At the Cinémathèque: ‘In the Realm of the Senses’ (Nagisa Ôshima, 1976)
“In the forbidden, Oshima reveals the fear of our own meaninglessness and our inability to face death as a certainty.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Hardcore’ (Paul Schrader, 1979)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
At the Cinémathèque: L’ange et la femme (Gilles Carle, 1977)
“A deeply affecting and personal vision, it’s an essential entry in the history of eroticism in Canadian cinema.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The Devil Is a Woman’ (Josef von Sternberg, 1935)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
At the Cinémathèque: ‘The Pillow Book’ (Peter Greenaway, 1996)
“As formally challenging as ‘The Pillow Book’ may be, it romantically creates a love affair unbound by its physical limits, connecting it to past and present through art and literature.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Blonde Venus’ (Josef von Sternberg, 1932)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Underworld’ (Josef von Sternberg, 1927)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Studio Ghibli Forever: An Initiation – ‘The Tale of the Princess Kaguya’
“As in many Studio Ghibli films before it, the male director is speaking directly to his male audience, pleading with them to treat the women in their lives with the respect and equality they deserve.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The Docks of New York’ (Josef von Sternberg, 1928)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Studio Ghibli Forever: An Initiation – ‘The Wind Rises’
“Almost as if something out of a Japanese elementary school history class, Miyazaki’s last Studio Ghibli film leaves me with a great sense of numbness rather than the invigorating wonder I have come to expect from the master of anime.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Suicide Club’ (Sion Sono, 2001)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Studio Ghibli Forever: An Initiation – ‘Ponyo’
“Perhaps not the film for the adventurous young adult, Ponyo proves that remarkable visual inventiveness more-than makes up for candy-sweet morals and glass-fragile plot lines.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Cold Fish’ (Sion Sono, 2010)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Studio Ghibli Forever: An Initiation – ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’
“Abandoning messages of environmentalism and nonviolence, ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ abandons the narrative moralities that typify the director’s style.”
We Failed This Film: Joe Carnahan’s ‘The A-Team’ (2010)
A Series by Dylan Moses Griffin
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Tokyo Tribe’ (Sion Sono, 2014)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Studio Ghibli Forever: An Initiation – ‘Spirited Away’
“A careful reframing of the typical coming-of-age narrative, ‘Spirited Away’ displays a fondness those infinitely awkward years, while showing us all how important they were in making us who we are today.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Why Don’t You Play in Hell?’ (Sion Sono, 2013)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Studio Ghibli Forever: An Initiation – ‘Princess Mononoke’
“‘Princess Mononoke’ explores the gaping chasm between nature’s gentle acceptance of circumstance and humanity’s steadfast refusal to quietly accept death.”
We Failed This Film: Jesse Moss’ ‘The Overnighters’ (2014)
A Series by Dylan Moses Griffin