Foetus Under Quarantine: An Interview with Musician JG Thirlwell
Leslie Hatton Interviews Musician JG Thirlwell
‘Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045’: Unsustainable Revival
“‘Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045’ attempts to move the series into full octane action but pushes its philosophical roots to the side.”
Alike in Their Way: (Un)happy Families in ‘Teorema’ and ‘Visitor Q’
“While ‘Teorema’ and ‘Visitor Q’ share a common DNA, what’s most striking is the way each film uses The Stranger. Both figures bring with them a kind of new order, as if they were missing puzzle pieces for the families that they integrate themselves into.”
Review: Brandon Christensen’s ‘Z’
“As a genre exercise, ‘Z’ shows promise for what Christensen might do with a higher budget.”
Review: Lorcan Finnegan’s ‘Vivarium’
“Taken purely at its basest form, ‘Vivarium’ is a terrifying isolation horror movie that goes for the jugular.”
12 Angry Films: Sidney Lumet on Justice #11 – ‘Night Falls on Manhattan’
“In ‘Night Falls on Manhattan,’ Lumet arrives at acceptance — the system is what it is. He is resigned to his inability to chronicle any meaningful change through his work.”
Review: Marc Collin’s ‘Le choc du futur’
“One of the most accomplished elements of ‘Le choc du futur,’ which is Collin’s feature debut (he is better known as covers project Nouvelle Vague’s co-founder), is the way the film engages in an ongoing conversation on the nature of art and how we consume it as well as create it.”
Review: Jeff Barnaby’s ‘Blood Quantum’
“Politically motivated but never preachy, ‘Blood Quantum’ is a zombie movie for the ages that honors the grandest traditions of the genre while remaining true to its own unique essence.”
Edward Yang’s ‘Yi Yi’ in the Era of Social Distancing
“‘Yi Yi’ is a film for grown ups in the sense that the characters have lived long enough to understand how memories of people can stay with them over the course of their lives. Keeping your distance from people is not the same as giving up on them.”
Review: Pablo Larraín’s ‘Ema’
“‘Ema’ is a challenge to the walls we build around ourselves, to the baggage we leave behind for our children and the folly of the damage we can do to each other.”
What a Way to Invade Earth: Science and Crisis According to Quatermass
“Quatermass is an eccentric antihero who presages Doctor Who in his singular disregard for established mores and the niceties of procedure…”
Review: Rachel Harrison Gordon’s ‘Broken Bird’
“‘Broken Bird’ may be only 10 minutes long, but the rhythms, characterizations and thematic interests make it feel like a richly detailed feature-length accomplishment.”
Tribeca 2020 Documentary Round-Up: Pro Forma(t)
Tribeca Film Festival 2020: Marshall Shaffer on ‘Pray Away, ‘Socks on Fire, ‘499’ and ‘Through the Night’
Interview with ‘Moffie’ Filmmaker Oliver Hermanus
Alistair Ryder Interviews South African Filmmaker Oliver Hermanus About ‘Moffie’
The Ten Commandments: Observation and Humilty in Kazuhiro Sôda’s ‘Inland Sea’
“By focusing on three elderly Ushimado residents, Sôda has unconsciously managed to both comment on the present and the past, as the subjects seem like relics or museum articles that have come to life through monochromatic photography.”
Album Review: JG Thirlwell and Simon Steensland ‘Oscillospira’
“In conjunction with the religious references of the track names, the music on ‘Oscillospira’ evokes the drama of creation and destruction on a grand scale.”
Foreign Objects: ‘Swallow’ Is a Convincing Feature Debut for Director Carlo Mirabella-Davis
“Haley Bennett’s central performance is career-best work.”
Review: Kirill Sokolov’s ‘Why Don’t You Just Die!’
“Revolving around an encounter in a single Russian apartment, Kirill Sokolov’s ‘Why Don’t You Just Die?’ is an electrifyingly-kinetic black comedy with densely-packed homages to international action cinema and a satirical commentary about Russian society.”
Review: Steve Elkins’ ‘Echoes of the Invisible’
“‘Echoes of the Invisible’ is both calming and exhilarating in equal measure.”
‘Death Race 2000’: Camp Then and Now
“Perhaps the exaggerated disregard for human life in the name of national pride, entertainment and prosperity in ‘Death Race 2000’ is a timely trigger for reassessing priorities as we await a return to normalcy.”