Vague Visages Short Stories: The Caveat by Dan Thorn
Vague Visages Short Stories #5: The Caveat by Dan Thorn (Calgary, Alberta)
Album Review: Blood and Glass ‘Punk Shadows’
“While ‘Punk Shadows’ may not evoke the well-worn clichés of mohawks and safety pins, it does offer listeners a bracing dose of originality in the form of nine wildly eclectic tunes.”
Playlist Review: Drake ‘More Life’
“By taking the pressure off himself, Drake has freed himself up to produce his most spry, self-assured work yet.”
Right Hand Ladies: FEUD ‘More, or Less’ (Recap)
“The American Dream is alive and well in ‘Feud,’ though it may be buried deep below the surface of in-fighting, old rules and men that can’t see the tide rolling in.”
The Anti-Romance of Agnès Varda’s ‘La Pointe Courte’
“The married couple’s conversation in ‘La Pointe Courte’ is a spellbinding predecessor to Richard Linklater’s ‘Before Trilogy’ and further proof that no great film needs ‘action’ to be great.”
Review: Terrence Malick’s ‘Song to Song’
“‘Song to Song’ finds itself in its vast mercies. It balances tragedies and heartbreaks with life’s many graces.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: Jacques Demy’s ‘Lola’
“Like his characters, Demy’s camera in ‘Lola’ moves everywhere but goes nowhere; it’s a paradoxically headlong hesitation.”
Not Your Trophy: Deer Imagery in Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’
“‘Get Out’ explores many notions: the duplicitous nature of liberal racism, the cumulative damage of microaggressions and appropriation, assimilation versus acculturation. But it’s the deer imagery that continue to elude audiences.”
Album Review: The Shins ‘Heartworms’
“Even if Mercer never ends up creating his ‘Pet Sounds,’ he seems to be settling nicely into his ‘Sunflower’ years.”
Supporting Actress: FEUD ‘Mommie Dearest’ (Recap)
“Bette, Joan, the children, Victor… we all have a mother. And whether we like her or not, she has a part of us.”
Political and Social Conventions in Jacques Demy’s ‘The Umbrellas of Cherbourg’
“Fifty-three years after initial release, ‘The Umbrellas of Cherbourg’ continues to be a formally and contextually innovative French New Wave production; a film that has influenced contemporary directors such as Barry Jenkins, Damien Chazelle and Joachim Trier.”
Looking Back at Camp Crystal Lake: Mike Thorn and Anya Stanley on the ‘Friday the 13th’ Franchise
A.M. Novak and Mike Thorn Talk ‘Friday the 13th’!
Album Review: Sleaford Mods ‘English Tapas’
“They are the band Britain needs at this moment in time.”
Horror’s the Future: FEUD ‘The Other Woman’ (Recap)
“‘Feud’ seems to be driven as much by male insecurity and fear of failure as it does anything to do with the women.”
Book Review: Jeff Gold’s ‘Total Chaos: The Story of The Stooges / As Told by Iggy Pop‘
“‘Total Chaos’ is that rare thing: a good idea whose final product far eclipses its original premise.”
Technological Tease: Virtual Reality
“I foresee that VR will eventually become a key asset of filmmaking, putting itself right alongside sound, color, digital and CGI as an essential staple of the industry.”
Vague Visages Is FilmStruck: François Truffaut’s ‘Shoot the Piano Player’
“Truffaut and Coutard punctuate ‘Shoot the Piano Player’ with a vibrant rendering of its wintry Parisian setting, where the city is an ever-present visual marker…”
Album Review: Temples ‘Volcano’
“‘Volcano’ is overflowing with lyrics that are evocative and often alluringly nonsensical.”
Revisiting the Legacy and Style of the Gravity-Defying Nicholas Brothers
“At a moment that calls for more inclusivity on all levels, the fact that we still have access to the Nicholas Brothers’ work is important.”
True/False 2017 Review: Fan Jian’s ‘Still Tomorrow’
“No matter which storyline is in play, the best thing about ‘Still Tomorrow’ is its subject.”