Donald Trump, ‘London Has Fallen’ and the So-Bad-It’s-Good Candidacy
“A once-pure appreciation of misplaced passion, the hallmark of so-bad-it’s-good entertainment has been capitalistically leveraged.”
Jacques Tardi Adaptation ‘April and the Extraordinary World’ Offers a Thrilling Alternate History
“The extraordinary world of April and the Extraordinary World is no simple one, and it’s welcome that its worldview veers away from the simplistic.”
DMG’s Jeff Nichols RetroSpecial: ‘Mud’ (2012)
A Jeff Nichols Retrospective by Dylan Moses Griffin
The Feminine Grotesque #4: Madness, Thy Name Is Eve
A Series by Angelica Jade Bastién
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘La Religieuse’ (Jacques Rivette, 1966)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’: Empty Empowerment
“It’s not a bad movie, but no matter how long it spends in the war zone, it still feels like a tourist.”
With ‘The Mermaid’, Stephen Chow Fully Utilizes the Camera as Comedic Tool
“Stephen Chow’s invigorating, irreverent, slapstick, but occasionally serious, comedy The Mermaid is an odd beast to pin down.”
DMG’s Jeff Nichols RetroSpecial: ‘Take Shelter’ (2011)
A Jeff Nichols Retrospective by Dylan Moses Griffin
The Feminine Grotesque #3: Something Wicked – On Robert Eggers’ ‘The Witch’
A Series by Angelica Jade Bastién
Of Love and Other Demons: Nigel Wingrove’s ‘Visions of Ecstasy’ and Perverted Desire
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Ryan Coogler and Black Intimacy
“Breaking the mold and raising his cinematic voice by embedding black intimacy in his movies, Coogler, in Creed and Fruitvale Station, uses mothers, girlfriends, children, squads of friends and Michael B. Jordan to create community.”
DMG’s Jeff Nichols RetroSpecial: ‘Shotgun Stories’ (2007)
A Jeff Nichols Retrospective by Dylan Moses Griffin
The Feminine Grotesque #2: Mirror, Mirror – On Bette Davis in ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?’
A Series by Angelica Jade Bastién
The Feminine Grotesque #1: A Unified Theory on Female Madness in Cinema and American Culture
A Series by Angelica Jade Bastién
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Love & Basketball’ (Gina Prince-Bythewood, 2000)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
His Blazing Automatics: Frank Grillo Is Our Most Undervalued Action Hero
“Did we really need another Purge film? Probably not, but did we need another film where Frank Grillo kicks ass? Yes. Absolutely yes.”
Of Love and Other Demons: In Remembrance of Andrzej Żuławski
Justine A. Smith Remembers Andrzej Żuławski (November 22, 1940 – February 17, 2016)
Berlinale 2016: With ‘Chi-Raq’, Spike Lee Pushes the Power of Sexuality to New Heights
“Profoundly funny, shocking, sad and ultimately inspiring, Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq is the rude awakening that America needs to get its shit together.”
Berlinale 2016: ‘Alone in Berlin’ – A Lifeless Tale of White Heroism
“An overlong melodramatic exercise in aridity, Alone in Berlin fails as a testament to the efforts of the Quangels and fails to tell a cohesive, engaging story.”
Berlinale 2016: Jeff Nichols’ ‘Midnight Special’ – A Refreshingly Familiar Sci-Fi Adventure
“Midnight Special has an emotional core compelling enough to draw in massive crowds of cinemagoers, a sci-fi grandeur showy enough to pull in the Marvel/DC crowd (is there a still a DC crowd?), and a visual acuity worthy of the interest of even the most hardened cinephiles.”