Recap: Vinyl ‘Alibi’
“Vinyl’s sense of music history is surface-level and haphazard, and, most damning, it has yet to fully reveal why it needs to exist (over the course of 11 entire hours).”
The Feminine Grotesque #8: Kingdom of Rot – On ‘Queen of Earth’
A Series by Angelica Jade Bastién
His Blazing Automatics: Does ‘Hardcore Henry’ Revolutionize the Cinematic Action Hero?
A Column on Action Films by Dylan Moses Griffin
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant’ (R.W. Fassbinder, 1972)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Review: Gabriel Mascaro’s ‘Neon Bull’
“Humans and beasts share a primal bond as they occupy the land and the frame together. Mascaro thus internationalizes a strain of the French cinéma du corps as he weds it with the emerging art-house aesthetic of digital realism, crossing borders and species to create something extraordinary.”
Review: Marc Abraham’s ‘I Saw the Light’
“Abraham tells a tragic story but fails to shine a light on the genesis of Hank the man.”
When Magic Was Real: Jean Cocteau’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’
“Cocteau’s magical realism, with flight and cursed beasts side-by-side with the economic woes of an importer-exporter, gives his fantastic elements gravity while letting the humanist tale of greed lilt like music.”
Kinoteka Polish Film Festival: Jerzy Skolimowski’s ‘Barrier’ and the Sneaky Cameo
Josh Slater-Williams on Polish Director Jerzy Skolimowski
Review: Mickey Keating’s ‘Darling’ (2015)
A Column by Q.V. Hough
Recap: Girls ‘Homeward Bound’
“This is the first time in what seems like quite a while that I’ll actively be looking forward to the next season at the end of the current one.”
Recap: Vinyl ‘Rock and Roll Queen’
“‘Rock and Roll Queen’, the ninth and penultimate episode of Season One, is largely a gathering together of ongoing plot threads and weaving them into a runway on which the entire season will land next week, and that’s fine.”
His Blazing Automatics: Please Give Us More Gina Carano Action Films
A Column on Action Films by Dylan Moses Griffin
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The Marriage of Maria Braun’ (R.W. Fassbinder, 1979)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Dudley’s World: ‘Victoria’ and the Surprising Comforts of a One-Take Thriller
A Column by Jordan Brooks
Belief in Justice: American Crime Story ‘The Verdict’ (Recap)
“It’s hard to tell from the show what exactly Alexander and Karaszewski believe about Simpson’s guilt, but that doesn’t keep them from being any less interested in him as a human being.”
Devil in the Details: On Guillermo del Toro and ‘Crimson Peak’
“Perhaps he is finding a way to explore the realm of the fantastic in a new way, a more honest way. Honest, but even more horrifying.”
Cult Vault, Part One: Female Sexuality as Camp Comedy in ‘Showgirls’ and ‘Burlesque’
“In a camp performance, female sexuality can be turned back around to reveal that these traditionally patriarchal ideals aren’t always as attractive as imagined.”
‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ Turns Snow White Into Keyser Söze
“Considering how little ‘Winter’s War’ really has to do with its predecessor and subject, they might as well just make her the lead for a third film.”
‘Southbound’ and the Anatomy of a Horror Anthology
“If the director’s approach to the material isn’t to your liking — say he’s too harsh to his characters or revels in gore for gore’s sake — a new direction, even within the confines of the broad horror genre, is just around the corner.”
DMG’s Jeff Nichols RetroSpecial: ‘Midnight Special’ (2016)
“Jeff Nichols remains one of the greatest working American directors, and no studio interference can ever dilute that.”