“‘Baby Driver’ and ‘Drive’ are not road maps to modernity, they don’t offer any route through it that guarantees a safe arrival. The only advice they might offer is to tear up the map itself. To simply drive.”
“The ‘Predator’ franchise is a repository of the fears that plague the powerful. The context changes, but the fear persists — the fear that the conqueror may one day become the conquered.”
“Minihan’s tale is a moody, memorable work of art that dares its audience to meditate on the layers and anxieties of love and deceit.”
“‘Lean on Pete’ isn’t for me. It isn’t about me. But I needed it to wade through all the stories I’d ever heard that were supposed to be for me and about me.”
Michael J. Casey Imagines ‘Christopher Robin’ in the Style of Yasujirō Ozu
“While ‘The Descent’ is grounded in female friendship and showcases the power of women without the support of men, it also highlights the futility of teamwork in such a dire situation.”
“Times have changed — Time’s Up, in fact — so why try to redo, or outdo, something that still resonates a whopping 30 years after its release, something that still feels timely and relevant? Jughead can keep the coat. ‘Heathers’ lives on.”
“Despite not having much to glom onto, narratively, ‘Cocote’ is a blunt film, and your mileage may vary based on how receptive you are to de Los Santos Arias’ formalistic provocations…”
“‘Red Sparrow’ is no feminist masterwork — far from it. However, in its depiction of a male world full of predators — a patriarchal system constructed to oppress, exploit and then discard women — perhaps it offers a valuable first step towards that badly needed change.”
“‘Good Manners’ isn’t without its share of redeeming factors, to be sure, but Dutra and Rojas are simply hamstrung by their chosen medium, which pits an overabundance of ideas to a constricting runtime.”
“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.”