“While Lang never fully embraced socialist principles over the course of his career, he always seemed to have a violent distaste for the men who stood on the shoulders of those who were less fortunate, knowing full well that social class does not correlate a strong moral conscious.”
“The film has an unusually conservative vibe for a noir, maintaining that the status quo may be boring but criminality has nothing to offer — not even carnal thrills.”
“Carpenter doesn’t frame the film as being about an outlier male abuser, but a culture that has little respect for a woman’s personal space.”
“Identity, like meaning in ‘Dekalog,’ is delivered piecemeal. Do immediate deeds define a person, or are these characters more than what they do in any given episode?”
“At the heart of ‘Prince of Darkness,’ the failures of religion and science reflect the limits of the human mind to grasp the immensity of the universe and our menial position within it.”
“In John Carpenter’s ‘In the Mouth of Madness,’ the delicate reality in which we live exists only as far we as believe it.”
“‘Destiny’ arrives at its final satisfying destination as a poetic and deeply affecting film, an ethereal meditation from a now legendary filmmaker…”
“‘American Gigolo’ doesn’t necessarily work as a neo-noir, but it still has enough romance and intrigue to be well worth watching.”
“Much of Au hasard Balthazar’s transcendental value derives from its explicit openness to theological interpretation, particularly given Bresson’s oft-commented upon Catholicism and some of the film’s more overt symbolism.”
“‘Modern Times’ is emblematic of a ‘Hollywood realism,’ with a rather immaculate industrial setting, strategically tattered clothing and deliberately designed destitution.”
“‘Princess Mononoke’ explores the gaping chasm between nature’s gentle acceptance of circumstance and humanity’s steadfast refusal to quietly accept death.”
“With ‘A Married Woman,’ Godard appears fully devoted to topical bullet points through an essayistic structure, forgoing conventional narrative, character development or expedient pacing.”
“‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ captures the imaginations of young viewers while imploring the older among them to let common sense go in order to enjoy the pop music and irrefutable heart.”
“After viewing ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’ for the first time, I wondered, ‘Doesn’t a woman have to be at least a little bit monstrous to survive?'”
“Like a lot of reality television, ‘Christian Mingle’ is funny for hateful reasoning that displays damaging, scary facets of our culture.”
“‘In a Lonely Place’ finds Nicholas Ray still the relative newcomer to the Hollywood studio scene, yet he is already displaying subversive evidence of instilling in his work representative preoccupations.”
“Though bleak and at times brutal, ‘Buffalo ’66’ manages to evoke a world of sensitivity that’s, dare I say, rather feminine.”
“‘Eve’s Bayou’ is like a living poem, deftly exploring the way memory can both comfort and haunt us, long after the actual wounds of our tragedies heal.”
“As Bridget Gregory in ‘The Last Seduction,’ Linda Fiorentino is like the shock of hearing a gunshot in the dead of night. She embodies, more than any other character, the ethos of the modern femme fatale.”
“‘Women in Revolt’ stands in defiance of the majority of transgender-specific cinema…”