Mannhunting: Exploring Masculinity in the Films of Michael Mann – Part Two
Mannhunting #2 by Bill Bria: “In Mann’s duality of man, cop and robber are, in Stevenson’s words, ‘radically both’ one and the same.”
Review: Chaitanya Tamhane’s ‘The Disciple’
“Without being judgmental, ‘The Disciple’ succeeds in questioning the age-old notion of sacrifice as a means to attaining higher goals.”
Intentionally Disposable Art: The Teen Agers Films
“What do we do with the Teen Agers movies, which were no more intended to be seen 75 years later than a dinner cooked in 1947 was intended to be eaten in 2021?”
Fantasy and Reality in Ben Hozie’s ‘PVT Chat’
“Hozie nails the greener-grass metaphor in ‘PVT Chat’ with a clarity that reminded me of the last lines of James Joyce’s ‘Araby.'”
Review: Chris Baugh’s ‘Boys from County Hell’
“‘Boys from County Hell’ isn’t really about vampires so much as it’s about being proud of where you come from, and of the bonds forged there.”
Arrow Review: Justin McConnell’s ‘Clapboard Jungle: Surviving the Independent Film Business’
“‘Clapboard Jungle’ could not only benefit up-and-coming filmmakers, but also young writers who are serious about pursuing a career in film criticism. Passion isn’t enough. You need to understand the business side of it all…”
Netflix Review: Ryuichi Hiroki’s ‘Ride or Die’
“Plenty of double-themed movies have been made over the years, but ‘Ride or Die’ seems like an ideal companion piece to ‘Persona.’ Both films are sexually provocative, and both require multiple viewings to better understand the perspectives of each female protagonist.”
Review: Travis Stevens’ ‘Jakob’s Wife’
“Aside from being a furiously feminist film, ‘Jakob’s Wife’ is mordantly funny, gruesomely gory and gloriously unpredictable.”
‘Valentina’: Cássio Pereira dos Santos’ Refreshing Debut Feature on Brazil’s Trans Youth
“Though somewhat imperfect, Pereira dos Santos’ first feature shows promise and is a testament to his ability to portray queer characters with granular subtlety and political meaning.”
Netflix Review: Hoon-Jung Park’s ‘Night in Paradise’
“‘Night in Paradise’ isn’t the ideal movie for locked-down streamers, but it’s one that challenges audiences to find silver linings in dark life experiences.”
Embracing Imperfection: ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ Turns 20
“‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ is heartbreaking and life-affirming in equal measure, which is a difficult balance to pull off, particularly in a movie that frequently treats its protagonist quite harshly.”
The Master’s Voice: Gregory Monro’s ‘Kubrick by Kubrick’
“‘Kubrick by Kubrick’ has the effect of placing the notoriously particular and media-shy subject in the room with the eager listener/viewer.”
Why Criticism: The Difficulties of Depicting Genocide in ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ and ‘La Llorona’
“Roger Ebert once wrote ‘it’s not what a film is about, it’s how it is about it,’ and it’s this phrase that I usually return to when thinking about cinema that deals with humanity’s worst impulses.”
Caught in a Bad Romance: On Psychological Horror and Visual Design in ‘Nina Wu’
“‘Nina Wu’ isn’t just a ‘#MeToo thriller’ or ‘slow burn cinema,’ it’s a progressive spin on psychological horror and a master class in visceral visual design.”
North Dakota Environmental Rights Film Festival Review: Shannon Kring’s ‘End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock’
“End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock’ belongs to a tradition of activist filmmaking that draws from investigative journalism as well as from artistic principles and techniques.”
How Questions of Exploitation Stain the Triumph of ‘Grey Gardens’
“The utter sadness of Little and Big Edie’s story is why ‘Grey Gardens’ is so moving — direct cinema allowed this story to be explored with a level of intimacy previously unavailable.”
Mannhunting: Exploring Masculinity in the Films of Michael Mann – Part One
Mannhunting #1 by Bill Bria: “The protagonists and antagonists in Mann’s films tend to be mirror images of each other, all of them caught within masculinity’s shackles.”
Somewhere, There Is a Shelter: Queer Futurity in Faraz Shariat’s ‘No Hard Feelings’
“‘No Hard Feelings’ takes queerness as a given, capturing queer joy onscreen while never losing sight of the stark realities of migrants seeking refuge in a still highly xenophobic Europe.”
An Elegy of a Turbulent Phase: On Sudhir Mishra’s ‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi’
“‘Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi’ bears the unmistakable stamp of an artist at the very apogee of his creative prowess.”
Collecting Movies with Toby Jones
Greg Carlson Interviews Filmmaker Toby Jones About Movie Collecting