Photo Essay by Andy Witchger: Dessa at Minneapolis’ First Avenue
Dessa, Minneapolis’ multi-hyphenate MC, took the stage at a sold out First Avenue on Friday night, April 6, 2018.
Las Palmas Film Festival Review: Ya-chuan Hsiao’s ‘Father to Son’
“The father’s strength lies in knowing when to ‘protect the heart by pretending to have no heart,’ and the moment when he chooses to do so is devastating.”
Review: John Krasinski’s ‘A Quiet Place’
“‘A Quiet Place’ masterfully builds tension, pays it off in unexpectedly satisfying ways and provokes genuine emotional investment in its characters with precious few traditional tools at its disposal.”
Vague Visages Writers’ Room: Weekend Vibes 4.6.18
Weekend Vibes is a Friday column about streaming recommendations, new release hype and entertainment events.
Album Review: Bambara ‘Shadow on Everything’
“If David Lynch had set ‘Twin Peaks’ in rural Georgia, then Bambara could have composed the soundtrack.”
Vague Visages Short Stories: Forty Whacks by Suri Parmar
Vague Visages Short Stories #9: Forty Whacks by Suri Parmar (Toronto, Canada)
Review: Lynne Ramsay’s ‘You Were Never Really Here’
“Ramsay and Phoenix eloquently communicate the trappings of depression, and how it grips the sufferer.”
Seeing the Giallo Truth in Dario Argento’s ‘Four Flies on Grey Velvet’
“One of the great characteristics of ‘Four Flies on Grey Velvet’ and numerous other giallo films is their willingness to destabilize traditional notions of subjectivity.”
An Interview with Independent Filmmaker Caveh Zahedi
“I like failure because it’s spiritualizing. We think we know what will make us happy, but we’re usually wrong. Failure forces us to rethink our salvational strategies.”
The Immediacy of Design: An Interview with ‘Good Time’ Production Designer Sam Lisenco
Sam Ankenbauer and Production Designer Sam Lisenco Discuss ‘Good Time’
Parody of Power: Benny and Josh Safdie’s ‘Good Time’
“By exposing the falsehood of one’s presumption of power, the Safdies awaken viewers to the inescapable consequences of their actions and weaknesses, along with the vulnerability of their own fate.”
Living in the Model: The Comforts and Constrictions of Civilized Society in Tim Burton’s ‘Beetlejuice’
“Indeed, in a film that so gleefully satirizes and undermines any attempts to impose order on existence, Betelgeuse can be regarded as a subversive savior for the families of Ronald Reagan’s America as much as a harbinger of destruction.”
Vague Visages Writers’ Room: Weekend Vibes 3.30.18
Weekend Vibes is a Friday column about streaming recommendations, new release hype and entertainment events.
Review: Max Winkler’s ‘Flower’
“The story feints towards transgressive ideas but lacks the commitment for maximum impact.”
Vague Visages Writers’ Room: Formative Films
In the Vague Visages Writers’ Room on Slack, freelancers were asked to comment about films that influenced their formative years.
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s ‘The Red Shoes’
“‘The Red Shoes’ dynamically crosses from reality to fantasy, befitting a film that is itself a grand fiction, simultaneously reflecting and critiquing a true reality. That’s the power of cinema — that’s the power of ‘The Red Shoes.’”
Every Fruit Has Its Secret: Ken Russell’s ‘Women in Love’
“‘Women in Love’ maintains, despite the passage of nearly 50 years, a thoroughly modern aura.”
Small Tokens of Faith in John Ford’s ‘The Fugitive’ and Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’
“In between Ford’s wide shots and Scorsese’s close-ups, there is an effort by each filmmaker to make faith real.”
Review: Paco Plaza’s ‘Verónica’
“The shrieking masses are right on the money for once. Plaza’s tale of teen possession is powerfully scary.”
Vague Visages Writers’ Room: Weekend Vibes 3.23.18
Weekend Vibes is a Friday column about streaming recommendations, new release hype and entertainment events.