There’s No One Driving the Car: ‘Hustlers’ as Neo-Noir
“From the moment Ramona first appears, ‘Hustlers’ announces itself as a new addition to the neo-noir cannon — a film about bright lights in dark places.”
Vague Visages Short Stories: Only the Names Have Been Changed by D.M. Palmer
Vague Visages Short Stories #15: Only the Names Have Been Changed by D.M. Palmer (Sheffield, UK)
The Man Who Laughs: Richard Widmark’s Early Noirs
“Widmark offers a succession of performances in ‘Kiss of Death, ‘The Street with No Name’ and ‘Road House’ that show a young actor building, then resisting, and then reconciling his own burgeoning screen persona.”
Review: Alice Waddington’s ‘Paradise Hills’
“One can’t help but wonder how Waddington might reinvigorate other sci-fi tales with her fairy tale stylings.”
Cinema Viscera: Italian Zombie Horror
“This is a world where faith, governments, businesses, families and the other institutions humans have built will all crumble, just like human bodies, which will inevitably succumb to their fragility and fall victim to total destruction.”
Review: Alexa-Jeanne Dubé’s ‘SDR’
“Based on ‘Oui mais non’ and ‘S.D.R.,’ Dubé seems fully capable of tackling various genres, and taking the medium forward into the future.”
Photo Essay by Andy Witchger: Sleater-Kinney at St. Paul’s Palace Theatre
“Watching Sleater-Kinney perform 25 years into their existence, it’s clear we need them now more than ever. Amid social upheaval and a resurgence of overt prejudice and bigotry, artists willing to carry the flag of resistance are essential.”
Manic Lust in Neo-Giallo ‘Knife + Heart’
“As a love letter to a cinematic wave of films that were (and are) often dismissed as style devoid of substance, ‘Knife+Heart’ triumphs in both story and genre evolution.”
Review: Ruben Fleischer’s ‘Zombieland: Double Tap’
“Despite the warmed-up leftovers, ‘Zombieland: Double Tap’ manages to locate a few bright spots, and none are more appealing than Zoey Deutch.”
Review: Marianne Métivier’s ‘She Who Wears the Rain’
“‘She Who Wears the Rain’ shows how lucid dreaming engagement can help people cope with mental health issues.”
Review: Milena Lurie’s ‘Entangled’
“‘Entangled’ feels like a clunky ‘Love in New York’ story during the first hour, but ultimately transforms into a moving tale about self-love and acceptance.”
Genre at Terminal Velocity: The Films of Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
“What allows Cattet and Forzani’s films to flourish is that they modify cinematic influences to accommodate today’s instant gratification culture.”
The Neorealist Connection: Italy’s Polizieschi
“Though the polizieschi may seem far away from the quiet nobility of the Neorealist films, with all their sober-minded social critique, they are bound together by the privileging of the real world.”
Penelope Spheeris’ ‘Suburbia’: Not Just a Teenage Wasteland
“‘Suburbia’ is a punk classic not just because it deeply understands and empathizes with its culture – the music, the violence, the clothes, the often-jarring lack of political sophistication – but because it understands something important about punk’s place in society at large…”
Emilio Miraglia and the High-Gothic Giallo
“Miraglia’s deliberate interweaving of castles and glimmering blades taps into the one element that both Gothic and giallo art share: the ability to taffy-pull delight from terror. Both Poe and Bava would tip their hats.”
Review: Daniel Kremer’s ‘Overwhelm the Sky’
“Mesmerizing and immaculately-structured, ‘Overwhelm the Sky’ is an ambitious indie epic that doesn’t waste a single minute.”
New York Film Festival Review: Edward Norton’s ‘Motherless Brooklyn’
“‘Motherless Brooklyn’ may not be a sterling example of traditional noir, but its subtext is gripping in its own way. The victim of this crime story isn’t a dead man or a damsel in distress, but the spirit of a city.”
Review: Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon’s ‘The Addams Family’
“The most devoted fans will appreciate the authenticity of the character design, which sticks closely to the look of the classic illustrations.”
12 Angry Films: Sidney Lumet on Justice #4 – ‘Serpico’
“With ‘Serpico,’ Lumet becomes a defining chronicler of American institutional corruption, most obviously within the justice system.”
Joanna Hogg Directs a Dazzling Honor Swinton Byrne in ‘The Souvenir’
“‘The Souvenir’ is essential viewing for devoted cinephiles.”