Monsters and Hockey Masks: Primal Evil in Slasher Films
“In their own ways, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger all go beyond the real world, and beyond mortality.”
Exaggerated Confrontations of Human Behavior: How Yorgos Lanthimos Is a Master of Horror Realism
“Lanthimos is a master at challenging the notions of what a horror film can and should be, simply because he elicits the genre’s most key component, fear, out of his viewers.”
A Cinematic Colossus: Interview with ‘The Flower’ Director Mariano Llinás
Pablo Staricco Cadenazzi Interviews Argentinian Director Mariano Llinás About ‘The Flower’
A Whiplash of Multidimensional Creativity and Inspiration: ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’
“With all its supporting superheroes and hints of story threads, ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ is bankable for sequels and spin-offs. As long as there’s creative juice for this world, any follow-up would feel inspired.”
‘The Mule’ – Not Enough to Be Clint Eastwood’s Last Stand
“‘The Mule’ will not be remembered as one of the Eastwood classics. In all likelihood, it will be boxed in with two superior Eastwood films as part of a collector’s pack.”
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms: On Transcendental Style and Paul Schrader’s ‘First Reformed’
“The power of ‘First Reformed’ is rooted in Schrader’s ability to take a number of clear forbearers — Bresson, Dreyer, Pialat — and twist them into a style that feels wholly unique and rooted in a personal set of values and obsessions.”
‘Scrooged’ Is Still the Most Modern ‘Christmas Carol’
“‘Scrooged’ carries on Dickens’ themes and message in a way that speaks the most directly and urgently to its audience, teaching that “the miracle” of giving can happen to all of us, at any time. Provided, of course, we can turn off the TV for just long enough.”
Love Me or Kill Me: Sex, Death and Desire in Yann Gonzalez’s ‘Knife + Heart’
“Sex and death may be inseparable, but, to the commune of queers and pornographers of ‘Knife + Heart,’ so are sex and life.”
ArteKino Festival 2018 Review: Babis Makridis’ ‘Pity’
“What saves ‘Pity,’ and the ‘Greek Weird Wave’ as a whole, from tipping into nihilism is the humanism at its core; it is the pessimism of thwarted hopes rather than the negative drive of cynicism.”
Interview with ‘My Foolish Heart’ Director Rolf van Eijk and Actor Steve Wall
Pablo Staricco Cadenazzi Interviews ‘My Foolish Heart’ Director Rolf van Eijk and Actor Steve Wall
‘Hospitality’ Review: Emmanuelle Chriqui Needs More Thriller Roles
“Chriqui proves that she’s ready for the next phase in her career, whether it’s in westerns or thrillers. Take heed, Quentin Tarantino.”
ArteKino Festival 2018 Review: Katharina Mückstein’s ‘L’animale’
“Though the film may try to push its characters into a predetermined path of conflict and personal epiphany, more elusive forms of life can’t help but flood the frame and intrigue with effortless and unutterable tales of their own.”
Salvation Through Cinema: Interview with ‘Boys Cry’ Directors Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo
Pablo Staricco Cadenazzi Interviews Italian Directors Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo
The Harmony of ‘At Eternity’s Gate’ and ‘Loving Vincent’
“Both films are not only shaped by artists that understand van Gogh as an artist, they’re shaped by people that understand distinctly how van Gogh’s art made him human.”
ArteKino Festival 2018 Review: Peter Monsaert’s ‘Flemish Heaven’
“If ‘Flemish Heaven’ isn’t exactly positive about sex work, the flick at least isn’t negative either or, crucially, judgmental about the reasons a woman might decide to sleep with men for money. It’s still a step in the right direction for representation.”
In Praise of ‘Krampus’: Celebrating the Pinnacle Anti-Christmas Film
“‘Krampus’ is the pinnacle anti-Christmas movie in the way it thrives on the sheer awfulness of the holiday. It is ugly, it is unpleasant, and it is still utterly festive in the fact that it embraces the nature of the season as it has always been.”
Blood in the Snow Film Festival 2018 Review: Tomas Street’s ‘Fugue’
“One of the most exciting things about smaller film festivals is the possibility of seeing the kind of movie that one might not get to see otherwise. That’s what makes Tomas Street’s ‘Fugue’ such a great discovery.”
ArteKino Festival 2018 Review: Anne Zohra Berrached’s ‘24 Weeks’
“‘24 Weeks’ is a woman’s film through and through, from the focus on Astrid’s inner struggle to the often stomach-churning realities of pregnancy and motherhood.”
The Inescapable Magic of Bi Gan’s ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’
“In a way, the premise is just the antechamber that one has to see before entering the main room.”
Leave Them Kids Alone: The Subversive Commentary of ‘The Faculty’
“‘The Faculty’ adds a wrinkle to its parasitic creature that sets it apart from most alien assimilation stories, one that is closely tied with the film’s setting and teenage viewpoint.”