#Noirvember: Joseph H. Lewis’ ‘Gun Crazy’ and the Erotic Allure of Firearms
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Two Blistering Performances Help ‘James White’ Achieve Greatness
“In a way, James White is like a dark riff on the man-child formula, but it also works as a devastating exploration of death and decay.”
His Blazing Automatics: Jeff Nichols’ ‘Midnight Special’ and the Middle-Class Studio Film
“If Midnight Special does well in March, the film will undoubtedly encourage an environment in which middle-class studio releases aren’t such a rarity, because the film world needs more working class heroes like Jeff Nichols.”
#Noirvember: Howard Hawks’ ‘The Big Sleep’ (1946) Neuters Marlowe’s Hatred
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
RIDM 2015: ‘Red Hollywood’ (1996) – Another Masterwork From Thom Andersen
“Currently being honoured with a retrospective at the RIDM, Andersen’s cool and measured voice emerges as a through-line in his career.”
With ‘Carol,’ Todd Haynes Conveys Love Like Few Other Filmmakers
“As premature as it might be to say in a review for an initial theatrical run, Carol more than earns the right of comparison to Brief Encounter in terms of quality. Frankly, it’s one of the new great romantic films.”
Tragic Simplicity: Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Wrong Man’
“The Wrong Man is, perhaps, Hitchcock’s most authentic film.”
We Failed This Film: Sean Byrne’s ‘The Loved Ones’
A Column by Dylan Moses Griffin
#Noirvember: ‘The Dark Mirror’ and the Paranoid Double (Robert Siodmak, 1946)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Justin Kurzel’s ‘Macbeth’ Is a Solid Enough Take on ‘The Scottish Play’
“Like its eponymous character, Justin Kurzel’s adaptation of Macbeth is a film pulled in myriad directions for a sense of purpose.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Gilda’ (Charles Vidor, 1946)
“‘Gilda’ is one of the great examples of onscreen masochism.”
Seminci 2015: In the Female-Directed Debuts ‘Princess’ and ‘Flocking,’ Tainted Lolitas Struggle for Innocence
Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid: Andreea Pătru on Beata Gårdeler’s ‘Flocking” and Tali Shalom-Ezer’s ‘Princess’
SPECTRE: Where Can James Bond Go From Here?
“Regardless of what comes next for our beloved spy, let us never again speak of (or be subjected to) that opening montage with the trashy, tentacle-porn horror show.”
We Failed This Film: M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Unbreakable’
A Series by Dylan Moses Griffin
‘Spectre’ Is the ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ of the Bond Series
“If Skyfall was arguably about the James Bond character having an identity crisis, Spectre feels like the series having one.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The Devils’ (Ken Russell, 1971)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
His Blazing Automatics: The Postmodern Horror of Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s ‘The Town That Dreaded Sundown’
His Blazing Automatics is a Vague Visages column by Dylan Moses Griffin.
Vaguebande: Life Is Beautiful – ‘Crimson Peak’ and the Image That Shook Me
A Column by Q.V. Hough (Vaguebande #2)
We Failed This Film: Jorma Taccone’s ‘MacGruber’
A Column by Dylan Moses Griffin
Dudley’s World: The Unpopular Opinion – Movies Should Be Longer
“At its best, film allows viewers to see the world through another person’s eyes, and to live for a fleeting moment in somewhere unexpected and beautiful, so wouldn’t it be wonderful if the purity of that moment could last a just little bit longer?”