Of Love and Other Demons: A Lesbian Vampire in ‘Daughters of Darkness’ (Harry Kümel, 1971)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
VOD Review: Todd Strauss-Schulson’s ‘The Final Girls’
“A surprisingly funny and sharp-witted caricature of mass-produced horror, The Final Girls is the product of cult film iconography and our culture’s obsession with the ironically good.”
London Film Festival 2015 Review: Bao Nguyen’s ‘Live from New York!’
“The documentary suggests that the makers of Saturday Night Live, in all likelihood, probably don’t have contempt for their audience. It’s harder to say that’s the case for the team behind Live from New York!”
His Blazing Automatics: The Unrelenting Horror of David Robert Mitchell’s ‘It Follows’
A Column by Dylan Moses Griffin
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ (Jim Sharman, 1975)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
VOD Review: Bryan Carberry and J. Clay Tweel’s ‘Finders Keepers’
“Plunging into the depths of love, loss, addiction, family and life aspirations, Finders Keepers is far more than the story of a smoked left foot.”
London Film Festival 2015 Review: Hèctor Hernández Vicens’ ‘The Corpse of Anna Fritz’
“Where this slick and sick debut falters is in its leanings towards repetition, with the same arguments played out over and over, and even some of the same set-piece conceits seeing repeat play.”
We Failed This Film: Ryan Gosling’s ‘Lost River’
A Column by Dylan Moses Griffin
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Blood for Dracula’ (Paul Morrissey, 1974)
“‘Blood for Dracula’ is confusing thematically, but I think that’s part of the point. As pulpy as it is, Morrissey’s film strongly confronts and challenges our ideas of purity and gender.”
Review: Douglas Tirola’s ‘Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon’
“Expanding on the standard documentary outline, director Douglas Tirola strings a series of in-depth interviews together with original National Lampoon magazine artwork, album excerpts and stage show footage — providing enough tits, drugs and comedy to satiate fans young and old.”
‘The Martian’ Is a Surprisingly Light-Hearted Success for Ridley Scott
“As a piece of sweeping populist entertainment, The Martian is a great success, despite a couple of issues that perturb throughout.”
The Dueling Cavalier: Gravity of Violence in ‘Sicario’
A Column by Max Bledstein
His Blazing Automatics: Ramin Bahrani’s ‘Chop Shop’ and the New Americana Film Movement
A Column by Dylan Moses Griffin
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Smooth Talk’ (Joyce Chopra, 1985)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Review: Andrew Haigh’s “45 Years”
“45 Years is unconcerned with the “cuteness” of love — Haigh wants to know what makes it tick.”
Review: David Chen’s ‘The Primary Instinct’
“A remarkably pervasive journey through one man’s search for meaning in his own life, The Primary Instinct captures an utterly captivating performance in a very standard way.”
Review: Baltasar Kormákur’s ‘Everest’
“As impressive and excruciating as Hall and his team’s journey was, Everest fails to capture the specifics.”
We Failed This Film: Scott Cooper’s ‘Out of the Furnace’
A Series by Dylan Moses Griffin
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Bullhead’ (Michaël R. Roskam, 2011)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
VOD Review: ‘The Overnight’ Is a Sincere Sex Farce
“The Buñuelian meets the Duplassian in The Overnight, a chamber comedy of social and sexual manners from director Patrick Brice (2014’s Creep).”