Streamless – Off the Subscription Grid: ‘Heavy Metal Parking Lot’
“This is L-I-V-I-N in the moment at its best.”
‘RoboCop’ in the Age of Trump
“It only took three decades for ‘RoboCop’ to go from a sci-fi thought experiment to prescient documentary. What do the next few hold?”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘House by the River’
“While Lang never fully embraced socialist principles over the course of his career, he always seemed to have a violent distaste for the men who stood on the shoulders of those who were less fortunate, knowing full well that social class does not correlate a strong moral conscious.”
Why Criticism: The Simple Joys of Food and Film
A Column on Film Criticism by Justine A. Smith
The Bewitching Terror of Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘The Neon Demon’
“Refn provides a movie with universal appeal, displaying how pathetic and desperate human beings can be in their moments of weakness, insecurity and greed.”
The Exaggerated Joy of Jûzô Itami’s ‘Tampopo’
“If ‘Tampopo’ initially seems familiar, it’s only because Itami masks the exterior as a Western.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The Woman in the Window’ (Fritz Lang, 1944)
“The film has an unusually conservative vibe for a noir, maintaining that the status quo may be boring but criminality has nothing to offer — not even carnal thrills.”
Why Criticism: Éric Rohmer’s ‘Louis Lumière’ (1968) or Dinner Among Friends
A Column on Film Criticism by Justine A. Smith
Neaux Reel Idea: The Southern Sage
Neaux Reel Idea is a Vague Visages column by Bill Arceneaux, in which he explores the cinema of his native New Orleans.
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Someone’s Watching Me!’ (John Carpenter, 1978)
“Carpenter doesn’t frame the film as being about an outlier male abuser, but a culture that has little respect for a woman’s personal space.”
Why Criticism: Horror’s Fight for Respect
A Column on Film Criticism by Justine A. Smith
‘Different from the Others’: The Oldest Gay Movie in Restored 35mm
“History, in the form of motion picture entertainment, continues to surprise.”
Krzysztof Kieślowski’s ‘Dekalog’: Putting Faith in the Everyday
“Identity, like meaning in ‘Dekalog,’ is delivered piecemeal. Do immediate deeds define a person, or are these characters more than what they do in any given episode?”
The Importance of Babak Anvari’s ‘Under the Shadow’
“Anvari proves himself capable of creating a film with style, substance and importance.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Christine’ (John Carpenter, 1983)
“In many ways, ‘Christine’ reflects a skepticism of the ‘I take what I want, when I want it’ system that emerges when consumerism becomes the dominant ideological force of society.”
Why Criticism: Defining New Cinema at FNC 2016
“In search of new worlds and experiences, this year’s FNC has been a journey from the physical world to the metaphysical.”
Two Drink Minimum: Christopher Guest’s ‘Mascots’
“Jamming its artistic support into the final few moments, ‘Mascots’ just checks off boxes.”
Neaux Reel Idea: Randy Mack’s ‘Laundry Day’
Neaux Reel Idea is a Vague Visages column by Bill Arceneaux, in which he explores the cinema of his native New Orleans.
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Prince of Darkness’ (John Carpenter, 1987)
“At the heart of ‘Prince of Darkness,’ the failures of religion and science reflect the limits of the human mind to grasp the immensity of the universe and our menial position within it.”
Why Criticism: The Tale of the Festival Film
A Column on Film Criticism by Justine A. Smith