VVoices: Best M. Night Shyamalan Film
VVoices #7: Vague Visages Contributors on the Best M. Night Shyamalan Film
Soundtracks of Cinema: ‘Romeo + Juliet’
‘Romeo + Juliet’ Soundtrack: A Vague Visages guide for every featured song in Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 movie.
Trash, Trauma and Revenge in Matthew Bright’s ‘Freeway’
“In ‘Freeway,’ Vanessa isn’t a girl who has won a battle, but one who has lost a war.”
Mannhunting: Exploring Masculinity in the Films of Michael Mann – Part Three
Mannhunting #3 by Bill Bria (‘Ali,’ ‘The Insider’ and ‘Collateral’)
The Code Complex: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jim Carroll and ‘The Basketball Diaries’
“DiCaprio’s early 90s accomplishments have been widely dismissed or ignored ever since Titanic’s Jack Dawson become a beloved movie figure amongst parents and their nostalgia-loving kids.”
Celebrating Small Moments in ‘Chungking Express’
“The small character gestures in ‘Chungking Express’ give the film its soul, but the spark comes from the act of being seen at all.”
‘Bandit Queen’: The Callous World of Caste, Identity and Blood
“Despite being mired in controversy, ‘Bandit Queen’ is one of the finest films made in India that pushes the envelope of cinematic excellence.”
Exploring ‘Double Indemnity’ and the Problematic Feminism of Film Noir
“The representation of women in Film Noir is murky territory — in some ways progressive, in other ways deeply misogynistic — certainly when assessing Phyllis in ‘Double Indemnity.'”
The Tension of Space and Time: Béla Tarr’s ‘Sátántangó’
“‘Sátántangó’ becomes an almost transcendental experience, illustrating fissures in a civilization constructed by an inimitable, sublime design.”
In Praise of 90s Gwyneth Paltrow
“It’s easy to feel a sense of loss for the great actress and movie star that Paltrow could have become, had she not lost interest in the profession and shifted her attention to her questionable business empire.”
How ‘Showgirls’ Takes Busby Berkeley to the City of Sin
“Where Berkeley uses excess as a contrast to the real world, Verhoeven uses it as a magnifying glass.”
Memories of Place in Sofia Coppola’s ‘The Virgin Suicides’
“Although the events in ‘The Virgin Suicides’ may not be presented through an innately nostalgic lens, they become a binding source of nostalgia by viewing the film 20 years after its initial wide release.”
Take This Leap: Revisiting the Optimism of ‘Joe Versus the Volcano’
“‘Joe Versus the Volcano’ is as thoughtful and sensitive as it is goofy. It brims with the sort of amazement that can reawaken forgotten feelings, and resuscitate a heart clogged by ennui.”
Lodge Kerrigan’s ‘Clean, Shaven’ and the Cinematic Virtue of Empathy
“‘Clean, Shaven’ depicts a culture in which there is little empathy for the mentally ill, perhaps because it is a culture influenced by fictional portrayals in which people like Peter are predominately unfeeling mad killers.”
‘But I’m a Cheerleader’: Celebrating 20 Years of Style and Sincerity
“In cinema, it’s tough to depict sincerity without it coming across as contrived or sickly-sweet, but it’s a feeling that myself and many others yearn for, especially when it comes together as beautifully as it does in ‘But I’m a Cheerleader.'”
Escape to Paradise: The Unusual Sweetness of ‘Carlito’s Way’
“What both Pacino and De Palma vividly convey throughout the film is that there’s absolutely nothing dubious or spurious about Carlito’s conviction in his ability to evolve.”
Emir Kusturica’s ‘Underground’: 25 Years Later
“‘Underground’ remains a controversial and wildly ambitious film, one that refuses to be pinned down. It’s a never-ending hall of mirrors that reveals more about the audience than the narrative itself.”
Sympathy for the Devil: How ‘Batman Returns’ Complicates the Penguin
“In the end, there can be no simple feelings of joy or satisfaction in seeing Batman defeat the Penguin — in seeing the good guy defeat the bad guy — because who’s the winner here, really?”
12 Angry Films: Sidney Lumet on Justice #11 – ‘Night Falls on Manhattan’
“In ‘Night Falls on Manhattan,’ Lumet arrives at acceptance — the system is what it is. He is resigned to his inability to chronicle any meaningful change through his work.”
12 Angry Films: Sidney Lumet on Justice #10 – ‘A Stranger Among Us’
“As a chronicler of the justice system in a dozen or more films, Lumet is intimately concerned with the ways in which it represses individual thought and fails to live up to its supposedly defining principles.”