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.”
Berlinale 2016 Review: The Terrifying Future of War – Alex Gibney’s ‘Zero Days’
“Like a drunken boxer shoving people outside of a nightclub, Gibney’s loud mouth is supported by his ability to knock you out.”
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 Review: Rama Thiaw’s ‘The Revolution Won’t Be Televised’
“Thiaw’s control of frenetic, vibrant energy dictates every frame of The Revolution Won’t Be Televised.”
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 Review: Gianfranco Rosi’s ‘Fuocommare’
“Though separated by less than 100 miles of water, the lives of those lucky citizens of Lampedusa and those living in war-torn Africa are worlds apart.”
Berlinale 2016 Review: Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s ‘Creepy’
“Kurosawa possesses an almost supernatural ability to control his audience. “
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.”
We Failed This Film: Richard Ayoade’s ‘The Double’
A Series by Dylan Moses Griffin
Berlinale 2016: ‘Hail, Caesar!’ – A Serious Investigation of Film
“Like the films it contains, Hail, Caesar! mystifies its audience via otherworldly charm and magnificent grandeur — it is not a love letter to anything, it is a hymnal to the divine spirit of film.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘School Daze’ (Spike Lee, 1988)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
The Terrible Love of Werner Herzog’s ‘Grizzly Man’
“Faith is an admirable quality in the age of secular reasoning. How can a person believe in something that is not there? Only with their whole hearts.”
Martin Scorsese’s ‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore’ and Why His Female Protagonist Matters
“For a legendary director known more for gangsters, hookers, and tough guys, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore stands as a remarkable chapter in the Scorsese canon.”
A Serious Investigation: The Coen Brothers’ ‘Raising Arizona’ (1987)
Leading up to the release of Hail, Caesar!, Vague Visages explores the work of Joel and Ethan Coen.
A Serious Investigation: The Coen Brothers’ ‘Blood Simple’ (1984)
Leading up to the release of Hail, Caesar!, Vague Visages explores the work of Joel and Ethan Coen.
A Serious Investigation: The Coen Brothers’ ‘Barton Fink’ (1991)
Leading up to the release of Hail, Caesar!, Vague Visages explores the work of Joel and Ethan Coen.
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Black Girl’ (Ousmane Sembène, 1966)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Review: Burr Steers’ ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’
“The morality and plot of the film, despite the hand-holding, are impossible to follow, as wars, balls, tea parties, schemes, and bizarrely combative discussions between sisters all feel as equally light and dreary as the next, like equal servings of spoiled plain yogurt.”
A Serious Investigation: A Fargoan on the Coen Brothers’ ‘Fargo’ (1996)
Leading up to the release of Hail, Caesar!, Vague Visages explores the work of Joel and Ethan Coen.