Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Bill Arceneaux on Woody Allen’s ‘Bananas’
“Maybe the best way to counter ridiculousness is with ridiculousness.”
Review: Azazel Jacobs’ ‘The Lovers’
“According to Jacobs, romantic love is a negative equation wherein passion plus time equals complacency.”
‘Twin Peaks’ and Beyond the Alphabet
“The failure of language permeates ‘Twin Peaks,’
an abundance of verbiage disintegrating under the looming and ageless presence in the woods.”
‘Stardust Memories’: Woody Allen’s Comic Catharsis
“He may be suggesting that emotional and social anxiety is widespread and prevalent, but the key distinction is that not everyone can translate these uncertainties into comedy gold.”
The Joke Is on Us: Rick Alverson’s ‘The Comedy’
“Audiences aren’t meant to hate Swanson, but to understand him and people like him, along with ourselves.”
Devious Dialogues: Anya Stanley and Mike Thorn on the ‘Alien’ Franchise
Devious Dialogues: A Horror-Themed Column by A.M. Novak and Mike Thorn
Cyberflunk 2017: Rupert Sanders’ ‘Ghost in the Shell’
“One of the hallmarks of good cyberpunk is the exploration of humanity in a post-modern world where technology is the dominant force. This philosophical probe falls short in Rupert Sanders’ ‘Ghost in the Shell.'”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Jeremy Carr on Jean Vigo’s ‘L’Atalante’
“‘L’Atalante’ is a movie defined by it moments, images and emotive strength, not its ostensible plot.”
Tribeca Film Festival Review: Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán’s ‘Sambá’
“‘Sambá’ succeeds most when it draws inspiration from its setting and hooks the audiences with hard questions about crime and responsibility.”
Tribeca Film Festival Review: Tim Golden and Ross McDonnell’s ‘ELIÁN’
“It’s a miracle that Golden and McDonnell were able to create such a coherent document out of what appears to be bureaucratic chaos.”
Devious Dialogues: Mike Thorn and Anya Stanley on ‘The Exorcist’ Franchise
Devious Dialogues: A Horror-Themed Column by Mike Thorn and A.M. Novak
Tribeca Film Festival Review: Guillaume Canet’s ‘Rock’n Roll’
“Canet’s performance seems to come from a place of real insecurity, and the resulting film plays out like an externalized catharsis.”
Why We Make Films: On Kirsten Johnson’s ‘Cameraperson’
“‘Cameraperson’ is about genuine human connections, about the elements that connect us all, regardless of culture, geography, race or language.”
Tribeca Film Festival Reviews: Men with Guns – ‘Sweet Virginia’ and ‘Hondros’
“What ‘Sweet Virginia’ and ‘Hondros’ have in common is the notion that men with guns aren’t as brave or bloodthirsty as they seem.”
Tribeca Film Festival Review: Drew Xanthopoulos’ ‘The Sensitives’
“‘The Sensitives’ is a gentle and affecting window into the isolated prison cell that becomes a sensitive person’s life.”
Tribeca Film Festival Review: Zefrey Throwell and Josephine Decker’s ‘Flames’
“At times, Zefrey and Josephine seem more in love with their own clever filmmaking than they are with each other.”
Delay in the Reflection: On Richard Kelly’s Definition of a Post 9/11 World in ‘Southland Tales’
“To catch the eye of ‘Southland Tales’ is to look back on our past and future simultaneously, on the limitations of our technology and the humanity that screeches through it.”
Coming of Age on a Volcano: The Quiet Feminist Power of Jayro Bustamante’s ‘Ixcanul’
“With ‘Ixcanul,’ Bustamante presents an honest and complex mother-daughter companionship that is sorely lacking in our current film and television landscape.”
Las Palmas Film Festival Reviews: ‘Still Life’ and ‘Knife in the Clear Water’
“These allegorical films remind of the original connections that we have lost.”
‘Mulholland Dr.’ 4K Restoration: Another Look Behind Winkie’s Diner
“Just as with life, ‘Mulholland Dr.’ is unexplainable.”