertisements
Brian Brems
Gazing at ‘Red Sparrow’
“‘Red Sparrow’ is no feminist masterwork — far from it. However, in its depiction of a male world full of predators — a patriarchal system constructed to oppress, exploit and then discard women — perhaps it offers a valuable first step towards that badly needed change.”
Seeing the Giallo Truth in Dario Argento’s ‘Four Flies on Grey Velvet’
“Above all, Argento is a visual and aural stylist, and the style that would carry him into his later films deepens here, with flourishes of freewheeling experimentation.”
Small Tokens of Faith in John Ford’s ‘The Fugitive’ and Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’
“In between Ford’s wide shots and Scorsese’s close-ups, there is an effort by each filmmaker to make faith real.”
Days of Future Past: History and ‘Blade Runner 2049’
“As ‘Blade Runner 2049’ suggests, perhaps the way forward into a future of possibility is through a deeper investigation of the past’s secrets.”
Bertolt Brecht, Fritz Lang and German Expressionist Fury
“Lang’s film becomes a committed act of social justice advocacy, raging against its enforced limitation, and striving to break the formal apparatus that could often be employed to constrain Classic Hollywood cinema.”
War and Domestic Violence in Fritz Lang’s ‘Human Desire’
“‘Human Desire’ points a hopeful, if naïve, way forward for men returning home from war.”
The Tattoos Tell the Story: Viggo Mortensen’s Painted Body
“Mortensen uses his body to display his characters’ essential tensions, as they ride the line between truth and lies, loyalty and betrayal, chaos and control.”
The Haunted House Heartbeat in Dario Argento’s ‘Inferno’
“Argento builds upon his work in ‘Suspiria’ to create an unnerving, discomfiting experience.”
Why I Wear the Mask: Tom Hardy’s Performances of Limitation
“Behind the mask, lurking within the timbre of the vocal choices, buried beneath the shaped physique, there is truth.”