Locarno 2015: ‘Cosmos’ (Andrzej Zulawski, 2015)
“Cosmos feels more like a parody of Zulawski’s work than a larger part of it.”
Film Beat: ‘In Dreams’ from David Lynch’s ‘Blue Velvet’ (1986)
A Column by Phuong Le
Of Love and Other Demons: Sam Peckinpah and Sex – ‘The Ballad of Cable Hogue’
“Cable Hogue ogles and desires Hildy because she appeals to him sexually: there are no shades of grey here, no self-reflection. In the world of Peckinpah, sex is often just sex.”
His Blazing Automatics: How One Scene in ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ Defines the Strengths of Christopher McQuarrie
A Column by Dylan Moses Griffin
We Failed This Film: Joe Carnahan’s ‘The Grey’
A Series by Dylan Moses Griffin
‘The Diary of a Teenage Girl’ is a Modest Trailblazer
“Heller draws a refreshing beauty from her “this is what it is” approach in The Diary of a Teenage Girl, getting tenderness out of content too often used simply to titillate, shock or be used for didactic tirades.”
The Dueling Cavalier: Proof of Premise in ‘Inside Out’
A Column by Max Bledstein
True Detective ‘Black Maps and Hotel Rooms’ (A Vague Visages Staff Recap)
A Conversation Between Vague Visages’ Q.V. Hough, Dylan Moses Griffin and Max Bledstein
Looking Wider: Hannibal ‘And the Woman Clothed with the Sun…’ (Recap)
“If last week’s “The Great Red Dragon” was centered around the two killers who now share the villainous duties on Hannibal, “And the Woman Clothed with the Sun…” has a broader focus.”
True Detective ‘Black Maps and Motel Rooms’ (A Vague Visages Staff Precap)
A Conversation Between Vague Visages’ Q.V. Hough, Dylan Moses Griffin and Max Bledstein
Review: Christopher McQuarrie’s ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’
“Matched by the acrobatic ferocity of Ferguson’s Faust, Cruise’s antics transform Rogue Nation into an explosive Cirque du Soleil performance on the grandest of scales.”
His Blazing Automatics: What the Release Date Push for Jeff Nichols’ ‘Midnight Special’ Means
A Column by Dylan Moses Griffin
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Black Orpheus’ (Marcel Camus, 1959)
“‘Black Orpheus’ embraces sex as multiplicitous. This somehow makes the love more noble, because it is not confused with lust, and sex becomes a celebration rather than a symbol of it.”
The Dueling Cavalier: ‘Tangerine,’ ‘Toy Story’ and Technology in Storytelling
A Column by Max Bledstein
Review: Kris Swanberg’s ‘Unexpected’
“Throughout Unexpected, little is ever gained or lost, ultimately raising the question (albeit a rather absurd one when considering film): for whom was this made, and what is its intended purpose?”
Rogue Sequel: In Defence of John Woo’s ‘Mission: Impossible II’
“Fully asserting the series reboot mantra, M:I II eschews the original’s ethos in favour of half a Hitchcock riff (a lot of Notorious, with a pinch of To Catch a Thief) and half traditional, near self-parodic Woo bombast.”
Vaguebande: Three Steps to Figueres
Vaguebande 1
Back to the Beginning: John Cassavetes’ ‘Shadows’ (1959)
The Fifth and Final Installment of “Tightrope Cinema: John Cassavetes’ Highwire World” by Phuong Le
We Failed This Film: Lana and Andy Wachowski’s ‘Speed Racer’
A Series by Dylan Moses Griffin
Inside the Minds of Murderers: Hannibal ‘The Great Red Dragon’ (Recap)
“The sound of Hannibal has always been one of its strongest elements, thanks in large part to Brian Reitzell’s terrifying score, and the auditory depiction of Dolarhyde’s plight is no exception.”