“Directed with sensitivity by Jon M. Chu, ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ pokes fun at frivolity and the pretenses of the rich while letting loose with some lavish fun across vast picturesque landscapes.”
“‘Freddy vs. Jason’ is — like almost all horror movies — a signpost for the anxieties of an era, looking much like the prestige horror movies of today will look from the vantage point of the next decade.”
“As it’s applied to ‘Strike,’ Eisenstein’s methodology is generally simplified, with an occasional leaning toward crude hyperbole.”
“Uchoa and Dumans’ distanced, matter-of-fact portrayal of their vagabond renders ‘Araby’ an elusive and open film. It’s particulars aren’t always announced, because — as with Bresson — the text ask viewers to meet it where it stands.”
“As a primer on Laing, ‘Mad to be Normal’ offers nothing substantive; there is little attempt to explicate Laing’s ideas, or to pursue how he formulated those ideas while working in Glasgow’s mental hospitals…”
“Unlike its modern genre contemporaries, ‘Deep Blue Sea’ takes itself seriously, creating genuine fear and tension from the characters’ perilous situation.”
Yoana Pavlova on William Brown’s ‘Non-Cinema: Global Digital Film-making and the Multitude’
“With her beauty– but more importantly, her natural ease and irresistible girlishness — Melanie Griffith presented a form of femininity ideally suited to a specific time of the late 1980s.”
“‘The Philadelphia Story’ situated itself at a turning point in 20th century history, between the destitution of the Great Depression and the destruction of World War II (along with the following boom). It’s in this moment, one of not knowing where America would end up next, that the film exists…”
“The short films of Frank Mosley are miracles of economy. Finely observed, conceptually audacious and formally assured, Mosley’s filmmaking reflects a remarkable maturity and ambition rarely exhibited in the contemporary landscape of low-budget American cinema.”
“The success of Bo Burnham’s ‘Eighth Grade’ proves that audiences crave the authenticity that’s been lacking for so long, and by providing it, the film ends the stereotypical portrayal of teenagers.”
“While Superorganism’s sound channels psych-pop reminiscent of mid-era Flaming Lips and the youthful glee of Architecture in Helsinki, Noguchi delivers casual observations with an adolescent malaise akin to Stephen Malkmus. The results are beautiful, buoyant and occasionally baffling.”
“I’ve always had a soft spot for ‘Summer Stock’ — it may not be the most innovative or exciting of Kelly’s films, but it’s an unpretentious movie that delights in the pure pleasure of musical entertainment, from the outright silly to the romantically sincere.”
“The body and the mind, and the horror therein, may be renewed through a metamorphosis of perception, as there is hope to be found in letting it, whatever it is, grow.”
“No matter the fantasy and clash of culture that swirls around ‘Black Narcissus,’ it is probably best that The Archers did not revisit Orientalist ideas, and that they stuck to what they knew best — the human interest and depths of United Kingdom and European issues.”
“‘Daughters of Darkness’ invites the audience into a cold, dreamlike experience that explores the versatility of desire.”
“The first word that comes to mind when describing ‘Cléo from 5 to 7’ is escapism. Not only is it an escape for the audience, with Agnès Varda’s documentary style taking viewers on a tour of one of Paris’ many districts, but it explores the title character’s need to break free.”
“Through buckets of blood, ruined flesh and screams, the New French Extremity is creating a cultural commentary about perceptions of gender and nihilism through the adaptation, and ultimate destruction, of an established horror trope.”
“Here’s to hoping that Meredith Hagner will continue to make us laugh while taking her ludicrous characters seriously for many more years, just like Marilyn Monroe did before her.”
“Alverson takes familiar images, milieus and scenarios as a starting point, only to render them alien, jettisoning the usual tenets of narrative cinema in favour of a style that’s far more challenging and hard to define.”