Why Criticism: So, You’re Covering a Film Festival?
A Column on Film Criticism by Justine A. Smith
Studio Ghibli Forever: An Initiation – ‘The Tale of the Princess Kaguya’
“As in many Studio Ghibli films before it, the male director is speaking directly to his male audience, pleading with them to treat the women in their lives with the respect and equality they deserve.”
A Trip to the Sensory Deprivation Tank: Comparing ‘Fringe’ and ‘Stranger Things’
“Perhaps, in an alternate-parallel-upside-down universe somewhere, Fringe was a massive sensation on Netflix or Amazon Prime.”
‘Modern Times’: Charlie Chaplin Finds Freedom in the Age of Industry
“‘Modern Times’ is emblematic of a ‘Hollywood realism,’ with a rather immaculate industrial setting, strategically tattered clothing and deliberately designed destitution.”
John Huston’s Legacy and ‘The Dead’ (1987)
John Huston’s talent was in the insinuation of the unseen environment lying beyond closed doors. Even in lesser films, like Key Largo, one can feel the cruel and merciless outdoor fighting beyond the set. Our comfort in life is temporary — an endless guerilla battle where humanity has been pitted against […]
Punk Celebrates Its 40th Birthday with a Night at the Movies
“Relying heavily on the sheer talent of its leading performers, and the loud boisterousness of the music that defined an era, Alex Cox’s ode to punk is pure Anarchy in the UK.”
What Has Been Seen Cannot Be Unseen: Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s ‘Pulse’
“The internet is nor symptom nor cure; it simply exists as another conduit for the best and worst habits we have.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The Docks of New York’ (Josef von Sternberg, 1928)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Studio Ghibli Forever: An Initiation – ‘The Wind Rises’
“Almost as if something out of a Japanese elementary school history class, Miyazaki’s last Studio Ghibli film leaves me with a great sense of numbness rather than the invigorating wonder I have come to expect from the master of anime.”
Why Criticism: Bechdel and Comics as Film Criticism
A Column on Film Criticism by Justine A. Smith (@redroomrantings)
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Suicide Club’ (Sion Sono, 2001)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Studio Ghibli Forever: An Initiation – ‘Ponyo’
“Perhaps not the film for the adventurous young adult, Ponyo proves that remarkable visual inventiveness more-than makes up for candy-sweet morals and glass-fragile plot lines.”
Why Criticism: Jean Epstein and Photogénie
A Column on Film Criticism by Justine A. Smith
‘Indignation’ Has a Palpable Humanity to Its Fury
“Where Indignation deviates a little from its otherwise classical trappings is in its structure.”
Cult Vault, Part Three: On Campy, Queer Figureheads In ‘Mommie Dearest’ and ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’
“So, what is it about these two figureheads of cult film that makes them so iconically and definitively camp?”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Cold Fish’ (Sion Sono, 2010)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Studio Ghibli Forever: An Initiation – ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’
“Abandoning messages of environmentalism and nonviolence, ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ abandons the narrative moralities that typify the director’s style.”
Why Criticism: The Inexpressible ‘House of Psychotic Women’ by Kier-La Janisse
A Column on Film Criticism by Justine A. Smith
The Aural Horrors of Dario Argento’s ‘Suspiria’
“Can hearing something be scarier than seeing something?”
Two Drink Minimum: Mandie Fletcher’s ‘Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie’
“It’s like hanging out with your spoiled great aunt at Thanksgiving for an hour until she gets plastered and ruins everything.”
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