The Inescapable Fever Dream of John Schlesinger’s ‘Midnight Cowboy’
“We dream, we fantasize, and we are haunted by that we cannot change. We are desperate to reinvent ourselves, and we always think some other place will be better.”
His Blazing Automatics: Gareth Evans Just Made the Best Action Film of 2016 in 5 Minutes with ‘Pre Vis Action’
“It’s not even February, but it feels safe calling Pre Vis Action the best action film of 2016.”
The Dueling Cavalier: The Horror of Maternal Sexuality in ‘The Boy’ and ‘The Babadook’
“Both films deal with maternal sexuality: The Boy punishes it and rebukes mothers for caring about anything other than their children, and The Babadook acknowledges it as difficult to balance with childcare, but an inescapable part of motherhood nonetheless.”
His Blazing Automatics: 2016 Is the Year of Keanu Reeves
“Don’t call it a comeback, call it a Reeves-urrection.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Agnes of God’ (Norman Jewison, 1985)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Chilean Cinema 2015: We Are What We Are by Jaime Grijalba
Chilean writer Jaime Grijalba ranks the 2015 theatrical releases of his country.
BFI Southbank’s Jean-Luc Godard Retrospective: Highlights from Anna Karina’s ‘Bande à part’ Q&A
BFI Southbank: Anna Karina on Jean-Luc Godard and “Bande à part”
Lust, Caution: Paul Morrissey’s ‘Women in Revolt’
“‘Women in Revolt’ stands in defiance of the majority of transgender-specific cinema…”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The One I Love’ (Charlie McDowell, 2014)
“A fever dream of marital discontent, Charlie McDowell’s ‘The One I Love’ tackles a failing marriage with sci-fi panache.”
Commanding Leads and Creative Insults in Colin Thompson’s ‘It’s Us’
“Energized by two charismatic leads, It’s Us beautifully explores the process of early 30s decision-making and how one deals with the consequences of questionable actions.”
The Dueling Cavalier: On (Re)-Reading Raymond Chandler for the First Time
“It was my first time reading Chandler, and yet it didn’t feel like it: I’d devoured so many of his influences that the writing seemed familiar, even if there was nothing quite like getting it from the original source.”
‘Whisper of the Heart’ and the Tragedy of Yoshifumi Kondō
“What would the world of animation be like if Yoshifumi Kondō had lived to make another film?”
We Failed This Film: Joe Wright’s ‘Hanna’
“Atonement may always be widely regarded as Wright’s best work, but Hanna is his bravest and most authentic (and should be remembered as such).”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Return of the Jedi’ and the Sexy Bikini
“Why can’t Leia be into gold bikinis or even that fantasy of submission?”
The Weight of Ratio: Xavier Dolan’s ‘Mommy’ (2015)
“As a filmmaker struggling with her own ideas, it’s a little upsetting to see a man (of the same age) come out with a fully formed idea of his own kind of cinema.”
‘Joy’ Sells You When It Becomes More Streamlined
“In comparing the new film with American Hustle and The Fighter, Russell’s frenetic style succeeds in the previous two through a shifting focus that feels at bit more at home in the context of a sprawling ensemble piece.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The Rose Tattoo’ (Daniel Mann, 1955)
“An incredible failure, ‘The Rose Tattoo’ has value in understanding the confines of the production code and the importance of good direction.”
Eye on Iñárritu: The Misguided Maximalism of ‘Birdman’
“The problem of Birdman isn’t its maximalism, but the direction in which it’s aimed.”
Eye on Iñárritu: ‘Biutiful’ – The Existential Dissonance of a Life in Turmoil
“While Iñárritu’s tactics can become tiresome over multiple views, he is perhaps one of the greatest, single-experience filmmakers working today.”
Eye on Iñárritu: ‘Babel’ or (‘Crash’ with Delusions of Global Grandeur)
“Babel is Crash with delusions of global grandeur; a film that masquerades as a sweeping, humanistic epic, but is instead an ultimately hammy, superficial and miserablist game of connect-the-dots.”