Review: Aaron Schneider’s ‘Greyhound’
“Greyhound’s inability to venture further into the depths of wartime psychology leaves it susceptible to being forgotten just as quickly as it emerged.”
Review: Natalie Erika James’ ‘Relic’
“James’ arresting, emotional and attention-grabbing film understands that what’s most frightening is barely glimpsed and feels disarmingly normal.”
Understanding Nobuhiko Ōbayashi: From ‘House’ to ‘Hanagatami’
“No director has been able to replicate Nobuhiko Ōbayashi’s iridescent, hallucinatory and infectious passion for film.”
‘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.'”
Review: Jeffrey A. Brown’s ‘The Beach House’
“‘The Beach House’ signals an exciting new star in horror.”
Review: Boaz Yakin’s ‘Aviva’
“Aviva and Eden’s dances — together and apart — mobilize Yakin’s film, and function as bodily mirrors and emotional mirages; gain and loss, self and love.”
Review: Shannon Murphy’s ‘Babyteeth’
“Much of Babyteeth’s vitality can be located in the way each of the central characters is so fully realized.”
Review: Ina Weisse’s ‘The Audition’
“‘The Audition’ considers how we navigate the middle space between power and powerlessness, and Hoss’ performance, whether she’s yearning for affection or responsible for staggering brutality, is the film’s greatest asset.”
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.”
Review: Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’
“One of the most effective storytelling strategies in Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’ is the application of the simple and elegant dichotomy.”
The Code Complex: Robert De Niro, Jake LaMotta and ‘Raging Bull’
“‘Raging Bull’ — a complex character study about methods and codes of conduct — all too often gets reductively tagged as Martin’s Scorsese’s toxic masculinity sports movie that allowed Robert De Niro to lose (and gain) weight in pursuit of an Oscar.”
Martin Scorsese, ‘Mean Streets’ and Caravaggio’s Moment of Illumination
“In Caravaggio and Scorsese’s art, the silent actions of male and female characters speak louder than words. We don’t need to hear Holofernes scream to understand what Judith has taken.”
A Stone-Dumb Genius: On Charles Grodin’s Performance in ‘The Heartbreak Kid’
“Under May’s stare in ‘The Heartbreak Kid,’ and through the provocations of scene partners, Grodin creates a character of rare stature: a horrifying, stone-dumb genius.”
Tearing Down the Monument: Sean Connery’s 1970s
“In my hatred for the Bond franchise, I feel I may have done a disservice to its star. I have always had a tendency to discount Sean Connery as an exquisitely sculpted statue, capable of filling out a tuxedo very nicely but little else.”
World Cinema Project: Behind Closed Doors – ‘The Housemaid’ and ‘Insiang’
“One of the great joys in viewing the films amassed under the World Cinema Project banner is discovering the richness of a nation’s cultural and scenic backdrop.”
Review: Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’ Matters
“As always, Spike Lee asks all the right questions, and it’s up to us to recognize that even though the answers may not be ones we want to hear, we need to grapple with them all the same.”
Review: Abel Ferrara’s ‘Tommaso’
“‘Tommaso’ shows Ferrara taking his career in a new direction, and it’s nice to see someone of his stature still making innovative, daring films.”
Interview: Jeremy Gardner, Christian Stella and Justin Benson on ‘After Midnight’
Leslie Hatton Interviews ‘After Midnight’ Filmmakers Jeremy Gardner, Christian Stella and Justin Benson
The Disaster Area: From ‘Airport’ to ‘Airplane!’ – Part Three
Part Three of a Four-Part Disaster Movie Series by Bill Bria
Why Criticism: Nichols / Soderbergh
“In their conversations, Soderbergh and Nichols work together to dismantle the artificial dividing line between art and criticism, neatly moving between the two…”