Eye on Iñárritu: ‘Biutiful’ – The Existential Dissonance of a Life in Turmoil
“While Iñárritu’s tactics can become tiresome over multiple views, he is perhaps one of the greatest, single-experience filmmakers working today.”
Eye on Iñárritu: ‘Babel’ or (‘Crash’ with Delusions of Global Grandeur)
“Babel is Crash with delusions of global grandeur; a film that masquerades as a sweeping, humanistic epic, but is instead an ultimately hammy, superficial and miserablist game of connect-the-dots.”
Eye on Iñárritu: With ‘Amores perros,’ Alejandro González Iñárritu Kicked Off a Masterful Career
“Amores Perros clocks in at 150 minutes, yet not a single frame feels unnecessary.”
It’s Time to Retire ‘Overrated’
“It’s understandable for viewers to call something ‘overrated’ when they feel let down, however, critics should strike the word from their vocabularies.”
Eye on Iñárritu: ’21 Grams’ Mistakes Suffering for Meaning
“A tiresome example of early 2000s prestige filmmaking, 21 Grams holds the impressions of grand gestures without any of the substance.”
We Failed This Film: Scott Frank’s ‘A Walk Among the Tombstones’
“A Walk Among the Tombstones beholds one of the most understated and unique performances from action hero-era Liam Neeson.”
Of Love and Other Demons: Michael Rowe’s ‘Early Winter’ (2015)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Review: Jason Moore’s ‘Sisters’
“Sisters is a house party film told by and from the perspective of women, and that is precisely why it succeeds.”
‘The Profound Desires of the Gods’ Is a Great Example of Film Excess
“Throughout much of his 60s work, Imamura often examined the balance between ordinary and unordinary people, and in The Profound Desire of the Gods, he finds an exceptional way of highlighting the extremity of this concept.”
A Humanistic Conclusion: Fargo ‘Palindrome’ (Recap)
“Even removed from the extraterrestrials and murderous Midwestern crime families, the world of Fargo is a violent and disturbing one, and Hank attempts to do his part by creating an Esperanto-like universal language.”
Some Great Directorial Debuts You May Have Missed in 2015
Here’s Josh Slater-Williams on four underrated gems of the past year.
Review: Tetsuya Nakashima’s ‘The World of Kanako’
“For all its frenetic editing, energetic performances and twisty narrative structure, there is sadly an elephant in the room, and that’s the film’s treatment (or mistreatment) of women.”
2015 in Review: Noah Baumbach’s ‘Mistress America’
“Mistress America revels in the romance of being young before carefully setting its characters back down into the real world.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Dead Ringers’ (David Cronenberg, 1988)
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Conspiracy Theories: Eli Roth’s ‘Knock Knock’ and Chilewood
Jaime Grijalba, a Chilean writer, comments on the exploitation of his country’s cinematic landscape.
Interview with Philippe Falardeau, Director of ‘Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre’
Justine A. Smith Interviews Philippe Falardeau
Review: Terence Davies’ ‘Sunset Song’
“Featuring a standout performance from Agyness Dean and some of the best landscape photography since Mr. Turner, Sunset Song strikes a balance between toil and ecstasy that is at once overwhelming and completely uplifting.”
A Surreal Massacre: Fargo ‘The Castle’ (Recap)
“Like the film, as much as Fargo looks like it’s set in our universe, dashes of the absurd emphasize that the series works under its own logic.”
Like Its Characters’ Christmas Plans, ‘Krampus’ Is More Fun in Concept Than Execution
“As it is, it’s like a stocking crammed with too many little bits and bobs that came to mind for the stocking-stuffer, ultimately pleasing no one like one or two well-considered big gifts would have.”
Lust, Caution: Barbara Hammer’s ‘Nitrate Kisses’
Lust, Caution is a bi-monthly series of essays that examines films within the label of “queer cinema.”