Why Criticism: Chasing Restorations, from Wong Kar-Wai to Wonder Woman
“The total dominance of our digital cinema platforms has forced cinephiles to reckon with their own assumptions and understanding of the medium.”
Revelation as Retroactive in ‘Southland Tales’ and ‘Kaboom’
“‘Southland Tales’ and ‘Kaboom’ aren’t defined BY their end-of-days narratives, as their apocalypses define the contents through the fulfillment of apocalyptic revelations.”
By the Rivers of Babylon: Structure and Setting in Margaret Tait’s ‘Orquil Burn’
“In ‘Orquil Burn,’ an internalised inquiry meets external spaces with a quiet yet insistent beauty.”
The Code Complex: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jim Carroll and ‘The Basketball Diaries’
“DiCaprio’s early 90s accomplishments have been widely dismissed or ignored ever since Titanic’s Jack Dawson become a beloved movie figure amongst parents and their nostalgia-loving kids.”
We’re All Mad Here: Chris Marker’s ‘A Grin Without a Cat’
“For a film about anger — both that of the social movements animated in protest and that belonging to the state which will brook no challenge to its authority — ‘A Grin Without a Cat’ is surprisingly without its own anger.”
Avenging the Destruction of True Love: François Truffaut’s ‘The Bride Wore Black’
“In ‘The Bride Wore Black,’ cruel fate rips true love away from the innocent, suggesting that Truffaut believed pure happiness is only found in fairy tales.”
Local Heroes: Farewell, Safari
“Like any cinema, the Safari brought people together to dream in the dark.”
The Crashing of the Wave: ‘Six in Paris’
“Despite being an uneven grouping hardly representative of the best these filmmakers had to offer, ‘Six in Paris’ is an interesting capsule of moments in time and space.”
Celebrating Small Moments in ‘Chungking Express’
“The small character gestures in ‘Chungking Express’ give the film its soul, but the spark comes from the act of being seen at all.”
From Underground Jazz Clubs to Breaching Hollywood: Krzysztof Komeda and the Polish Sound
“Krzysztof Komeda made sure that the films he scored would be unlikely to exist, with any real significance, without his response to the images he was provided.”
David Fincher Pays Tribute to His Father and Old Hollywood in ‘Mank’
“‘Mank’ probably spends more time than necessary defining the protagonist’s own crisis of conscience within a corrupt and decaying dream factory.”
‘Bandit Queen’: The Callous World of Caste, Identity and Blood
“Despite being mired in controversy, ‘Bandit Queen’ is one of the finest films made in India that pushes the envelope of cinematic excellence.”
Man with the Camera: Brian De Palma’s ‘The Black Dahlia’
“‘The Black Dahlia’ shows De Palma in a reflective mood, considering the impact cinema, especially his own, has had on the lives and suffering of women on screen.”
Exploring ‘Double Indemnity’ and the Problematic Feminism of Film Noir
“The representation of women in Film Noir is murky territory — in some ways progressive, in other ways deeply misogynistic — certainly when assessing Phyllis in ‘Double Indemnity.'”
The Tension of Space and Time: Béla Tarr’s ‘Sátántangó’
“‘Sátántangó’ becomes an almost transcendental experience, illustrating fissures in a civilization constructed by an inimitable, sublime design.”
Ben Wheatley’s ‘Rebecca’: There’s Nothing Behind the Wallpaper
“‘Rebecca’ feels sanded out, erased of all imperfection, identity and mystery.”
The Erosion of Family in the ‘Poltergeist’ Films
“The ‘Poltergeist’ films will remain eternally relevant as long as America and other countries keep making the same tragic mistakes over and over again, building their own haunted houses for spirits to eventually consume from within.”
Beat Cops: Police Brutality and Film Noir
“Otto Preminger’s ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’ and Nicholas Ray’s ‘On Dangerous Ground’ gesture towards the difficult conditions under which police labor while turning a critical eye on the brutally violent detectives who abuse their power.”
Have None, Will Travel: The Villainy of Economics in ‘Blood on the Moon’
“There’s a dark warning at the heart of ‘Blood on the Moon’ that still rings true today.”
The Modern Netherworld of Akira Kurosawa’s ‘The Bad Sleep Well’
“Kurosawa was rarely more bitter and dejected than he is here, crafting a sprawling noir tragedy from Shakespeare’s text, grappling desperately with identity in the nightmare of faceless modernity.”