Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Return of the Jedi’ and the Sexy Bikini
“Why can’t Leia be into gold bikinis or even that fantasy of submission?”
Review: Paolo Sorrentino’s ‘Youth’
“Akin to a melody that resonates in your mind in a continual loop of madness and pleasure, Youth is a not-so-easily eradicable experience.”
The Weight of Ratio: Xavier Dolan’s ‘Mommy’ (2015)
“As a filmmaker struggling with her own ideas, it’s a little upsetting to see a man (of the same age) come out with a fully formed idea of his own kind of cinema.”
‘Joy’ Sells You When It Becomes More Streamlined
“In comparing the new film with American Hustle and The Fighter, Russell’s frenetic style succeeds in the previous two through a shifting focus that feels at bit more at home in the context of a sprawling ensemble piece.”
Q.V. Hough’s Top 10 Films of 2015
Q.V. Hough (@qvhough) is a freelance writer and founder/editor of Vague Visages. He graduated from Concordia College (Moorhead, MN) in 2004 with bachelor degrees in Communication-Mass Media and History, and from 2006 to 2012, Q.V. (Quinn) lived in Hollywood, California. He now resides in Fargo, North Dakota.
Max Bledstein’s Top 10 Films of 2015
Max Bledstein (@mbled210) is a Montreal-based writer, musician and world-renowned curmudgeon. He writes on all things culture for a variety of fine North American publications. His highly anticipated debut novel will write itself one of these days, he assumes.
Justine Peres Smith’s Top 10 Films of 2015
Justine Smith (@redroomrantings) lives and writes in Montreal, Quebec. She has a bachelor’s degree in Film Studies and a passionate hunger for all kinds of cinema. Along with writing for Vague Visages, she has written for Vice Canada, Cleo: A Feminist Journal and Little White Lies Magazine.
Josh Slater-Williams’ Top 10 Films of 2015
Josh Slater-Williams (@jslaterwilliams) is a freelance writer based in England. Alongside writing for Vague Visages, he is a regular contributor to independent British magazine The Skinny and has written for Little White Lies magazine, VODzilla.co, The Film Stage, and PopOptiq.
Jordan Brooks’ Top 10 Feature Films and Top 5 Documentaries of 2015
Jordan Brooks (@viewtoaqueue) is an increasingly-snobby cinefile based out of London, England. As a contributor to several online publications, including his own blog, he has succeeded in fulfilling his life long dream of imposing strong opinions on others.
Eye on Iñárritu: The Misguided Maximalism of ‘Birdman’
“The problem of Birdman isn’t its maximalism, but the direction in which it’s aimed.”
Eye on Iñárritu: ‘Biutiful’ – The Existential Dissonance of a Life in Turmoil
“While Iñárritu’s tactics can become tiresome over multiple views, he is perhaps one of the greatest, single-experience filmmakers working today.”
Of Love and Other Demons: Michael Rowe’s ‘Early Winter’ (2015)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Review: Jason Moore’s ‘Sisters’
“Sisters is a house party film told by and from the perspective of women, and that is precisely why it succeeds.”
‘The Profound Desires of the Gods’ Is a Great Example of Film Excess
“Throughout much of his 60s work, Imamura often examined the balance between ordinary and unordinary people, and in The Profound Desire of the Gods, he finds an exceptional way of highlighting the extremity of this concept.”
A Humanistic Conclusion: Fargo ‘Palindrome’ (Recap)
“Even removed from the extraterrestrials and murderous Midwestern crime families, the world of Fargo is a violent and disturbing one, and Hank attempts to do his part by creating an Esperanto-like universal language.”
Some Great Directorial Debuts You May Have Missed in 2015
Here’s Josh Slater-Williams on four underrated gems of the past year.
2015 in Review: Noah Baumbach’s ‘Mistress America’
“Mistress America revels in the romance of being young before carefully setting its characters back down into the real world.”
Of Love and Other Demons: The Toxic Masculinity of Michael Cimino’s ‘Year of the Dragon’
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Review: Tom Browne’s ‘Radiator’
“Radiator never actually “deals” with any of the lofty existentialisms it digs up, firmly positing that they should remain the unknowable, unthinkable aspects of life.”
Do You Actualize?: Fargo ‘Loplop’ (Recap)
“Will Ed and Peggy get what they deserve? What do they deserve, exactly?”