His Blazing Automatics: Does ‘Hardcore Henry’ Revolutionize the Cinematic Action Hero?
A Column on Action Films by Dylan Moses Griffin
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant’ (R.W. Fassbinder, 1972)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Review: Gabriel Mascaro’s ‘Neon Bull’
“Humans and beasts share a primal bond as they occupy the land and the frame together. Mascaro thus internationalizes a strain of the French cinéma du corps as he weds it with the emerging art-house aesthetic of digital realism, crossing borders and species to create something extraordinary.”
Review: Marc Abraham’s ‘I Saw the Light’
“Abraham tells a tragic story but fails to shine a light on the genesis of Hank the man.”
When Magic Was Real: Jean Cocteau’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’
“Cocteau’s magical realism, with flight and cursed beasts side-by-side with the economic woes of an importer-exporter, gives his fantastic elements gravity while letting the humanist tale of greed lilt like music.”
Kinoteka Polish Film Festival: Jerzy Skolimowski’s ‘Barrier’ and the Sneaky Cameo
Josh Slater-Williams on Polish Director Jerzy Skolimowski
Review: Mickey Keating’s ‘Darling’ (2015)
A Column by Q.V. Hough
His Blazing Automatics: Please Give Us More Gina Carano Action Films
A Column on Action Films by Dylan Moses Griffin
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The Marriage of Maria Braun’ (R.W. Fassbinder, 1979)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Dudley’s World: ‘Victoria’ and the Surprising Comforts of a One-Take Thriller
A Column by Jordan Brooks
Devil in the Details: On Guillermo del Toro and ‘Crimson Peak’
“Perhaps he is finding a way to explore the realm of the fantastic in a new way, a more honest way. Honest, but even more horrifying.”
Cult Vault, Part One: Female Sexuality as Camp Comedy in ‘Showgirls’ and ‘Burlesque’
“In a camp performance, female sexuality can be turned back around to reveal that these traditionally patriarchal ideals aren’t always as attractive as imagined.”
‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ Turns Snow White Into Keyser Söze
“Considering how little ‘Winter’s War’ really has to do with its predecessor and subject, they might as well just make her the lead for a third film.”
‘Southbound’ and the Anatomy of a Horror Anthology
“If the director’s approach to the material isn’t to your liking — say he’s too harsh to his characters or revels in gore for gore’s sake — a new direction, even within the confines of the broad horror genre, is just around the corner.”
DMG’s Jeff Nichols RetroSpecial: ‘Midnight Special’ (2016)
“Jeff Nichols remains one of the greatest working American directors, and no studio interference can ever dilute that.”
The Feminine Grotesque #7: She’s a Loaded Gun – On ‘The Last Seduction’
“As Bridget Gregory in ‘The Last Seduction,’ Linda Fiorentino is like the shock of hearing a gunshot in the dead of night. She embodies, more than any other character, the ethos of the modern femme fatale.”
Review: Robert Budreau’s ‘Born to Be Blue’
“Budreau is smart enough to illuminate the non-existent divide between the master performer and the man who sticks a needle in his arms, as Baker knows that he needs to stay clean to keep working, but only heroin can numb the pain.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Dark Habits’ (Pedro Almodóvar, 1983)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Review: Alice Winocour’s ‘Disorder’
“It is rare for a film to look objectively at war’s after effects and the violence it instills on its participants, and yet Alice Winocour’s Disorder is not concerned with pity or ferocity.”
The Allegory of Emotional Abuse in Tahmineh Milani’s ‘Two Women’
“From the safe, warm college campus scenarios that unfold in bathrooms, bus stops and classrooms, we see fringes of an increasingly conservative religious movement nipping at the edges of the screen.”